Bhakti Shastri (157) Nectar of Devotion Chapter 10 & 11

Podcast

Welcome back to the Bhakti Shastri course. We are now in the middle of the 19 chapters of the Nectar of Devotion.
Let’s begin with the 10th chapter. We are discussing the 64 items of devotional service and this chapter Srila Prabhupada titles as The Techniques of Hearing and Remembering. So, in the Nectar of Devotion itself the division is differently.
It is primarily in terms of eastern side, western side and within that there are waves. So, this chapter division is primarily Srila Prabhupada’s division and titles are also given by him. So, here basically they are primarily talking about Shravanam and then Smaranam.
This is Tatkrapekshanam, expecting the lord’s mercy. Then there is, this is Smaranam and Mananam. This is remembrance and this is deeper remembrance, that is meditation.
So, we will look at each of these one by one. Shravanam is the first among the processes of devotional service as described by Prahlad Maharaj. So, Shravanam, Kirtanam, Vishnu, Smaranam, Padasi.
Shravanam. So, it’s the first and basically Shravanam means that we hear from advanced devotees and there are three references given over here and the Shravanam can be of different things. Normally we think Shravanam means hearing of Krishna Katha, but actually even Kirtan that is there when advanced devotees sing Krishna’s names even hearing them singing, that is also Shravanam.
Of course, generally when that happens, there is Kirtanam also, that means advanced devotees sing the Kirtan and then we repeat it. So, that’s why it can be called Kirtan. But Shravanam applies to that also.
When we hear, we hear not only the pure devotees speak about Krishna, but when they sing about Krishna hearing that also is purifying. So, here we will see three references are given and each of these talks about one one specific different thing. So, there can be Nama Shravan, there can be Charita Shravan and then it can be Gunadi Shravan.
So, Nama Shravan means Nama Shravan means hearing about the holy name. So, Prabhupada explains, he used the example from the Garuda Puran over here, that just as a person who is unconscious that can be, because of a snake bite, that unconsciousness can be countered and the person can be brought back to consciousness by the sound of mantras. Similarly, we are all spiritually unconscious.
We are bitten by the snake of illusion. … … … … … … So, this metaphor of material existence being compared to snake bite is quite common and this verse which I recited is different from the Garuda Puran reference, but the point is similar, that material existence is like a snake bite. Samsara is serpent.
So, Samsara is like a serpent. Vishadigdha, very poisonous. Mahogra, Teevra, extremely frightening and Ugra, Ugra is horrible and Teevra is very sharp.
Mahogra, Teevra, Damshtragra, Damshatra is teeth, Agra is the front part. Sharp fangs are there. And how many fangs are there? Normally, even if a snake has one fang, it is dangerous.
If it has four fangs, it is even more dangerous. But this has KOTI PARIDASHTYA MURTE KOTI Actually, practically every alluring sense object is like a fang of mortal existence. Because what does that sense object do? When we meditate on the sense object, the enjoying mentality gets injected into our consciousness.
And that enjoying mentality poisons our spiritual awareness. And the more a person gets injected with the enjoying mentality, the more a person becomes unconscious of spiritual reality. So all of us are in that way unconscious.
Because not only in this life, but even in previous lives, we have been bitten by so many snake bites. And some of the examples that are given in the scriptures, we will not be able to immediately comprehend them because we live in a different culture. So we normally, if there is somebody who gets a snake bite, normally we will go to a doctor or we’ll get an antidote.
And some injection will be given. That’s how we’ll cure it. But in the Vedic culture, it is understood that sound has a connection with everything.
And the connection of sound with the connection of sound with the effect on the body is something which is being increasingly researched by scientists. So we know that just as the sound can pacify a person, you know, when people are agitated, people hear music, not even just devotees hearing devotional music, but even materialistic people, if they hear some relaxing music, they feel relaxed. In fact, they call it as a relaxing music.
So sound has effects, subtle effects. So one of the effects of sound is that when a person is poisoned, actually by chanting specific mantras, the effect of poison can be countered. It’s very subtle and it’s not ordinary.
There are specific sounds need to be chanted in a specific way. Then the poison gets countered out. So that is an example which we’re not able to comprehend immediately.
