Bhakti Shastri (031) – The Nectar of Instruction Text 3, Part 3

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Welcome back to the Nectar of Instruction. We are today going to complete the third text.
utsaha nishchaya dhairya tattat karma pravartanat sangh tyagasato utte chadbhir bhakti prasidhyati So, till now we have discussed till tattat karma pravartanat. So, last class we discussed about patience. How we have to practise bhakti patiently, knowing that just as in cultivation, the results come in its own new course.
When a woman conceives, the conception takes its own course. We cannot accelerate it artificially. Then we discussed tattat karma pravartanat.
We elaborately discussed how Prabhupada’s statement that neglect of the devotional and the regular principles can destroy bhakti. So, in that we discussed how the masses are the opium of religion. In the sense that, in order to be populistic with the masses, there is the problems that for surface in religion, religion becomes diluted, contaminated and perverted.
So, now we’ll move on and discuss about sangh tyagasato utte. So, it’s interesting that some things are revealed, not just by what is stated, but in what context it is stated. So, for example, in the Nadiya Purana, when it is talked about the chanting of the holy names, it is said that Harer nama, Harer nama, Harer nama.
Three times the name of Hari comes. And then, eva kevalam. That is also an emphasis.
You could say 4th and 5th emphasis if you wanted. So, that is three more emphasis. So, in a sense, there are 8.8 times this is emphasised.
So, it’s difficult to conceive how in a single sentence, the same point could be made more emphatically than this. One message is given, this is probably the most emphatic way in which a person could give that message. So, once we understand this point, na sthi eva na sthi eva, na sthi eva gathir anyatha.
So, like that, when we see something repeated, that repetition need not necessarily indicate carelessness in speech or incoherence, especially when it is coming in a sacred book, then it means there is a profound meaning over there. And that profound meaning involves a lot of things. So, here when we see the sangatya gath coming, earlier we had seen that in the previous text, Rupa Goswami had made the same point in a different way.
What had he made the point in there? There it was the point of giving up bad association. So, now same point is being said over here. Sangatya gath.
So, actually speaking, giving up bad association is considered to be a means by which one can advance in devotional service. So, having bad association will cause destruction of devotional service and giving up bad association will cause the development of devotional service. So, what does this imply? This simply implies that actually this is such an important principle that Rupa Goswami considered it fit to be repeated twice.
So, the double repetition serves its own purpose. It reminds us that it is a cardinal principle which cannot be neglected. Now, last time we discussed about bad association, how bad association can influence us in terms of desires.
It can pollute our desires, it can pollute our intelligence and it can pollute our faith. So, similarly good association can purify our desires, it can strengthen our faith and it can clarify our intelligence. So, like that, it works both ways.
So, where all the other points are being talked positively utsaha, nishchaya, dhairya these are positive do’s. So, why within a positive list a negative point is brought about? So, utsaha, nishchaya, dhairya, tattat, karma pravartanat and satavrta, all these are positive points, but within that sangatyaagat that a negative point is brought about, sangatyaag giving up bad association. Why such a point given? Because, this is such a cardinal point that just by giving up bad association the negative desires that keep coming inside us will decrease and we will become more open to positive spiritual desires.
So, consider that we are souls, we are small units of consciousness and we are present in this vast material world and this is filled with souls like us but all these souls are contaminated by material consciousness, material desires and we are all interacting with each other. So, this interaction produces many many material desires and as those material desires get produced more and more and more the result of that is the spreading, expanding of material existence. So, when one wants to minimise one’s material desires there are two ways in which material desires come.
One is from inside, from our own memory from the past and the other is from outside, from the culture. So, now those which come from inside we have to individually fight that means we don’t nourish them, we don’t cherish them but we fight them and curb them and those which come from outside that also we have to minimise them. So, one of the most powerful ways of minimising bad association, contamination due to negative desires is to avoid those people who are the carriers of those desires.
So, this is not so much looking down at materialists and I am pure, you are impure and because you are impure I won’t associate with you. This perspective is not based so much on moral superiority of ourselves over others, it is based on a simple and essential understanding of spiritual health. I have been trying to recover my spiritual health and if somebody is infected it is not that person is necessarily lower than me but that person’s infection shouldn’t come to me therefore I have to protect myself.
So, when we avoid non-devotee association that doesn’t mean that we have to look down at non-devotees and we treat them as if they are lower than human beings. No! We have to respect everyone. Mahaprabhu said we should respect even a tree.
