Bhakti Shastri (154) Nectar of Devotion Chapter 04 & 05

Podcast

Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.
Welcome back to the Bhagavad Gita. Previous class we discussed about, we discussed Kanishka. Now we move forward.
So before we move forward, we would like to discuss one topic related to eligibility, that the important point in the process of bhakti is recognising that we have a particular adhikar based on our taste, our attraction towards Krishna. And attraction towards Krishna is not just something sentimental. How much do I speak about the esoteric pastimes of Krishna? How much am I always in the mood of Vrindavan? That is all good.
But actually, we see there were many disciples of Srila Bhakta Siddhanta Sri Thakur, who were living in Vrindavan or in Mayapur, and they did not fulfil the instruction of Bhakta Siddhanta Sri Thakur. They did not venture out from the holy land to travel all over the world to share Krishna consciousness. It was Srila Prabhupada who took that mandate.
Srila Prabhupada who had faith that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prophecy will come true and not just will come true, Srila Prabhupada took it as his responsibility to make that prophecy come true. So the advancement, when we talk about taste, the taste is not just something superficial. The taste is not just, oh, I think about esoteric pastimes of Krishna, kind of pastimes nobody has heard.
And that taste is a sign of advancement. Actually, when you talk about taste, it is a taste to serve and please Krishna. And speaking Krishna Katha in a way that will please Krishna.
If we speak advanced pastimes of Krishna and all that we talk about intimate conjugal pastimes of Radha Krishna, and then that increases material desires in the people, then is that really helping those souls come close to Krishna? Is that really pleasing to Krishna? What Srila Prabhupada did was, he spoke the necessary message. When Srila Prabhupada said, my purports are my devotional ecstasies, what did he mean? A devotee’s ecstasy is not self-centred, it is Krishna-centred. That means that which gives Krishna ecstasy, for that, that is the source of a devotee’s ecstasy.
So what will give Krishna ecstasy is when the souls who are far away from him come close to him. So whatever obstacles are there, whatever misconceptions are there, if we remove those misconceptions, then that will enable the souls to come closer to Krishna. So when we talk about who is an advanced devotee, who is a Madhyamadhikari, who is a Uttamadhikari, that should be based on how much that person is committed to the service of Krishna.
And Srila Prabhupada had that kind of extraordinary, unparalleled commitment. And that’s how in old age he was ready to travel all over the world, sharing Krishna consciousness with people. And then Srila Prabhupada’s followers within ISKCON are also doing the same thing, according to their own capacity, according to their Adhikar.
So sometimes, some people, they say, oh, in ISKCON you don’t talk about advanced Gaudiya Tattva, or you don’t talk about Rasa Tattva, you don’t talk about Raga Anuga Bhakti, you don’t talk about this, you don’t talk about that. And they try to denigrate or minimise. No, the important point is to recognise that what is appropriate for people that is talked about.
And as devotees advance, they naturally understand what they need for their nourishment and they will seek that. And prenaturally jumping to advanced topics is not necessarily a sign of advancement. Most often it is not a sign of advancement.
Often it is a sign of arrogance. One thinks that one is qualified when one is not qualified. At one time, the devotees in ISKCON, some of the devotee leaders, they formed a group and they started focussing on the esoteric pastimes of Krishna.
And they called themselves the Gopi Bhava Club. Ultimately, our goal is to develop Gopi Bhava. So they started discussing about those pastimes so that they will develop the Bhava of the Gopis.
When Prabhupada came to know about it, Prabhupada was quite annoyed. Outraged, in fact. And he said, first we have to become qualified, otherwise we will misunderstand these things.
And Shri Prabhupada, it was not that he did not want devotees to advance to higher levels, but he wanted them to move gradually to those higher levels, progressively. So, Shri Prabhupada was an Uttam Adhikari. And one who follows his footsteps will also become elevated.