But the principle we can understand that just as an unconscious person can be brought back to consciousness in that case of a snake bite through a mantra. Similarly, by the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, a person can be brought back from unconsciousness to consciousness. So this is an example of Nama Shravana.
That means hearing about the name, hearing the name of Krishna. So there can be different kinds of hearing. Let’s look at the next reference now.
So in the next reference, Srimad Bhagavatam, it is Mahashivdeva Swamitali Palsit Maharaj. And this is about speak about the transcendental activities of the Lord. So this is Charita Shravana, the character of the Lord, the pastimes of the Lord, the transcendental activities.
So it’s just like from the moon-like faces of great devotees, what happens? This is a nectarean river flowing and one hears it. And by that one becomes free from material miseries. And then Prabhupada gives general philosophical background to explain how hearing is important.
And then lastly, this is Gunaadi Shravana. So here about the transcendental qualities about the Lord. Now this is a small differentiation.
It’s not a very serious differentiation in the sense that there can be overlapping categories. But we can generally understand that there is Nama Shravana, there is Charitaadi Shravana and there is Guna Shravana. So these are all related to the Supreme Lord.
And there is a continuity also and there is a distinctiveness also in it. The essential point is hearing about Krishna is extremely important. And in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit, where Lord Chaitanya is instructing the Goswamis, he describes how hearing and chanting is like watering the Bhaktilata beach.
So that once it starts growing, then also it needs water. Shravana Sikirtana Sinchana, he says. It’s Sinchana, it’s watering the tree, watering the Bhaktilata, the creeper of devotion.
Now after this, the next item is expecting the mercy of the Lord. That is Tat Krupe Ekshanam, Tat Krupa, the Krupa of the Lord, expecting it. Now this is interesting.
Tat Krupe Ekshanam means what? Actually, we understand that Bhakti is a path of grace. We cannot make spiritual advancement just by our endeavours. Our endeavours are no doubt very important.
Very, very important. But along with doing our endeavours, we also need Krishna’s mercy. Our endeavours are basically to show Krishna that we want his mercy.
So as devotees, we expect Lord’s mercy. So the example of Nazir’s Jataka bird, how it waits for the water to come from the sky. And when the water comes from the sky, it gets nourishment by that.
All the water is available, that’s why it doesn’t take. So like that, a devotee expects the Lord’s mercy. And here, Rupa Goswami quotes the famous words from the prayers of Brahmaji in the 10th Canto.
Tat Te Nukampam Susamikshamano Bhunjanheva Atmakrtam Vipakam Vidhvaagvapur Ervidam Namaste Jivetayo Muktipade Sadaibhag So Tat Te Nukampam, that your Anukampa, your mercy. Susamikshamano, Ekshamano is I’m waiting for. Bhunjanheva Atmakrtam Vipakam Bhunjanheva means undergoing.
One is undergoing when a devotee is suffering, undergoing miseries. What is a devotee? Atmakrtam Vipakam. One thinks it’s Atmakrtam.
It is because of my own bad deeds that I am getting the reactions now. So devotee thinks that the karmic sufferings are coming because of my own misdeeds. But what is Krishna’s mercy? Krishna is minimising those sufferings for me.
So Krishna is just giving me a sample. And moreover, Krishna is giving me his remembrance by which I can shield myself from those sufferings and I can go deeper into taking his shelter, into his remembrance. And then Vidhvaagvapur Ervidam Namaste Namaste.
Namaste means offer obeisances. How? Vidhvaagvapur Ervidam Vidh is the heart, Vag is speech, Vapu is body. So completely with body, speech and heart.
Utterly offers obeisances. Vidhvaagvapur Ervidam Namaste And Jeevay Dayo One who lives like this. Muktipade Sadaibhag Muktipade For liberation.
Daibhag means, this is, Prabhupada translated this as Daibhag means inheritance. So liberation has become the inheritance of such a person. Just like if a person is the child of a billionaire.
Then whatever is the billionaire’s property, the child is going to inherit it. What does the child have to do? This child has to live. The child just lives and then that inheritance will come.