A devotee respects even an ant what to speak of a human being. So, certainly human beings need to be respected but more important is that we recognise that we have to protect ourselves. When a patient is sick in an infected area or a person is in an area where there is an epidemic that person who may or may not be a patient that person has to be careful so that the infection doesn’t come upon him or her.
So, how will that care be taken? That will be by the practise of caution. So, one has to be cautious that some people are infected I have to keep a safe distance from them. Similarly, we have to protect ourselves.
Naturally, we may say why should we not feel moral superiority? No, I am superior to them. If they are fallen, I am not. Actually, if we look in our hearts and privately, we will recognise that we ourselves are also fallen.
The only difference is that we have been given a process by which we can raise ourselves from the fallen state. And maybe we have risen ourselves a little bit. And that’s how we have come to a particular state now.
So, the important point is to recognise that we are all trying to heal ourselves and whatever is favourable for our healing we have to do. So, if we look at the healing metaphor then Utsaha, Nisha and Dhairyat we discussed how one has to have faith that the medicine will cure me. Enthusiasm to take the medicine and patience that it’s not that I can expect the healing to happen overnight.
So, I have to be patient enough for the treatment to take its course. Then Utsaha, Nisha, Dhairyat following the regular principles means the doctor may say that these are the things you have to do, these are the things you have to avoid. Especially when the things to avoid are told, you have to be followed.
Then we discussed earlier about how spiritual life can be practised at different levels. That means the standard should be that if a person has diabetes it’s best if the person doesn’t take sugar at all and just focusses on taking medicines and healthy food. But if the person is unable to give up sugar then it shouldn’t mean that the patient should not be allowed any treatment.
If you are going to eat sugar, do not treat sugar at all. Doctors cannot say like that. Doctors also have to accommodate and provide some system by which while taking sugar, so the person can take the medicine and at least stay in some semblance of health.
Surely that person won’t recover as well or as fast as someone who follows the treatment fully and avoids sugar entirely or minimises sugar to bare level, bare minimum. But it’s a person who can’t live without sugar. A person is allowed sugar but is also told that you take the medicine.
So, there the point is not to cure the person but to prevent the worsening of the condition of the person and to help that person to make some minimal alleviation. Similarly, some people are so materially contaminated that they cannot really approach transcendence immediately. So, for such people there is a progression given and for some the partial treatment will be given where they may be told that you can practise, you can just take this medicines but avoid that.
So, now we can’t avoid at least take the medicine. Now, is that compromise? It is a compromise if the standard is not told. There is a difference between a compromise principle and a principled compromise.
A compromised principle means that the principle is there and one just makes a compromise and neglects the principle. Whereas the principled compromise means that one understands this is the principle and thinks how this principle is to be applied and how if somebody is not up to that principle then a lower level principle is brought. So, a compromised principle means the principle is neglected or rejected but a principled compromise means when a person is not capable of following a higher principle then a lower principle is given.
So, for example, in the scripture sometimes those people who are attached to eating meat, they are given a facility to eat meat on specific days. Within religious regulation they can go to a Kali temple and do that. So, that is an example of a principled compromise.
That means rather than rejecting the principle of following scripture and following God, one accepts the principle but one finds a level of instruction that is suitable for one’s practise and in that way one advances. So, that way one is able to stay within the recovery programme, although one may not be in the fast path to recovery. So, if a person is not allowed, if you don’t give this up, then you will not be allowed any treatment.
If the person can’t take the strict treatment the person is just kicked out of the recovery programme. The problem is not that a slower recovery programme is given but the problem comes when the slower recovery programme is not told clearly as that is. This is the level you are going to follow, it is going to take a long time for you to cure, to become cured.
If this is the level you follow, you will get cured much faster. So, when that is not told that you are going to face problems because you are not doing this properly and your recovery is much slower, then the lowered principle will become the standard principle and that is where the problem comes. So, if as long as that doesn’t happen, that the lowered principle doesn’t become the standard principle, one understands this is the standard principle but I am not able to follow at this level, so I have been given a lowered principle.
Then that is not a compromise principle, that is a principled compromise. So, sometimes the scriptures give us this principled compromise and that principled compromise can apply in various fields of our spiritual life. So, for example, those who are in the householder ashram, grahastha ashram and those in brahmacharya ashram, the amount of time, the amount of energy, the level of sadhana, the level of seva, that the two ashrams provide facility for are different.