One who follows his instructions, sorry, not exactly footsteps. Nobody can follow Shri Prabhupada’s footsteps entirely. What he has done is unparalleled.
Even if somebody becomes a very great preacher, still Prabhupada is the first person who has spread Krishna Consciousness all over the world. And he has done that. So, he has done that all alone, single-handedly, without any institutional support.
At least that’s how he started. So, Shri Prabhupada’s instructions if we follow, we will all make spiritual advancement. And those who have followed his instructions for 20, 30, 40 years, they have also made a lot of spiritual advancement.
Under their guidance, we can all chart the path back to Godhead. So, whatever our advanced subjects, they will come. We shouldn’t think that just because somebody has a taste for speaking Radha, Krishna, Leela, that itself makes a person spiritually advanced.
The spiritual advancement of a teacher is based on how much that person wants to please Krishna. And Krishna will be pleased when one speaks appropriately according to the level of the audience. Now, the next chapter we’ll move forward to in the nectar of devotion.
This chapter is entitled Devotional Service Surpasses All Liberation. Now, actually, this chapter is entirely a set of quotations. All that is mentioned, there are various quotations which talk about how a devotee doesn’t desire liberation, but a devotee instead desires simply to love and serve Krishna.
So, Prabhupada now, for example, quotes Trutha Maharaj. And he’s offering prayers to the Lord. When the Lord has appeared before him, when he decides to forego doing the hundredth fire sacrifice at the instruction of Brahmaji.
And then what happens? He is telling, my dear Lord, I don’t want liberation because if after liberation, I have no chance of hearing the glories of your Lordship, then I don’t want that. On the other hand, what I want is, I shall simply pray unto you that you may give me millions of tongues and millions of ears so that I can constantly chant and hear of your transcendent glories. So here, Trutha Maharaj gives a very important reason why a devotee doesn’t want liberation.
Because in liberation, there is no opportunity to serve Krishna. Dhyamananagrananti vinamatsevanam jana In Kapil Dev’s prayers, in Kapil Dev’s instructions, Kapil Dev also tells this that he gives the list of the five kinds of liberations. And then he says, Dhyamananagrananti, that even if that is given to such a person, given to a devotee, the devotee doesn’t accept it.
Why? Because in that, vinamatsevanam jana. So if there is no service for me available in this, the devotee doesn’t accept this. So of course, in one of the liberation, sayujya, when we merge into Krishna, there is no opportunity for service and devotee certainly doesn’t want that.
But there are other liberations, salokya, sarishtya, samipya, sarishti. So salokya means living on the same abode as the Lord. Samipya is living in close proximity of the Lord.
Sarupya means having the same form as the Lord. And sarishti is having the same opulence as the Lord. So these are all different kinds of liberation.
And then sayujya, sayujya is merging with the Lord. So most often when the word liberation is used by people, they have the connotation of impersonal liberation, that means sayujya, merging with the Lord. And in sayujya, when one aligns at merging, then there is no chance for service over there.
Now in the other forms of liberation, there is a possibility of service. But if one gets those other forms of liberation without the opportunity for service, then it is said that the pure devotee doesn’t want this at all. So certainly the pure devotee doesn’t want sayujya, and he doesn’t want other forms of liberation also, if the opportunity for service is not there.
And that’s why Puttama is saying that I want to serve, and how do I want to serve? Serve with my senses. I want ears and tongue, tongues and ears, so that I can glorify you, I can hear your glories, relish your glories. This is the mood of a devotee.
So liberation is considered to be the pinnacle of spiritual achievement by many, many spiritualists, and by the impersonals especially. And the idea that bhakti is greater than mukti, or bhakti is greater than mukti, it is, to many people, it is quite scandalous. In fact, they feel how mukti is the greatest, how can bhakti be greater? In fact, we see that in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, or in Chaitanya, not exactly Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, there is Haridas Thakur’s pastime with Gopal Chakravarti.