Similarly, we just have to live in bhakti. Now the tribulations that come in life may make us feel like giving up bhakti. But then we have this devotional disposition.
My dear lord, please have mercy on me. I’m so fallen. Please have mercy on me.
So that Tatkrupe Ikshwana, begging for the mercy of the lord. Actually Prabhupada was once on a morning walk. And at that time they passed by a lake.
And there were some birds in the lake. And there was a man who was feeding those birds. And then he was throwing some food crumbs at all the birds.
And all the birds were quacking, asking for more and more food crumbs. And he was giving to all of them. And there’s one bird which is quacking very fiercely, very fervently.
Repeatedly, again and again. And the bird was quacking more and more and more. Much more than the other birds.
And this man was giving more food crumbs to that bird. So Prabhupada said, this is how mercy is given. He said, actually, you know, none of the birds can make any demands.
This person is completely free to give the food crumbs to whichever bird he wants. And he is completely free not to give to anyone else. Not bound to give.
No, he can give to anyone. He’s free. But why is this person giving more to this bird? Because this bird is calling out more and more.
Calling out more and more. So like that, when we sincerely, urgently call out to Krishna, then Krishna bestows His mercy. Tat Kripa Ekshanam.
So, of course, when there is… when the devotee asks for the mercy also… On one level, we understand Krishna has already given me the mercy. What is the mercy? The very opportunity to practise devotional service itself is a great mercy. The very opportunity to be in the association of devotees itself is a great mercy.
Along with that, as I get myself absorbed in devotion, as I get taste in devotion, that is a greater mercy. So devotee is grateful for whatever mercy has been given. And devotee wants, longs for more and more mercy.
But then, actually, Prabhupada writes in 3rd Canto, Part 4 also, a devotee desires but does not demand the mercy of the Lord. Desire is natural because we have devotion or we want to have devotion. Naturally, we want the mercy of the Lord.
But at the same time, a devotee does not demand. Demanding is not in the mood of devotion. Krishna is the master and we are servants.
Whenever He wants, He will give. But surely, we long for it and we express that longing through our sincere, urgent calling out. Now, that calling out is, of course, when we are chanting, we chant urgent, seriously.
That is just one way of calling out. But actually, our whole life can be a calling out to Krishna. When we do our services, we show Krishna.
We do the service responsibly, committedly. We show that. By that, what do we show Krishna? Krishna, I am serious about my relationship with you.
I understand that if I am doing this for you, this will please you. So therefore, I will do it. I will do it seriously.
I am serious. And when Krishna shows the seriousness, then Krishna bestows His mercy. TAT KRIPAYEK SHANAM Now, it’s interesting that many of the other items that we have discussed till now, they were having some tangible activities associated with it.
For example, worshipping, bowing down before the deity or circumambulating the deity or just before we are hearing. Now, TAT KRIPAYEK SHANAM, this seems to be an intangible item. Isn’t it? Well, it is not associated necessarily with any specific form of devotional service.
But the idea is, this is essential. And this can be because it is distinct and it can often be missing. I can come and sit and hear a class or I can go and take darshan.
And I may not, I may just do it as a ritual. So to emphasise its importance, Rupa Goswami gives it as a distinct item. TAT KRIPAYEK SHANAM TAT KRIPA Asking for the mercy of the Lord.
Let’s move forward now. And here we see the next item is about remembrance. So now, here remembrance and meditation are similar.
But the way Rupa Goswami explains is, remembrance is general. So Prabhupada quotes two verses that how remembrance brings all auspiciousness. There are many, many verses about remembrance of the Lord.
With the famous verse that we are seeing at the time of initiation. OM AH VITRA VITRA VA SARVAVASTAN GATOPYA YAH SMARET PUNDARIKAKSHAN SA BHAYABYANTARA SHUCHIHI SHRI VISHNU SHRI VISHNU SHRI VISHNU So, BHAYABYANTARA SHUCHIHI Remembrance of Krishna is extremely potent in cleansing us. The way it can cleanse, nothing else can cleanse us.
Therefore, remembrance of Krishna is very important. Now, meditation is much much deeper than remembrance. So the way Rupa Goswami describes meditation, he talks about four kinds of meditation.