So, in terms of time and direct engagement, the grahastha ashram cannot allow as much time as brahmacharya ashram. But that doesn’t mean that necessarily the grahastha ashram is a compromise. It is not a compromise principle, it is a principled compromise.
That means one understands that my goal is still Krishna but I cannot take this track, I will take this track. And both are valid tracks in the spiritual path. So, if one just says okay, if I cannot be a brahmacharya, there is no glamour in the practise of my spiritual life, therefore, I will not practise spiritual life.
I go back to sanskritification. I reject the principle entirely. Then what is happening? It is not just a principled compromise.
One compromises the principle entirely and that’s a loss. So, how to practise at what level? The acharyas are needed to tell us that. And they tell us according to time, place and circumstance.
So, sanga tyaga is also a principle that has to be applied according to time, place, circumstance. How much can we avoid the asusinam devotees? The hat is not something which can be told for everyone as a standard rule. First point I said is avoiding the asusinam non devotees doesn’t mean that we look down upon them.
Because nothing alienates people faster than the feeling that they are looked down upon by others. So, when somebody looks down at us, we look away from that person. People don’t want to look at that person.
People don’t care for that person. So, we want people to care for Krishna. We want people to come to Krishna’s lotus feet.
And how will they come if we don’t care for them? If we look down upon them, we are not really caring for them. Because we are not respecting them as human beings. We are not respecting them as parts of Krishna.
We are not respecting them as lost souls who are potential devotees. Therefore, when we talk about avoiding bad association, it essentially means that association which is harmful for our devotion, that we have to avoid. We discussed earlier about the three degrees.
There can be devotional association, there can be non devotional association, there is anti devotional association. So, non devotional association can more or less be like there are people in the ignorant. We discussed this in the issue of Nishad.
The Madhyamadhikaris see Supreme Lord as the object of affection. The devotees, that is devotional association, they see that as a source of friendship. Those who are ignorant, those who are innocent, for them, there is Kripa.
And then there is Nishadsu. Those who are envious, for them there is a Peksha. That means if we have these three levels, we can put Krishna outside in a different circle entirely.
We try to love Krishna. But with devotional association, there is friendship. With non devotional association, if it is innocent, then there is we try to show mercy.
We try to give Krishna knowledge. We try to be instruments for Krishna’s love. And then for the anti devotional association, one has to neglect it.
One keeps a safe distance from it, so that one doesn’t get entangled and contaminated. Sangat tyaga refers primarily to anti devotional association. The association which makes the practise of our spiritual life extremely difficult.
Because there is a direct and sustained attack on our faith. Sometimes the whole attack may be intermittent and indirect. But still there is an attack on our faith periodically.
Then we understand that that is anti devotional association. And we have to protect ourselves from it. So how do we protect ourselves from the anti devotional association? That brings us to the most important point.
That is by coming to devotee association. Because we are social creatures. And being social creatures, we all need association.
So if we don’t have an association where we can share our values, then we will have to find some other association. And we start sharing the values of that association. As human beings, as social beings, as spiritual beings, we all need a sense of belonging.
I feel that I belong to a group whose values I can respect. And whose members respect me. So if we can find such a group, a group whose values I respect.
These people stand for this. And I respect those values. And as an added bonus, those people also respect me.
Yes, this is a potential devotee, this is a good devotee. Yes, he is a precious member of our community. We care for him.
Then when both are there, that means we care for the values that the group stands for. And one of the values of the group is that it cares for its members. Then such a group is wonderful.
And Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON just for creating such a group. It is a forum where people can come together and reciprocate affection, reciprocate love, and thereby go closer and closer to Krishna. So now, how do we do this in our specific individual lives? We do it primarily by making circles of association.
There are many ways. Circles of association is one way. That means if, say, I am here at the origin, and I create a circle of my closest associates.
Then close associates, close friends. Then I make another circle of those who are formal. Correal but at the same time formal.
Then there are, outside that, there are friends who are entirely formal. I don’t talk much with them, but we don’t have anything negative. And beyond that are people with whom we have some flares coming up, sparks flying whenever there is contact.
Sparks may be direct or indirect, that means there may be open conflicts sometimes, or there may be a covert conflict of values. So at such times, we have to protect our bhakti. That is the most important.
So in the circle of association, we try to keep ourselves as close to Krishna as possible, in the circle of association. So that way we stay connected with Krishna even through association. And when we have to associate with non-devotees, whether it is in a professional environment, whether it is in a family situation, whether it is in any other responsibility that one has in the world, we should also recognise that whatever way we dress, whatever way we present ourselves, ultimately we are presenting Krishna like that.