And Haridas Thakur said that just by the preliminary chanting of the holy names, one can get liberation. And he said the real fruit of holy name is not liberation, because liberation comes quite easily by chanting. Actually, it is prema, attaining pure love of God.
And Gopal Chakravarti is a Brahmin, and he was outraged, he said, liberation is such a great thing, how can you trivialise liberation like this? And he said that if, I curse you, that if what you have said is not true, he actually first did a character assassination of Haridas Thakur. There is ad hominem attacks. Ad hominem means, instead of countering the argument of the person, the opponent attacks the character of the person.
That is considered unethical many times. So, he did an ad hominem attack. He says that this person, he is a Mleccha, and he is claiming that he knows better than us Brahmanas.
And he said, what is this Mleccha? Actually, now, he was so self-righteous, he even went to the extreme of saying that, actually, this is a sign of Kali Yuga, that Mlecchas are instructing Brahmanas. And then he almost spoke like a curse. He said, if what you have said is false, if the holy name does not grant liberation, then let your nose fall.
And when he spoke this, actually there were many great learned people over there, and they understood the exalted level of Haridas Thakur. And they started, they put their hands to the earth, and they started chastising almost Gopal Singh. Now, he was also Brahmin, he couldn’t chastise.
He just walked away from there in half. But eventually, after that, what happened? His own nose fell off. Because what Haridas Thakur was saying was based on scripture.
Scripture does say this. So, the point where I am discussing this is that in orthodox society, orthodox Vedic society, now, Bhakti is, is it orthodox? Yes, it is orthodox in the sense that it has been going on for millennia. But the way orthodox society was in India, during Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s time and before that also, was that the caste system was quite deep-rooted.
And Brahmanas claimed privileges. So, the idea was, they did not recognise the power and glory of Bhakti so much. And their idea was, Mukti is very great.
So, for such people, the idea that Bhakti can be greater than Mukti, is something which is, as I said, scandalous. But it is true. That is what the scriptures tell.
And this is such an important topic to establish that Rupa Goswami and the Bhakti Samaj Sindhu and Shri Prabhupada in his nectar of devotion devote a full chapter to it. So, this chapter is actually nothing but quotes. And this also illustrates the point of नानाशास्त्रविचार्निपनिपनो सद्धनसंस्थापतो So, let us look at the various quotes briefly.
I will not explain all the quotes. But the sheer fact that a full chapter has been devoted to this topic indicates the importance of the topic. So, now, Dainashree Prabhupada says that Shukadeva Goswami talks about Bharat Maharaj and he says that he did not accept material opulences and then he says, what to speak of material opulences? He does not even care for liberation, which is aspired for by Ganesha, what to speak of material opulences? So, a devotee has such a high heritage that nothing is wanted for a devotee, neither liberation nor material opulences.
And similarly, Uttarasura नाकपक्षं पारमेश्ट्यं योगसिद्धिन अपुनर्भवंवा न अपुनर्भवंवा He says, I do not want anything else. नाकपक्ष्टं पारमेश्ट्यं He says, न योगसिद्धिन अपुनर्भवंवा योगसिद्धिन, I do not want yoga siddhi. न अपुनर्भवंवा अपुनर्भवं means liberation.
I do not want even that. All that I want is your association and your service. So here we see so many verses which illustrate this point.
And this is the famous verse नारायन परासरवे न कुतश्चन विभ्यते स्वर्गा पवर्खन नरकेशु अपितुल्यार्थ दर्शिन So अपितुल्यार्थ, Devotee considers everything material equivalent. So what has this got to do with liberation? So Śrīla Prabhupāda specifies that or in fact any situation whatsoever. So he says न कुतश्चन विभ्यते स्वर्गा पवर्खन नरकेशु So पवर्ख refers to liberation.
They get liberation from materialism. Why they don’t care? Because नारायन परासरवे Completely devoted to Nārāyaṇa and for them in that devotion to Nārāyaṇa there is such happiness that nothing else is wanted. नारायन परासरवे And like that there is Indra is addressing Deity also.