There is Nama Dhyan, there is Rupa Dhyan, there is Krida Dhyan or Leela Dhyan and then there is Seva Dhyan. So what are these referring to? Actually now, if you look at the different references which are given, they are all talking about these things one by one. So I’ll just explain.
Nama Dhyan means we meditate on the name of the Lord. So we are chanting. Often when we are chanting, it’s just a lip service.
We are not really concentrating. Leave alone meditating. Actually, concentration is one stage, meditation is a deeper stage.
Concentration means there is a possibility for distraction and there is a conscious attempt to focus one’s attention. That is concentration. But meditation means once you go so deep inside that one becomes unaware of anything else.
So here what Rupa Goswami is talking about is meditation. Now, Nama Dhyan. So when devotees absorb themselves in the holy name, they forget everything else.
Just to lose awareness of everything. That’s what would happen with Shaitan Mahaprabhu and associates who do Kirtan. When they’re completely absorbed in it.
Nama Dhyan. Like that. Now if we see, and there are different kinds of meditations, and then after that, after Nama Dhyan, there is also Rupa Dhyan.
Rupa Dhyan means that one meditates on the form of the Lord. So when we go in front of the deities and we look at the deities, if we look at the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, it describes how the yogi meditates on each limb of the Supreme Lord. In fact, there’s a description of each limb also.
Right starting from the lotus feet, how the lotus feet of the Lord is. And then it moves up to the knees and the thighs and the belly and the chest, which is the abode of Lakshmi Devi as Srivatsa. And then it moves to the lips and the nose and the eyes and the forehead.
And like that, complete form of the Lord, one can meditate on. So Rupa Dhyan. And when there is, now actually speaking in the material world, when there is male-female attraction, there is Raga Anuva Rupa Dhyan over there.
Spontaneously, when a man is attracted to a woman or a woman is attracted to a man, actually one goes deep into the… It starts meditating on that constantly. So of course, that is a meditation. The difference between worldly beauty and Krishna’s beauty is that worldly beauty is agitating.
Krishna’s beauty is pacifying. When we say that worldly beauty, there is so much pleasure over there looking at it. In fact, the whole industry, the movie industry, it focusses on depicting this beauty of the world.
And then there is actually… It’s attractive, but the end result is it’s agitating. It agitates us with sensual desires. It agitates lust within us.
And then after the lust is indulged in, if a person indulges in lust, then it’s frustrating. So actually, Krishna’s beauty is not like that. Krishna’s beauty, the more we behold that beauty, what happens is the lust becomes pacified.
It’s not agitating, it’s pacifying. Now we could say the spiritual sense is agitating in the sense that the devotees are eager to behold the form of the Lord. But that spiritual hankering is wonderful because that spiritual hankering purifies us of all material hankerings.
In the first scant term, when Narada Muni in his previous life is a boy who has lost his mother and then starts doing meditation. And after doing meditation, he gets a brief experience of the Lord. And after that, when he sees the Lord, actually all his senses get enlivened by the beautiful darshan of the Lord.
And then the Lord disappears. He’s extremely agitated. So at that time, a voice comes.
And that voice says that because you are impure at heart and incomplete in service, therefore, you will not be able to see me again. In fact, the Lord said, I regret that you will not be able to see me. The Lord is expressing his endear, his sweetness.
The Lord wants to reveal himself. But when we are not pure hearted, we can’t see him. It’s like somebody might be right in front of us, but if my eyes are closed, then I can’t see that person.
So what I have to do is I have to do the endeavour of opening my eyes. So as long as we are impure, that impurity is like the closing of the eyes. We can’t see.
When the more we become purified, the eyes open and then we can start seeing. So it says that actually, you have this one darshan of me. And by this darshan, this will create a constant hankering for me within you.
And by this hankering, your worldly hankerings will go away. We all have the power to desire. And that power to desire, if it is directed towards Krishna, then all our other desires get driven away by that.
So the process of bhakti yoga is not to empty the heart of material desires. It is the process of bhakti yoga is to crowd material desires out of our heart. What do we do? We don’t empty material desires from our heart.