Because people know that we are all the children of Krishna. People know that we know that everyone is a child of Krishna. And people sooner or later come to know that we are representing Krishna.
So by our behaviour or misbehaviour, we can attract people to Krishna, or we can take people away from Krishna. Sangatyaag means we choose the association that nourishes our bhakti, and by staying in that association, busying ourselves in that association, we don’t have much time left for asatsang, for bad association. So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has talked about the importance of this principle so much and that’s why he has stated that asatsangatyaag evaishnavachar that the characteristic of a devotee is asatsangatyaag, is giving up the association of non-devotees.
And that is what Rupa Goswami is repeating over here. Now it’s interesting how Rupa Goswami led his own life. Rupa Goswami actually lived in the association of Nawab for quite some time.
And that association was not on Rupa Goswami’s terms, it was on the terms of the Nawab Hussain Shah. And Nawab Hussain Shah was known to be quite a brutal person. At one time he had got some architects to build a magnificent palace for him.
And then when the palace was done, Nawab was very happy. And the chief architect was also there and he was praising him. Oh, this is such a wonderful palace that you have made.
I am very pleased. So at that time the architect said, actually I could have made an even better palace. And as soon as Nawab Hussain Shah heard it, his hand went into his sword, the sword came out.
Chop! Cut off the head of the architect. So furious he said, if you could have made a better palace, why didn’t you make a better palace? I am the Nawab, I deserve the best palace. And if you have not made your best work, then you will never make your best work.
This should remain your best work. So he chopped off his head. And the king at that time was an autocrat, a dictator.
Nobody could challenge. So this was the kind of person. And he was just going around on a rampage, plundering people, devastating farms, plundering whoever and desecrating temples.
He was persecuting the devotees also. So what did they do? Rupan Sanathan. Because they were so intelligent, so talented that they were widely known in their community.
And now what happens with conquerors is those who, those warriors, those kings who have that blood lust or power lust we could say, territory lust, those who like to fight wars, gain more power or exhibit their power and conquer territory and lust for blood, power and territory, normally they want to be on the move, expanding more and more. They don’t like or spend too much time at one place. So they are not very good administrators.
So they need people who are good administrators. And Bengal, especially that area of Navadweep and other places around Ramakeli, that was actually a place where many devotees were living. The brahminical culture was very strong.
So they were on their rampaging spree, the Muslims, for some time but they realised there are so many temples, so many deities, so many holy places, holy people, religiously minded people and holy people are there. What can we do about it? We cannot go about killing everyone and desecrating every temple. So then they decided to have some kind of compromise that you should not do any public practise of religion and you do your religion only in your home, no public practise at all.
That was the rule that they had imposed more or less. Because often these rulers were known to be so violent, so nobody dared do any public performance. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was the person who broke that curfew, that religious curfew and started practising openly Nama Sankirtan.
So the point which we are building up over here is that actually Rupa Sanatana Goswami were Saraswat Brahmins. Very respected position in their culture at that time and they left it all just to join the Nawab’s army and they became Mohammedan’s spectacle actually and they joined the Nawab’s army. He renamed them.
Rupa Goswami was Sanatana Goswami was called as Sarkar Malik and Mir Khas. So both of them, they actually we could say they chose bad association. You know, the Muslim rulers, they were worst kind of bad association we could say at one level.
Why did they choose such a bad association? Because that was what was required for service. When they became the Nawabs of that place, when they became the ministers of that area under the Nawab, then they were able to offer a safe enclave to all the citizens especially those who were religiously inclined. So Brahmins and Vaishnavas from various parts of the Bengal would come there and some of them would stay there also or they would come there at least to hear Bhagavata Katha, to hear Krishna Katha and in this way they provide a safe enclave for the practise of devotional culture based on the principles of Krishna Bhakti.
So in this case we see that were they taking bad association? At one level it will seem that not only were they taking bad association but they were affected by the bad association. So much affected that they were converted. They gave up the Vedic path and became lechha somebody might say.
But here we see the profundity of the principle of association. Although they were in the association of Nawab Hussain Shah, they were not affected by that association. Why? In their hearts they were cherishing Krishna Bhakti and they were writing private letters, secret letters to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and begging him please come, please guide us.
We have fallen in mental existence. Please guide us how we can be delivered. So their heart was always in the right place.