So like that there are many verses. And then you have this famous verse of Pralāda Mahārāja. Then What is the use of spiritual emancipation or liberation from material bondage? A. As if one is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Lord and always relishing the nectar of the lotus feet of the Lord.
There is absolutely no noticeability for these. And like that the codes go on. You can look at the various codes.
It’s an impressive compilation. It goes out in other books also apart from Bhāgavatam. There is also Haisheesha Pancharatra is there.
And like that Nārāyaṇa Pancharatra is also there. So there are various scriptures from which Rūpa Goswāmī is quoting and Śrīla Prabhupāda is paraphrasing over here. Now of course there is the famous quote of Hanumānji.
So Hanumān certainly doesn’t want liberation. In fact for Hanumān the idea of anything other than the service of the Lord would be would be appalling. How can he live without the service of the Lord? So Hanumān also says I don’t want liberation.
Nothing. I simply want to serve you. So this is the mood of a devotee.
Now how does it apply practically to us? See liberation also has two aspects. Liberation has one aspect of what we are liberated from and second is what we are liberated to. So what is the difference between the two? What is liberated from means Okay where am I coming out of? And what am I liberated to? So where am I going after that? Somebody is in a jail and that person comes out of a jail.
Oh I am liberated from the jail. But if a person is taken out of a jail and is put on a wasteland where there is no food, where there is no water, where there is no other life, there are no other people and also an island, I cannot go out of the island also. Then the person says Okay you are free to go wherever you want.
Still practically I am in a jail only. A different kind of jail. So there are two aspects in where I am liberated from and where I am liberated to.
So if I am liberated from one place that is because I want liberation from a place because I feel that is very miserable. But if I am where I am liberated to is important. If I am for a devotee for the impersonalist the focus is primarily on where I am liberated from.
Because they think of this world as a place of such misery. And they are true that there is a lot of misery in this world. And materialists who do not recognise this world as a place of misery are even more unfortunate.
They are like so drunk that they don’t even recognise that they are drunk. So it’s important to recognise this world as a place of misery. But their focus is only on ok this world is a place of misery world is a place of misery I have to get out.
But devotee’s focus is on not where I am trapped not just from what I am liberated but to what I am liberated. And the devotees see that if I am getting liberated into the impersonal Brahman where I have no scope for serving Krishna then that is of no use to me. Because there I will be deprived of the association in the service of Krishna and nectar that is available thereof.
So if I want to real liberation the devotee is concerned not just what I am liberated from but what I am liberated to. And that’s why the devotees pray that as long as I am engaged in your service so often the rejection of liberation is done in parallel with an insistence or a rather strong request insistent request almost insistent not in a negative sense but not in an obstinate sense insistent in the sense of expressing the fervent desire. So in that sense they want to engage in devotional service because if you engage in devotional service you are as good as liberated.
By engaging in devotional service eventually you will become liberated. One time a reporter asked Shri Prabhupada how many pure devotees are there in your mind? Shri Prabhupada asked one of the devotees how many devotees do you have? And in your particular mind that many pure devotees you have? Devotees started saying pure devotees? How can there be pure devotees? We have so many desires. Immaterial desires.
Following the process of pure devotional service you will become pure devotee eventually. If you are following the process aspiring for pure devotional service so you will become. So there is like a raw mango is there and a ripe mango is there.
The only difference is that the passage of time is required and as long as the raw mango stays attached to the ripe mango it will become liberated. So what we are saying here is that when a devotee is unconcerned when a devotee rejects liberation what does it mean? They know that devotional service itself is a supreme liberation. Because in devotional service one can do that activity which will please Krishna and that thereby that will give us happiness also.