We crowd material desires out of our heart. Crowd means we fill the heart with spiritual desires. And when the heart is filled with spiritual desires, then material desires have left no place in that.
So our focus should not be on speaking no, no, no. Our focus should be on saying yes, yes. And the more we say yes to Krishna and become eager for the different process of devotional service, then the more material desires automatically go away.
So it could be Krishna’s form when we take darshan, then that actually drives away our material desires and fills up with spiritual desires. And actually the spiritual desires fill us with ecstasy. That is Rupa Dhyan.
And then there is Leela Dhyan or Krida Dhyan, that is meditating on the pastimes of the Lord. So we see Jaitanya Mahaprabhu would do Rupa Dhyan. Sometimes he would just from far away outside the Jagannath Temple.
If we go to Jagannath Temple and see where Jaitanya Mahaprabhu would stand, near the Garuda Stambha, actually it’s quite far away. From there it’s difficult even to see the Lord very clearly. But Jaitanya Mahaprabhu was so absorbed, when he would come in front of the Lord, the whole world would fade away, would practically disappear for him.
A completely absorbed and beholding the form of the Lord. So here is an example of Rupa Dhyan. And then there is Leela Dhyan.
Leela Dhyan means one becomes so absorbed in hearing the pastimes that one is lost, ecstatically lost in that. So that’s how there is Leela Dhyan. Leela Dhyan means one gets absorbed in the pastimes of the Lord.
And we see this in many cases, especially we see this in how Jaitanya Mahaprabhu want to hear the pastimes of Dhruva Maharaj and the pastimes of Prahlad Maharaj especially. Hundred times, again, again, I want to hear again, I want to hear again. Because their devotion is so extraordinary.
They relish that devotion and want to relish it again and again and again. That is Leela or Priya Dhyan. And then last is actually what all of us need to do the most.
We can and should do Naam Dhyan, Rupa Dhyan, Leela, Priya Dhyan. But we can’t do it too much. In the sense that if we have to do it all day, then our Dhyan will go into something else only.
That’s why we have Seva Dhyan. Seva Dhyan means absorption in service. So at one level, Seva Dhyan can be if one is doing deity worship, then one gets absorbed in the deity.
Okay, I have to cook this for… If I decorate this, maybe I can celebrate this festival. We can do this, we can do that. That is Seva Dhyan.
One gets absorbed in service to the Lord. And Seva Dhyan can also be different services that we are doing. Whatever service we are doing.
If a devotee is doing book distribution, devotee can think, how can I attract more people? What can I speak? How can I approach? How can I distribute books more? If you learn from others. So the devotee can get absorbed in Seva. And whatever service we have, each of that service, that service can become the source of absorption for us.
And once you become absorbed in service, and through that absorption, you become connected with Krishna. Seva Dhyan. So we say Shila Prabhupada is so absorbed in service.
Constantly thinking of how to share Krishna Consciousness with people. And that’s why one day he was in San Francisco. He was just in the temple, the balcony sort of thing.
He was walking on the balcony, chanting. Just looked out and he saw a flatbed truck. And what did he think? You can put Jagannath Baldev Subhadra and have a Thyatra festival over here.
How many people see a flatbed truck? And how many of them will ever think of Jagannath Baldev Subhadra, of converting a flatbed truck into Jagannath Baldev Subhadra cart? Shila Prabhupada is genius. He is so absorbed. Constantly looking for an opportunity to expand the service of Krishna.
Seva Dhyan. So a devotee, wherever the devotee goes. If you go to some place, Shila Prabhupada would go.
When he went to Moscow, he saw some buildings over there. He thought, oh, in Mayapur, the temple we have, we can have a dome like this. Or wherever he would go, he would see something wonderful.
He would think, how can this be used in Krishna’s service? So the idea is that a devotee, especially if we are doing Seva, then Seva Dhyan can be a constant way in which we can connect with Krishna. And especially the Seva that we can do is, whenever we are meeting people, we can be in the mood of serving Krishna. How can I help this person come closer to Krishna? So that meeting can become a form of devotional service.
That is our meditation. Seva Dhyan. And this way, we can all be absorbed in service.