Their heart was not in the feet of the Nawab. Their heart was at the feet of Krishna always. And they were longing for Krishna’s mercy through Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.
And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would read their letters and he would appreciate the sincerity. And finally after a long time of correspondence, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would not even respond to their correspondence. At that time responding to correspondence was quite messy.
And now we just type an email and press a send button and mail goes to anyone and everyone in the world. But at that time correspondence was very difficult. First of all one has to write one’s thoughts down and then if one wants to edit it, it is very difficult to edit.
There is no facility. You cannot do cut, paste and hard paper. So you have to actually write the final draft.
So that makes things very difficult. So it is such a situation and then even after the message is ready, one has to send someone. Because at that time there was no technology as we discussed.
So then that sender was the person who would take their messages to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would sometimes not respond also. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had noted their sincerity, their zeal.
And when he came there to Ramakali, he blessed them. And he caught them back into the devotional fold. And he accepted and not only accepted them as devotees but among the topmost of the devotees.
Among the foremost of the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were the Goswamis. So what we see from this example is that sometimes circumstantially a devotee may not only be forced to stay in bad association but actually may be forced to enter deeper into bad association. So staying in bad association means at that time being able to stay in Bengal area, anyway, a devotee under the rule of Navabhasinsha and that devotee being told that you cannot practise your religion.
It will be quite irritating for many people. But other people feel, yes, there should not be any public demonstration of religion. So that percentage of people who actually at that time could boldly oppose the king were nearly no one.
So they offered a safe enclave and that’s a very important service for those who were trying to protect the Vedic culture for them to have a safe enclave. So they were not associating with the king. They were associating in their heart with Krishna.
And they were creating facilities and support systems by which that message can lead to many more people. And those people can also take action. And in that way gradually the spiritual culture will be protected.
So they were not in any way, we should not think contaminate materially when they took certain decisions. We have to understand the transcendental principle. The transcendental principle is that actually the lord wants to take care of all of us.
When we turn towards the lord, we feel I had this counsellor but now I have gone somewhere else and now I don’t have any counsellor. I was very happy in this group of devotees but now I have to take another job which will put me in another group of devotees. What should I do in such situations? There are no clear answers for this because each situation is different and we will have to apply time, place, circumstance.
But the important point is that in all situations one can keep practising bhakti. Even if one goes in non-devotee association by keeping our heart in devotee association, by being determined in the practise of bhakti, we will be able to cross through the situation. So we don’t have to feel lonely because we have to avoid bad association because we can be surrounded by devotees who are all very good association for us.
That’s how we move forward in our spiritual life. So now sangh tyagat sato vrttih chadbhir bhakti prasiddhati So sato vrttih means that actually vrtti means inclination sato is the devotee, the transcendentalist, those who pursue sato. Sato vrttih means the tendencies of those who are pursuing higher spiritual knowledge, higher spiritual truth in their lives.
And for those people who are pursuing such a truth the important point is to recognise always that their desires change because everyone has their own kind of desires but for those who know that things in this world are temporary their desires change. So actually death is a guru and this guru of death teaches us this point that actually speaking sato and asato. Those who are asato, those who do not know about their eternal existence those who do not pursue their eternal existence they are asato and their vrtti is tamasic or rajasic.