And if we keep devotional service ultimately we will become liberated. So Prabodhananda Saraswati in his Chaitanya Manjusha says that Kaivalyam Narakalate Kaivalya, impersonal liberation is that is considered very exalted destination by the Jnanis and the Yogis. He says Narakalate is like hell.
Because for a devotee anything which is given which is without a service of Krishna is hell. So naturally Kaivalyam Narakalate. So now you can read the remaining chapter.
We will move to the next chapter here. Now he talks about the purity of devotional service. So what exactly is the purity of devotional service? Prabhupada uses the word purity here in the sense that it is purely independent.
It does not need anything else. In fact Prabhupada summarises the theme of the previous chapter here when he says in his Brahm can be summarised thus so the previous chapter summarises as long as one is materially inclined or desirous of merging into the spiritual effulgence one cannot enter into the realm of pure devotional service. So that is why a devotee rejects liberation and thereby expresses the determination to enter into pure devotional service and the determination to stay situated in pure devotional service.
Then Prabhupada quotes Savaipoomsaam Paro Dharmo Yatav Bhakti Adhokshati Ahaitukyapati Hatha Yatva Suprasibati That is Rupa Goswami quoting this. And now this is an interesting application of this verse. Generally, Prabhupada would quote this Ahaitukyapati Hatha unmotivated and uninterrupted in terms of that this is how we should practise bhakti.
Now when are we going to practise when can we say we are practising pure devotional service? When our devotional service is uninterrupted. No matter what happens we don’t let our devotional service get interrupted. We keep studying, practising, practising, practising bhakti.
Then that is the indication that we are practising pure devotional service. But there is another way of looking at it that pure devotional service itself cannot be interrupted by anything material. Because Ahaitukyapati it is not initiated by anything material.
It does not have any material cause. That we have discussed earlier how it does not depend on birth or piety or things like that. That is what needs to be emphasised over here again.
So because pure devotional service does not depend on anything material it is not caused by anything material so it will not be interrupted by anything material also. If an aeroplane is flying in the sky then even if there is some disturbance on the earth maybe there is some flood or there is some fire that is not going to affect the aeroplane. The aeroplane is high above and it is going to keep flying like that.
Similarly pure devotional service is transcendental. It does not depend on anything material it is not caused by and it is not interrupted by anything material. So in this context it is various points.
So is janma, birth a factor in devotional service? So categorically no. And Prabhupada quotes how there was a struggle in the history of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Prabhupada used the word in the middle ages. So in the middle ages refers to after Shri Atan Mahaprabhu’s appearance and after his disappearance when there was an Ittyananda Vamsha which is a solid caste Goswamis.
Caste Goswamis means that these people claim that because we are born in a particular past we are Brahmins and therefore we alone have a right to that the practise and studying of you can see this they further claimed that the practise and studying of devotional service belong only to their particular class which was known as Ittyananda Vamsha. Ittyananda Vamsha So Ittyananda Vamsha refers to those people who claim to be descendants of Ittyananda and they claim that they have monopoly on the practise and the sharing of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. So Prabhupada writes how the Acharyas fought against it.
Now Bhaktivinod Thakur was a reformer Bhaktiswami Thakur was a revolutionary. So reformer means one who brings about gentle changes. But revolutionary is just shakes up things.
So if a building has some problem can you repaint this like this? Can you redo this? Can you change this slightly? That is a reformer. But revolutionary means its building has so many problems blow it up and construct a new building with it. So in one sense revolutionary it has radical tools.
So actually Bhaktivinod Thakur started the programme to rescue Gaudiya Vaishnavism from the stronghold from the stronghold of the Kaskaswamis. Bhaktivinod Thakur himself was actually born in the Shakta family. He was not born in the Goswami family.
But he by his own search for the absolute truth he studied Brahmoism he studied Christianity especially Unitarian Christianity. There are two broad sects in Christianity Unitarian and Trinitarian. So those who accept the concept of Trinity and those who are Unitarian I won’t go into theology of Christianity over here.