And that’s why we see Shila Prabhupada translated bhakti also not just as devotion, but as devotional service. Devotional service. Let’s look at the references now.
So Shila Prabhupada used many of the references. They are not specifically divided over here, the way they are in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. They are generically mentioned over here.
So on the sweet pastimes, Padma Purana reference, this refers to Leela Dhyan. And then here it talks about remembering the qualities of the Lord. So one of the qualities is beauty.
So this can also be used to refer to Rupa Dhyan. And then lastly, there is this Seva Dhyan. There’s a story, beautiful story from the Prabhavya Purana of the Brahmana in Pratishthanapur of how he was doing Manas Puja.
So how he was preparing a kheer for the Lord. And when he prepared that kheer, in his mind, he was preparing it. But when he was preparing it in the mind, he wanted to check whether he prepared it very lavishly.
And then he wanted to check whether it is adequately hot or it is cold or what. And he put his finger in the mind only. And his fingers were burnt, actually.
And Lord Vishnu with Narayan was watching. And he started smiling. Lord Vishnu with Lakshmi was there.
And then Lakshmi asked, what is happening? And then Lord Vishnu got that devotee back just by Manas Puja. So actually, Manas Puja is something which you can always do. Even when we are not able to do service, still we can always do Manas Puja.
Now, of course, we should not only do Manas Puja. We see that at the birth of Krishna, normally in the Vedic tradition is whenever there is birth, one gives charity to invoke auspiciousness. So at the birth of Krishna, Vasudev wanted to give a lot of charity.
But he couldn’t because he was in prison. So in his mind, he gave thousands of cows in charity to the Brahmins. And then later on, when Krishna killed Kamsa and restored Vasudev to his position of power and glory, then Vasudev actually gave the charity also.
So he actually gave whatever he desired to do in the mind. He just did not keep it as a desire. The desire expressed itself as action.
So that way, whenever we are able to do, we do actions in devotional service. And whenever we are not able to do, then in our heart we desire, let me do this service, let me do this service. And by that way, we can keep ourselves Krishna conscious all the time.
So Manas Puja, that means the two things. Only when it is not possible for us to do physically, then Manas Puja is acceptable. And whenever the opportunity comes up, we should actually translate that Manas Puja actually into direct also.
But this story illustrates that if there is a sincere heart which wants to serve the Lord, then Manas Puja can be so glorious. The Lord becomes so pleased by the sincerity of the devotional attitude that the Lord can elevate and liberate a person for doing service, even in the mind. In fact, one of the characters of Kali Yuga that is described in 16th chapter, the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is that, in Kali Yuga, even if a person does bad things, if a person does bad things in the mind, one doesn’t get any reaction for that.
But if a person does good things in the mind, one gets the benefit for that. That is the speciality of Kali Yuga. And we can tap into that speciality.
So now let’s move to the, this is the chapter on techniques of hearing and remembering. Let’s go to the next chapter. So aspects of transcendental service.
So service is servitorship. So now this is the further items of devotional service. And there is Dasyam, Sakhyam and Atmanivedanam that are talked about over here, in this particular chapter.
Dasyam, Sakhyam, Atmanivedanam are what? They are the last three items among the nine items of the nine forms of nine limbs of devotional service, nine forms of devotional service that are mentioned by Prahlad Maharaj. So Shravanam, Kirtanam, Vishnu, Smaranam, Pada, Sevanam, Archanam, Vandanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, Atmanivedanam. So the other items have already been mentioned by Rupa Goswami in different ways.
Now he is mentioning these. So there is Dasyam, Sakhyam and Atmanivedanam. Now Dasyam, servitorship can be in two different ways.
Let’s look at it. So the, we can see over here. So servitorship can be in two ways.
Karmarpanam and Kainkaryam. Kainkara means servitorship. The mood of Karmarpanam means we do the karma and we offer it to Krishna.
And there are two ways. Karmarpanam that we can do is offering the fruits of Varanashram. That will be karma.
I’ll explain this. And offering the nine main devotional activities is Shravanam, Kirtanam. That is Bhakti.
Let’s try to understand this now. First let’s look at Karmarpanam. So Karmarpanam, offering of karma.