Their sato vrttih means the inclination towards the higher values of life towards love, towards selflessness towards honesty towards integrity so that is the direction in which the saints inspire us to move and the saints actually stay at that level also and from that level they take us up as it is said, we discussed also the guru is one who knows the way, shows the way, goes the way so the guru is one who is actually an example of sato and we try to incorporate the vrtti of that sato in our lives so how much we will be able to implement that will depend on time, place, circumstance for each individual to be different so we can’t worry about what is not possible for us to practise right now sato vrtti can sometimes frighten us oh how will I be able to do this, it’s not possible for me but you have to understand that in spiritual life, there are stars and there are stairs and there are stairs which take us to the stars normally in life there are stairs, they can just take us to one floor, two floor three floor but if we consider stars, stars means our vrtti has become sato there is no bad vrtti inside us only vrtti is the inclination, the tendency the default direction of the mind so the bad vrtti has gone off, sato vrtti has come about, that means even when our mind is left alone, the mind will gravitate towards Krishna because that’s the attraction the mind has developed sato vrtti means by associating with devotees seeing their attitudes trying to share their emotions we ourselves are able to dispel a lot of misconceptions and a lot of obstacles in the path of spiritual life for ourselves as well as for others can be countered sato vrtti this is a very important principle in Upadesha Amrit that we have to follow what is the example and the inclination that is shown with vrttas, so in general for us, for new devotees especially it’s not so easy for us to get guidance because even if there is a plan that devotee who has a plan may be very busy and therefore we may not get association at the right time, so we have to be careful and then even if we don’t get association at the right time, that doesn’t mean that devotee doesn’t care for us, that doesn’t mean that we are all alone, no there are always devotees with us but there are certain times when it is difficult for us to get the right association so at that time when we observe devotees, whenever we get the association learn from them, then in that sense we just don’t learn from it then we catch it there is an English phrase, catch it somebody throws a ball and we catch it so like that, whenever we have devotees if we are attentive, if we are careful then Krishna gives us, catch it Krishna gives us insights, Krishna gives us ideas Krishna gives us inspirations and all these make our spiritual life richer and sweeter so that’s how there is a gradual progression in our spiritual life that progression centres on following the incidence of sattas so of the devotees, it is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam that those who do not cultivate the sattvakti, do not try to develop themselves attracted to the eternal no matter how much they try, they will not make spiritual advancement so actually as long as one’s mind is not attracted to Krishna till that time one should not try to apply such a point that oh, unless we have become adequately purified unless we have become adequately internally motivated, self-motivated in our spiritual life we should, we cannot avoid the association of devotees sometimes you feel, I am advanced I can practise better spiritual life so sometimes devotees feel that devotee association means so much chit-chatting happens so much happens that it’s better I leave so actually we have to check you know, if loneliness were the solution all of us could become spiritual devotees all alone it is not that loneliness is the solution it is actually we have to find out those devotees, even devotee association also different devotees are at different levels different devotees have different levels of commitment and so not all devotees are equally committed so in general as compared to non-devotees we prefer the association of devotees, that is sattva-vrittay but even in devotee association not everybody is exhibiting sattva-vrittay with equal seriousness so we have to find out which are the devotees who exhibit their attitude of sattva-vrittay and have their association and in their association our sattva-vrittay will increase otherwise even in devotee association our sattva-vrittay might increase and by that we may say we may not be able to make much spiritual advancement to preclude that possibility to avoid that from happening we have to always try to be cautious so by being cautious to make sure that we are associating with those whose values we admire whose values we would like to emulate then by that we make spiritual advancement much faster than just by some random hearing from here and there so sattva-vrittay so when we study scriptures the purpose of studying scriptures is to understand sattva-vrittay, sattva-vrittay actually can have very broad meaning, actually Prabhupada gives a relatively simple meaning for us but this illustrates the point that it’s important for all of us to actually live according to the example of the devotees so now vrittay here refers to the tendency of the mind so for the vrittay to get attracted to Krishna it’s important that we cultivate consciously because it will take time it’s not that all love is developed at first sight actually generally what is developed at first sight is not love it’s usually lust later on if the people choose to unite then some love might develop in that relationship but initially it’s bodily infatuation just as we can have these artificial relationships, these temporary self-serving relationships in material life we may have that kind of relationships even in devotional life that means we are relating with some devotee just at the material level to get whatever we want from that person this sort of interrelationships are not going to be of much help they may help a little bit they are at least better than non-devotees but they confuse us about what is the ultimate principle and we see lackadaisical devotees practising and we see Srila Prabhupada talking about very serious principles we don’t know what to do and often we err so here in this particular context Srila Prabhupada will explain sattva vrittay as the practise of devotional service by looking at the examples of the previous acharyas and imbibing those examples so the process of bhakti is eternal and whatever we practise in this process stays with us forever now let us look at this utsaha nishchaya dhairya from another perspective so here we see a person’s consciousness a person’s modes at whatever level a person is situated at a person has no enthusiasm and no patience and no faith and that is ignorance utsaha nishchaya dhairya none of them are there a person is in super tamoguna a person has enthusiasm but no patience that means a person just does a lot but doesn’t do it for very long. Start one thing and then get bored with it and give it up. Start another thing and get bored and give it up.