But he explored various paths and finally when he studied Chaitanya Charita Amrit he was very profoundly attracted to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And then he took initiation within the Gaudiya Sampradaya by accepting as his Guru the Hindu Bihari Goswami. And in that way because he was well educated he was a part of the Bhadraloka he got he brought respectability to Gaudiya Vaishnavism he started studying Gaudiya Vaishnavism respectability among the educated people also.
And then from him Bhakshansa Thakur was born and Bhakshansa Thakur actually took things further. And that’s why there was a we often had confrontations you know that famous confrontation which happened in Midnapur, Brahmana vs Vaishnava it was a debate and Bhakshansa Thakur whitewashed his opponents practically speaking. And there was a stampede of appreciative people practically over there.
And Bhakshansa Thakur defeated his opponents completely. And people just came forward and tried to touch his feet. And everyone was coming forward so vigorous that there would have been a stampede.
So the local administrators over there they brought buckets of water asked Bhakshansa Thakur to sit down and put his feet in the buckets of water and then they took the water and sprinkled it on the people. So Bhakshansa Thakur was so profoundly learned. So there were also attempts on his life.
At one time when he was in Navadvip people even attacked him. And his parikrama in his Vrindavan at that time some of the main temples got closed they did not open because he had actually initiated people who were non-Brahmins and he had even made some of them into Sanyasis also. So these were things which were they said no no we cannot do this.
So at first they said actually non-Brahmins cannot even practise Gaurav Vishnu. Some of them would say like that. But then they said okay non-Brahmins can practise but they cannot teach.
But actually there is no such rule. And Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made a person who was not to speak of non-Brahmin a person who was a non-Hindu entirely that was Sardar Thakur. And to the topmost teacher he went into Namacharya.
And similarly we see Rupan Shambhu Goswami. They had lost their caste but still they were also accepted as founding teachers in our moment. So Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not have this any sort of thing.
So Janma is not a factor. Anybody can be born in any family but still that person can make rapid spiritual advancement by taking shelter of Krishna through the process of bhakti. So the purity of devotional service is such that an impure birth does not make any difference.
Krishna also says in the Bhagavad Gita Even people who are born in lower caste, it doesn’t make any difference. So Prabhupada writes it’s a great hard struggle it’s a great hard struggle for some time for bhakts of Thakur attempts on his life and we discussed all that. And then Prabhupada writes it is on the basis of his position that anyone can now become a Gaurav Vaishnav from any part of the world or any part of the universe, Prabhupada.
This is a very universalist vision over here, any part of the universe. And then Prabhupada quotes various references for this point. He is quoting from the Skanda Purana, Kashi Khanda version.
Now this is a he is quoting from the Padma Purana, Vashishtha Mani is studying King Dilipa. So you can read the quotes. So now this quote from in the country from Skanda Purana, what does it state? It says in fact they look so beautiful that they surpass the ordinary brahmanas.
Not only can they practise but actually they become greater than brahmanas. That is the idea. So now Prabhupada is so balanced.
You know first he says that, just he gives the famous example that just as by touching bell metal, he uses the example which he has given in the Upadesha Amrit also that just by alchemy a lower metal can be converted into gold. Similarly a person, whatever be the birth can be converted into an exalted soul by initiation. So now immediately Prabhupada balances by saying that don’t think that just by initiating you already become a great soul.
He says you have to actually practise the rules and regulations, become purified and then you will become great souls. But the point is that opportunity to become advanced is there open for everyone. So after talking about birth then he talks about Prayaschitta.
Then he talks about fall down. So now the word fall down generally we use in devotional service. Somebody is unable to follow four aggregate principles or has some other immoral behaviour.
Then we call that as a fall down. Now in the path of Karmakanda the idea is that if one falls down then one has to do Prayaschitta and only after doing atonement one becomes purified. Without that atonement one remains pure, impure.