Svakarmana tam abhyarcha siddhanandati manavaha. In the 18th chapter from verses 41 to 48, Krishna talks about how Varanashram can be used as a stepping stone for Bhakti. Actually it is intended for that.
It is meant to be lead one to Bhakti. So the mood of Varanashram is whatever is our karma. Svakarmana tam abhyarcha, worship that Supreme Lord.
That is what the purpose of Varanashram is, to worship the Lord. Now by talking about this, this is not necessarily pure devotion. This is actually depending on the consciousness of the person.
Most often it is karma. That means the person is doing the activities within Varanashram, but one offers those works to the Supreme Lord. So this technique, some people consider this also to be Bhakti.
We see in the hierarchy that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya discussed in the Maddalila Ashram in Bhagavatam of Chaitanya Charita Amrit, Ramananda Samvat, there when Ramananda Raya talks about offering Varanashram, he quotes the famous verse from Vishnu Purana. The purpose of Varanashram is to do Vishnu Aradhana. There is no other purpose of Varanashram than the satisfaction of Lord Vishnu.
So what does Chaitanya Mahaprabhu reply? This is external. Speak further. Speak further.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu considers it to be peripheral. It’s also a principle of dharma, but it’s a peripheral principle of dharma, external principle of dharma. So the Gaudiya Vishnu Acharyas consider this part of offering one’s Varanashram karma to Krishna, it’s not exactly pure devotional service.
It’s one level below. So Srila Prabhupada explains that yes, these people who are offering their worldly activities, their Varanashram activities to Krishna, because they have some feeling towards Krishna, that’s why they are offering those work to Krishna. That’s how it is a part of bhakti, but it’s not a part of pure devotion.
And the devotional disposition will eventually lead to the advancement towards pure devotion. So we’ll see, we discussed in the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, we discussed about the various levels at which bhakti can be performed from 12.8 to 12.12. So there we discussed about how one of the levels is working for Krishna, then another level is offering the fruits of our work to Krishna. So that way there are levels.
So this is because in karma arpanam, doing our Varanashram duties and offering them to Krishna is not necessarily considered to be para bhakti, but it is anukul to bhakti and it can help us to advance in bhakti. And that’s what we should do. We have to do our Varanashram duties.
And what we do is, we direct those Varanashram duties towards Krishna. And by that our material life gets spiritualised. But this differentiation makes it clear that they alone don’t constitute bhakti.
So people say karma hi pooja hai. Work is worship. So work is worship.
If work is worship, then the donkey is the greatest worshipper. Isn’t it? Donkey works so hard. Now work is worship is not taught anywhere in the Bhagavad Gita.
What is taught is how to make work into worship. It is not that work automatically is worship. So svakarmanatam abhyarcha, by your work worship him.
And for that what do we have to do? We have to have a relationship with Krishna separately. And that relationship is developed through sadhana bhakti. So when we do systematically sadhana bhakti, by that we develop a relationship with Krishna.
And then on the foundation of that relationship, then when we do our worldly duties, they can also become a form of worship. That’s why we have the morning programme. We do our sadhana in the morning here, studying scripture as much as possible a little bit.
And then when we go for work, then that work is, we do that work with the foundation of a spiritualised consciousness. And then that work can also become worship. So in karma arpanam, the other part is offering the ninefold items of devotional service to Krishna.
That means one understands that these items are, I’m doing this for Krishna, that these, when one item, one offers to Krishna, then they are the lakshana of bhakti. What has to be done? One has to offer them to Vishnu. So this is actually bhakti.
That means when he comes and hears, one comes and chants, these are activities of bhakti. And then this is, both are karma arpanam. Both are, we are doing activities.
So I’m coming to the temple to hear about Krishna. That is offering of bhakti. And similarly, there can be the worldly duties that I do for Krishna.
That is a step towards bhakti. From Rupa Goswami’s analysis, that’s not exactly bhakti. But higher than this is kainkaryam.
Kainkaryam means servitorship. In kainkaryam, I offer myself to Krishna. So it’s not that I’m doing these activities to Krishna, for Krishna.
I’m offering myself to Krishna. That is kainkaryam.