Is bhakti centered on commitment to Krishna or on attachment to him?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, in bhakti, I said we have to move towards beyond attachment and attachment to commitment. But isn’t that in bhakti there is beyond commitment, there is attachment? Yes, that is the purpose and that is the perfection.
So, what happens is, Jiva Goswami in the Sandarvas says that for the siddhas, they stay on the spiritual platform because of priti. Because they have love for Krishna, that’s why they naturally stay on the spiritual platform. But, for the sadhakas, what keeps them on the spiritual platform is not priti, but buddhi.
Since priti, we sometimes feel good when we are practicing bhakti, we come and take darshan, we dance in kirtan, we sometimes feel good. Sometimes we do not feel all that good. So, what will keep us steady is buddhi.
And when we act on the level of buddhi, that means actually commitment. Because using our intelligence, I understand that this is important, this is beneficial for me and therefore I will do it, no matter how I feel like it. So, yes, our goal is to become attached to Krishna.
But attachment to Krishna will not just come automatically. Before that, we will have to become committed to Krishna and from that commitment, gradually attachment will develop. In 12.9, the Bhagavata Krishna says that By abhyasa yoga, try to fix your mind on me again and again and again.
What will happen by that? Iccha for me, desire for me, attraction for me will come. So, by repeatedly striving to fix the mind on Krishna, through a committed practice of bhakti, our attachment to Krishna will develop.