Enthusiasm but no patience then one needs to come to the mode of goodness. When there is enthusiasm patience and faith all three together in one place in one heart then that heart is very well situated to rapidly move towards pure goodness now remember when we are talking about faith over here we are not talking about ordinary faith we are talking about the kind of faith which Krishna’s personality defines that is the kind of faith that is required for the practise of bhakti someone may say I have a lot of faith in Krishna what is the faith that you have in Krishna if I unfailingly go to his temple and master me and do seva then the next year will be very happy for me if that is the idea with which you are practising bhakti then we don’t understand what bhakti is so that way we deprive ourselves of the fruits of bhakti so utsaha nishchaya dhairyam when all three are there together then we understand that there is a hand of God over there and actually the more involved over there is pure goodness and all devotees can try to aspire to come to this level of pure goodness and we don’t have to consciously go about cultivating various skills like people do in material life of course if we have some specific specialised service and for that we have to learn some skills that is ok but in general devotees don’t care much for example for the academic study of religion for the contemporaries outlets of information like the newspapers and the movies and if actually the devotees can connect themselves with Krishna instead of these things then they will be much more secure because without a positive connection with Krishna one often gets dragged down by material desires and even against one’s will one falls prey to kena pratyoptoyam papam charthi purushah that Arjuna asks what is it that drags me away and Krishna answers it is lust only, it is uncontrolled desire it is a desire that when we give desire too much power then it becomes a power that makes us powerless let desire not become a power that makes us powerless how is that if we give too much thought to the desire, the desire keeps growing, growing, growing and eventually it goes to such a point that we are just not able to take care of it so that is the sort of final breaking point when that happens that we are not able to take care then our overall spiritual life has gone off balance so of course then we have to endeavour, pray, strive and then we will be able to get the situation back on track so when there is enthusiasm, patience and faith then we are moving towards goodness and we are going further towards transcendence thereafter so Srila Prabhupada also quotes this verse to indicate how the assets of bhakti are eternal then he talks about how the Mahatmas are constantly engaged in devotional service and Prabhupada concludes this by saying utsaha, nishchaya, dhairata, karmapravartana enthusiastically executing the regular principles of devotional service with patience and confidence so nishchaya and dhairya in this way one can advance in devotional service without hindrance so the more we commit ourselves to the practise of bhakti actually there are obstacles which prevent us from committing ourselves to the practise of bhakti but if somehow we can commit ourselves to that practise then that commitment is so powerful that it can overpower all our other conditionings see all of us have a default momentum of the mind and senses which is going downwards and it’s going downwards from where we are into matter and the only alternative that most people know about is an alternative where it seems all very lofty is it practical for me or in some other places it appears so materialistic in some other religions so the solution is in Krishna consciousness that actually every person is a soul the vision is so all encompassing that nobody is neglected and that’s why everybody deserves Krishna’s respect and if that person has come for a confrontation then the confrontation can be ended but every person has a right to gain Krishna’s wisdom and to be enriched by the experience of Krishna’s love so that happens by following the principles just as every patient has a right to be healthy there’s no doubt and the doctors cannot take that right away from the child in fact this whole concept of rights is so strict that if a doctor is treating a patient for cancer and when treating the patient for cancer the doctor writes down you have your cancer in your left lungs and to remove that we have to do this surgery now while doing the surgery the doctor finds that there is cancer in the right leg also right heart also so what should the doctor do at that time does the doctor have the right at that time I find the cancer here, I find the cancer here I’ll just remove the cancer from here also like sometimes we are deleting some files in the computer and we find some other extra files so can somebody do like that actually according to law one cannot do like that whenever a patient is undergoing a surgery actually the doctor needs the written statement that there is some risk in the surgery, I’m ready to take the risk and then if that is not possible then the person cannot be treated for anything more than what has been offered what has been originally offered when the relationship was formed, the same applies to the principles of devotional life also the same hierarchy that had he so when there are multiple levels of devotees and when we recognise that the satavrutti of this devotee is much higher satavrutti of this devotee is lower, if I associate with those who are of higher satavrutti then by that we make much more rapid spiritual advancement otherwise our spiritual advancement stays dis-focused, it doesn’t become focused, it doesn’t become strong so these are six principles that can help us to advance nicely, so going back to the medicine metaphor, we also understand that I have to avoid the effect, the free mixing with those people who are infected or those people who may infect me so that’s why Sri Prabhupada would would urge us to minimise the association with the opposite sex so why? it is not that every member of the opposite sex is infected by lust if a man feels agitated on seeing a woman, that doesn’t mean that that woman is necessarily infected actually that person is getting infected the woman may not have any intention of agitating the person but just by the way she is she may agitate the man’s mind, so then we can’t blame the woman the point is, it’s not whom to blame, sometimes when we talk about sangha tyagat, there