Now in Bhakti one doesn’t have to do any separate atonement. In fact continuation of Bhakti is itself an atonement. So when some devotees would have some difficulty in practise of Krishna Conscious Devotee, what would you tell them? You would tell them to intensify their devotional service.
Now if some devotee has some serious problem in following the standards then such a devotee may not be given a leadership position in the moment. Or in the point of view of leadership position they temporarily temporarily their leadership position will be removed. That is not because devotional service is not potent.
Devotional service is so pure that whatever impurity a person may have that impurity can be removed by devotional service. But that removal is done to protect that person and to protect others. To protect that person that person, if one has a leadership position, one has so many responsibilities that often that may distract one from focussing on tapping the potency of pure devotional service and becoming purified.
And similarly, others may think okay, that person is doing like that, that’s okay, I can also do like that. No, that should not be a long message conveyed. So, when we say that no prayaschitta is required that means that it’s not that any kind of behaviour is okay.
No, the point is that actually whenever there is something which requires prayaschitta what a devotee does is practises devotional service itself. And this is actually the theme of the 6th Canto also in the discussion between Shri Dev Goswami and Shri Maharaja about how as the prayaschittas don’t purify they may just check the count, they may just prevent the sinful reactions from coming, but they don’t purify the sinful mentality. That is purified only by bhakti.
… … … … This form is removed as soon as sun rises. Similarly, all impurities are removed, all sins are removed when bhakti is awakened. That is what is important.
Now, after talking about this Prabhupada talks about there are three processes for elevating one to the prayaschitta platform. They are karma, jnana and bhakti. So, one who does bhakti does not have to do anything to do with karma and jnana.
And then Prabhupada quotes several places Narada Muni, from the Uddhava Gita and like that he quotes various things. Now, Prabhupada goes on. So now, actually the way Prabhupada quotes, all of them are combined together.
But there are different issues which are being talked about. So, one is where one is born, another is has one fallen. Even if one has fallen, one can continue devotional service.
Devotional service does not require purification by any other process so that the person can practise devotional service. Similarly, now the theme that is starting from here is any person who now the theme is that devotional service is so potent that one does not need to be a part of varna ashram. So, any person can be in any varna or any ashrama, one can practise devotional service and become elevated.
And then giving up all occupational duties to be considered a first-class man. So, in fact, what Krishna is telling is that surrender to a person, surrender to him makes a person a first-class man. It is not that being in a particular varna or ashrama is exalted.
In fact, surrendering to Krishna is even more exalted. And then there are many other quotes. There is a quote in this Krishna Bhavaita class, how one is not a debtor to anyone.
So, the idea is that whatever the person’s social situation, like in varna ashrama or otherwise, one is not obliged to anyone else if one surrenders to the Supreme Lord. This also indicates that there is no contamination that can come for a devotee who is engaged in devotional service seriously. So, devotional service is not dependent on any varna or any ashrama.
It is dependent simply on devotional service itself. It’s self-dependent. It’s self-dependent or independent.
It doesn’t require anything else. It’s not that one has to be in a higher varna to practise, nor is it that one has to be in a lower varna to practise. One can be in any varna, one can practise bhakti and become elevated.
So, we see, in the mediaeval ages, there was a bhakti renaissance all over India. So, Shri Shetan Mahaprabhu and his associates appeared in Bengal, but like that there are many other saints appeared in different parts of the country. And we see most of these saints were from the lower castes.
And despite being from the lower castes, they were able to practise devotional service and not only they practised, they inspired many, many people all over the country during their times. So, their devotion was not interrupted by their being from a lower varna or having a lower birth. So, this is slightly different, birth and varna.
But the point is, of course, in Vedic culture, varna was not determined only by birth. But even if a person is taking up some lower occupation, that does not make a person disqualified from practising bhakti or even from teaching bhakti. And Shri Prabhupada came to India and he brought his western disciples with him.
