If bhakti is transcendental why is cultivating the mode of goodness important?
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So, this bhakti is transcendental. It does not depend on any material circumstances such as whether one is upto guna or not, to practice bhakti.
So, what it is done is to make it seem that one has to come up for the practice of bhakti. Okay, it’s a very important question. There are two distinct principles over here.
One is the principle that anybody from any level can practice bhakti. That is definitely true. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is talked about that there is a Kiratmanu Pranayama.
Kiratmanu Pranayama. That anybody from any level, any species also can have to come for bhakti. They can become elevated, they can become enlightened.
So, that is something which is undeniable. Now, when we are talking about coming to sattva, actually, sometimes we just, we use the axiom only in a very rigid or watertight sense. Say, for example, say, Brahman and Sattva.
Kshatriya then, a combination of Sattva and Rajas. Sattva and Rajas. Sattva and Kshatriya.
Well, that is broadly true. At the same time, there can also be businessmen. But as the Vaishyas, especially Rajoguna.
But we could say that even in Rajoguna, there is like Sattvic Rajas, there is Rajasic Rajas, there is Tamasic Rajas. What that means is, there can be businessmen who are also relatively doing business in Sattva. Their job is business.
Some businessmen, they also have their regular time. This is the time you start, this is the time you end. And they do not, they are not working 24 hours a day.
They are doing everything else. And there are other businessmen who are super passionate. All just, constantly giving money, money, money, nothing else.
And there are other businessmen who, they are Rajasic Rajas. They are doing Rajasic Rajas. In the Tamasic Rajas, there are businessmen who are simply plotting to destroy everything.
So that they can thrive. Not in a constructive competition, but destructive competition. So, that means, even in doing any dharma, even if you take a Shudra dharma, that Shudra dharma can also be done with a certain level of skill.
Or that can be done so much in Rajas, that can be done in Tamas. So, rather than here, in this analysis, rather than seeing a particular mode as associated with a particular varna, we can look at that mode in terms of its constitutional function. That is, Sattva is concerned with maintenance.
So, you could say Sattva is concerned with sustainability. And then, Rajas is concerned with creation. In English, it would be new things.
Tamas is concerned with closing down things, destroying things. So, now, in any profession, So, some people can do their job in such a way that they work very hard for six months and then they get burned out completely. They can’t sustain.
So, they are doing it, but they are not doing it in a sustainable way. So, there has to be something. The job itself may be Rajasik or Tamasik.
That varna may be predominant by Rajas. But that can also be done in a sustainable way. That can also be done by Rajasik or Tamasik.
So, let’s take an example that we can relate. You can say cricket and sports. Sports is a passion.
But there is a batsman who is trying to hit a sixer on every ball. The batsman cannot stay for long. He will soon get up.
If there is a bad ball, he will hit it. If there is a good ball, he will make a defensive. There has to be some amount of discretion in the batsman if he wants to stay for a long time.
So, sports itself can be, we can say, Rajamuna. But even in that, somebody has to sustain. Because that capacity to sustain requires some sort of intervention.
So, in that sense, if you consider Saptavar as that which anybody is going to sustain, then for, when it comes to Bhakti, anybody can start the practice of Bhakti. Nair Palsu is a drunkard also. They can see Haryana Party and can start chanting and dance.
But if they have to sustain the practice of Bhakti, they need a certain level of Saptavar. Without a certain level of Saptavar, it is not that Bhakti is dependent on Saptavar. But Saptavar is what enables one to continue.
So, here we are not talking Saptavar in terms of a mode of material nature. We are talking about Saptavar simply in terms of the capacity to function in a particular way. So, to sustain Bhakti requires a certain level of Saptavar.
So, Bhakti can be started from any point. But sustaining it requires Saptavar. So, in that sense, I am talking about that in the practice of Bhakti also, so, somebody might be doing the profession which is Rajasikar’s task.
But if they are able to practice Adhina Bhakti lifelong, that means they do have certain level of Saptavar. And for that matter, even if they are able to do that profession lifelong, that also requires a certain level of Saptavar. So, Saptavar in that sense is required for sustaining.
Whether it is anything material or anything spiritual. Now, as far as the progression is concerned, it is not necessary that, say for example, a Vaishya has to become a Brahmana in terms of Varana in order to become a Bhakti. A Vaishya may continue to do the Vaishya activity.
But the Vaishya, before practicing Bhakti, might have to do the Vaishya activity with Rajasik or Tamasik. That same Vaishya may do the Vaishya activity also in the same way after becoming a Brahmana. So, that’s how we talk about Daivi Varanashram.
Daivi Varanashram is where the intention is to serve and please Krishna. And then one adjusts things according to that intention. So, in the Bhagavatam, in terms of, there is a context of the Bhagavatam, there is a content of the Bhagavatam.
You see, the Bhagavad Gita in content, it covers a wide variety of topics. But in the context, it is spoken to a person who is about to, who is undecided, should I fight or should I not fight. So, in terms of context, the Bhagavatam is spoken to somebody who is at the level of Dharma and is to encourage him to practice Paradhana.
But in the content, the Bhagavatam talks about various levels. So, the Bhagavatam also talks about, say, Viratmukha. Which is considered to be the first step in God realization.
So, it talks about various ways of approaching also. And from various levels, even Tamasic level also, the Bhagavatam is inclusive in its content. But in terms of its context, it can come off sometimes as exclusive.
Although it is not exclusive. In its context, because it is rejecting even Dharma for the sake of Paradhana, it can come off as exclusive. But if you understand the full picture, then you will see that the Bhagavatam is inclusive, helping people to rise to wherever they are in the institution.
In the institution.