can be association of mayavadis, there can be association of materialists Bhagavatam talks about association of women and association of those who are attached to women when we talk about that it raises the question actually in this world, 50% of the population is women and the remaining 50% is men, and men are naturally attached to women so if we are not associated, if women are bad association and men attached to women are bad association then what is left? whom are we to associate with? so the point of this Bhagavatam verse is to emphasise that actually this same point is talked about in Bhagavatam as well as in Chaitanya Charita Amrit and the point of this is to recognise that there is great danger and good association is so precious and so rare that wherever we get it we have to cherish it so in that sense, what this verse is recommending is the association of those in the renounced order and they who are trying to develop their attachment to Krishna and when we associate with them then the intoxication the infatuation that comes because of worldly association, the associated worldly desires decreases so in general, the important point in Sangat Yagat you will see sometimes verses which talk about, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quotes a verse that actually he says he says if one associates with a sense gratifier that is worse than drinking poison willingly you wonder how can I apply this verse if I associate with a sense gratifier and then I am drinking poison but actually this world is filled with sense gratifiers in fact I am also sense gratifier in many ways so what do I do in such a situation so here the point is every verse has a context there is an emphasis over there so we should recognise that there is danger and then for functional purposes if we have to associate for professional purposes, we have to associate we can’t avoid that association but, so even if there is sometimes if you are working in office and there is anti-devotional association over there there are some people who just as soon as they come together they don’t talk against God or they don’t talk against Krishna they don’t talk against Krishna’s mission, Krishna’s devotees then what if we have to work over there we may have to work but in such situations we can be official and we don’t have to become emotional be official means be formal, be courteous be functional, do whatever is required but don’t become emotional that means we don’t have to see the bond between people happens not just by physical proximity, it doesn’t happen just by working together also, the bond between people happens by sharing joys and sorrows together so if we are not getting into the emotions of material enjoyment with the materialistic people around us we are not really associating with them so when it says that it’s worse to drink liquor, it’s worse than drinking poison to associate with materialistic people, the point there is that in the association of materialistic people we will get infected by material desires and when we get infected by material desires then that infection is very harmful for our spiritual life that infection, in fact it is said that in Vishya and Vishaya Vishaya is more dangerous than Vishya it is said, why? because Vishya kills only for one life whereas Vishaya kills for many lives Vishaya keeps us suffering in material existence life after life and Vishya actually kills by consumption but Vishaya can destroy us by contemplation therefore one has to be extremely careful so just by thinking about sense of objects one’s intelligence can get eroded corroded and destroyed so we have to be careful, very very careful now that we don’t have to be rude, we don’t have to be standoffish, standoffish means thinking that I am superior to others but we have to be cautious knowing that there is an epidemic and there are people with infections I have to protect my health and whatever is required for that protection I have to do so if I have to work with people who are materialistic well I will work with them because that’s what is the obligation, that’s what is required but I will not get involved in their joys and sorrows I will not get caught up in their inebriaties if they are going to talk about various matters which are just mundane which are illusory which are anti-devotional then I will avoid that talk completely if they are talking about non-devotional subject matters then I might just be nominally present over there but I will not get my heart involved in it I will use it in Krishna’s service so as devotees we want to care for everyone but we want to care for everyone because they are connected with Krishna so our greatest care should be for Krishna and when we care for Krishna naturally we care for our relationship with Krishna we care for Krishna’s feelings about us so naturally anything that harms our relationship with Krishna will displease Krishna and therefore if associating with some people is harming our relationship with Krishna then keeping a distance from that association is important that is helpful for us in the practise of bhakti without that we will not be able to practise bhakti in a very intense way the effect of non-devotee association is that because non-devotees are not practising devotional service at all when we practise devotional service we start feeling why am I doing this should I be doing this so many people are living without this why am I tormenting myself chanting so many around doing this doing that that’s how the mind gets contaminated so when we come in the association of devotees we see that so many people are practising and they are practising more seriously than me I have to practise seriously through association desires develop so by associating with devotees and by cultivating the values that they are cultivating so actually these are complementary so when we avoid non-devotee association then actually how will you avoid it by associating with devotees but it’s not just saying associate with devotees it is saying develop the vritti of the sattas it’s not just staying in the association physical proximity of devotees but by doing that as much as possible but more importantly by contemplating, cherishing and cultivating the values that the devotees stand for how they make Krishna their topmost priority how they orient all their life around Krishna how they centre all their relationship on Krishna and that’s what we can all aspire to and when we do that then bhakti prasidhyati our bhakti will flourish thank you very much.