So, it created a sensation in India to see western devotees in loti kurta and saree, dancing and singing. And of course, although there was appreciation, along with that there was some opposition, some criticism also. So, some letters appeared when the big successful programme of Shri Prabhupada was reported in Times of India and other Indian newspapers.
So, at that time, those newspapers, they said that, what is this? Some people wrote letters saying that, you know, Bhaktiyaan Swami’s disciples were interviewed and some of them said that, one of them said that he was a truck driver earlier. And he said, this indicates that he was a shudra and he cannot become a proper Vaishnava. Now, I am just giving truck driver the example.
Different devotees coming from different backgrounds. And he said, therefore, this person cannot. So, Prabhupada read all these reports very carefully.
If anything that is connected with this, Prabhupada was very eager to know what it was and to make sure that public got the proper perception about Krishna Consciousness. So, he told Tamal Krishna Maharaj, Prabhu at that time, now he is Maharaj, that you can actually respond to these letters. And Prabhupada himself responded to one of the letters.
Or he gave generally ideas to devotees. You should write this, you should write this, write this. And Prabhupada told them that, actually, whatever be the background of a person, whatever be the place, job a person is doing in the past, it doesn’t matter.
Because devotional service is transcendental. And now the person is engaged wholeheartedly in the service of Krishna. That is what is important.
What happened earlier, what the person was doing earlier doesn’t matter. So, it’s not that if I just change the electricity bulb in my house, I become an electrician by that. Similarly, somebody might be doing a particular activity, that does not necessarily make that person belong to that varna.
There may be devotees who may be driving cars. There may be devotees who may be cleaning toilets. There may be devotees who may be, say, moving cloth.
That doesn’t make them belong to any particular varna, just by the activity performance. Bhakti is transcendental. And all these can be means by which a devotee can serve Krishna and move forward in Krishna consciousness.
So, actually, now, sometimes we may get lost in seeing what is happening. So, actually, this whole section, which is a long section here, in several paragraphs. So, from here to here, this section, the same thing is in Karbhaji, Maharaj Nami.
So, three paragraphs. All of it is talking about one verse, Deva, Rishi, Gutatram, Ram, Putranam. And the point of quoting that verse is to tell us that bhakti is not dependent on anything.
Bhakti is supremely pure. So, nobody has to do anything for him. Nobody has to do anything to become purified so that the person can practise bhakti.
Anybody in any position can practise bhakti. And Prabhupada quotes Sarvadharma Antara Yuktajya. And then he even quotes from Agasthya Samhita and Rangesh Samhita Bhagavatam.
So, 11th canto, often we will see that there are quotes in this section from the 11th canto. So, now, all this has concluded that pure devotional service does not require anything else. It’s pure.
It’s independent. It can purify a person from whatever situation the person may be. And it can help that person to attain elevation and ultimately attain a destination that is higher than liberation.
So, now, we come to the point of how to discharge devotional service. So, here there is basically this chapter is basically a set of 64 rules of how 64 items to practise devotional service. So, I won’t go into the items because we will be discussing those items after some time.
Now, let’s focus on 64 items. They fall into two categories actually. Here we can see that yeah, there are 64 items of sadhana bhakti out of which there are 20 items of primary importance.
And those 20 items involve anukul and pratikul. That means 10 activities to accept, that is 1 to 10. And 11 to 20 are 10 activities to reject or to avoid.
This is for rauti and nivrati. And then 40th, 44 additional items are also talked about. 20 plus 44 out of this.
21 to 59 are the items of sadhana. This is how one should practise sadhana. And then 60 to 64 there are 5 potent forms of devotional service.
This will comprise a separate chapter. And we will discuss it as we move forward. So, now, what are these items which are talked about? The 1 to 10 items activities to accept in pravrtti.
Let’s focus on this first. So, for this we go into this chapter. You can just read the chapter now.
This is a listing and we can, we will discuss this list later as it is elaborated.