Bhakti Master Class

Talks on Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu

Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave

— by —

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī

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Esoteric Teaching Seminars, Inc.

ISBN _______

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Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 1

Table of Contents
Preface: About Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī....................................................... 3
Introduction: The importance of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu .................... 9
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu..................................................................... 11
Pure Devotional Service................................................................................ 13
Qualities of Pure Devotional Service ........................................................... 17
The importance of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu ................................................ 21
Chapter 1: Glories of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu ....................................26
Chapter 2: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1............................................. 43
Maṅgalācaraṇam Part 2................................................................................. 65
Chapter 3: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.2-4 ....................................89
Chapter 4: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.5 ...................................... 110
Chapter 5: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.6-9 ..................................131
Chapter 6: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.10-11 .............................. 151
Chapter 7: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11 continued .................178
Chapter 8: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11-12 .............................. 201
Chapter 9: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.13-16 ..............................224
Chapter 10: Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17-20 ............................. 256
Chapter 11: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.21-23 ........................... 284
Chapter 12: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.24-25 ...........................302
Chapter 13: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.26-29 ...........................319
Chapter 14: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.30-32 ...........................336

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 2

 Preface: About Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī
Even though there are so many great ācāryas, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has
been given honor of being that person who has established the mano-
bhiṣṭam, the innermost heart's desire, of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
When Mahāprabhu came to the village of Rāmakelī-grāma, He met with
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī and told them, "You
should leave your homes and be with Me."

After a short time they left their homes, and Lord Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu came from Vṛndāvan and met with Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at
Prāyag, the confluence of the rivers Yamunā and Gaṅgā. The Lord told
him:

pārāpāra-śūnya gabhīra bhakti-rasa-sindhu

tomāya cākhāite tāra kahi eka ‘bindu’

"The ocean of the transcendental mellows of devotional service is so

large that no one can estimate its length and breadth. However, just to
help you taste it, I am describing one drop." [ Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya 19.137]

Lord Caitanya gave one drop of the ocean of rāsa to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī,
and that one drop was sufficient to inundate millions upon millions of
universes. Later, He instructed Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in Varānasī.
Therefore, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's and Sanātana Gosvāmī’s understanding
of the mellows of devotional service, and specifically the mellow of
conjugal love, was extremely exalted. When Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was in
Purī with Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord was dancing at the
Ratha-yatra festival and uttering a verse from a book of mundane poetry
called sahitya-dārpaṇa:

yaḥ kaumāra-haraḥ sa eva hi varas tā eva caitra-kṣapās

te conmīlita-mālatī-surabhayaḥ prauḍhāḥ kadambānilāḥ
sā caivāsmi tathāpi tatra surata-vyāpāra-līlā-vidhau
revā-rodhasi vetasī-taru-tale cetaḥ samutkaṇṭhate

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 3

 "That very personality who stole away my heart during my youth is now
again my master. These are the same moonlit nights of the month of
Caitra. The same fragrance of malati flowers is there, and the same
sweet breezes are blowing from the kadamba forest. In our intimate
relationship, I am also the same lover, yet my mind is not happy here. I
am eager to go back to that place on the bank of the Reva under the
Vetasi tree. That is my desire." [ Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 1.58]

No one could understand why Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was uttering
this verse and in what mood He was absorbed. There was one young boy
there, however, named Rūpa, who later on became Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
There and then, upon hearing this verse from Mahāprabhu, another verse
appeared in his own heart, and he wrote down that verse:

priyaḥ so ‘yaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ saha-cari kuru-kṣetra-militas

tathāhaṁ sā rādhā tad idam ubhayoḥ saṅgama-sukham
tathāpy antaḥ-khelan-madhura-muralī-pañcama-juṣe
mano me kālindī-pulina-vipināya spṛhayati

[Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī said:] "My dear friend, now I have met My very old
and dear friend Kṛṣṇa on this field of Kurukṣetra. I am the same
Rādhārāṇī, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still
I would like to go to the bank of the Yamunā beneath the trees of the
forest there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the
fifth note within that forest of Vṛndāvan." [ Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya-lila 1.76]

In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has clarified Lord Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu's inner meaning and thus he revealed to the world the
importance of pārakīya-rāsa, the mood of paramour love between Lord
Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. Therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is the very person
who established within this world the innermost heart's desire of Lord Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

These deliberations and philosophical conclusions are extremely deep, and

very difficult to understand. It is therefore essential that one come under
the guidance of a self-realized guru, associate with advanced pure
devotees, and give one's full time, energy and enthusiastic work in service

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 4

and in chanting the Holy Names of Krsna. One should also make a great
effort to understand and realize the reason for which Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī
appeared in this world, and why he wrote so many wonderful
transcendental books like Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrī Ujjvala-
nīlamaṇi, Śrī Vidagdha-mādhava and Śrī Lalītā-mādhava.

The sacred Samādhi (tomb) of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī

Rādhā-Damodāra Temple in Vṛndāvan

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ
sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ
dadāti sva-padāntikam

"I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my
eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto
him. When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 5

 within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord
Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?" [ Bhagavad-gītā,
Introduction]

We have chanted this prayer many times in our presentations; now by

studying the ontological position of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, we start to really
comprehend its meaning. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in this
world for two principal reasons: the external, public presentation of the
yuga-dharma, harināma-saṅkīrtan, and the internal, confidential reason of
relishing the ecstatic moods of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau

samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ

"May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī
be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart.
Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the
Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has
ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional
service, the mellow of conjugal love." [ Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.4]

rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād

ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau
caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptaṁ
rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa-svarūpam

"The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental

manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves
eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in
the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested
Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself." [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.5]

śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā-

svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ
saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt
tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ

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 "Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful
qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the
happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the
Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from
the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean."
[Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.6]

The fact that Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was able to understand the confidential
heart's desire of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and even express it in
Sanskrit poetry at an early age, indicates that he is an eternal associate of
the Lord, specifically empowered to reveal this great teaching to the
denizens of Kali-yuga. Whenever the Lord descends, He brings His eternal
associates with Him, because factually only they can understand and help
Him in His pastimes.

"When we speak of a king it is naturally understood that the king is

accompanied by his confidential associates, like his secretary, private
secretary, aide-de-camp, ministers and advisers. So also when we see the
Lord we see Him with His different energies, associates, confidential
servitors, etc. So the Supreme Lord, who is the leader of all living
entities, the Lord of all devotee sects, the Lord of all opulences, the Lord
of sacrifices and the enjoyer of everything in His entire creation, is not
only the Supreme Person, but also is always surrounded by His
immediate associates, all engaged in their loving transcendental service
to Him." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.15, Purport]

So Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, as an eternal confidential associate of Lord Śrī

Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, was able to understand His deepest
intentions and also explain them in logical and highly poetic ślokas. This
is the transcendental significance of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu;
therefore, all sincere devotees in the line of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
must study it carefully and scrutinizingly to understand His real mission.
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared to teach the remarkable process
of pure bhakti, uttama-bhakti or pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, whose
benefits are inconceivably greater than even mixed devotional service to
the Lord. But to appreciate this, one must understand the distinction
between mixed and pure devotional service. In my experience, most
devotees are in the neophyte stage of bhakti, laboring under the

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misconception that if somehow or other they perform enough mixed
devotional service, they will attain the incomparable benefits of pure
devotional service. However, this attitude is a misunderstanding:

sudurlabhā —
sādhanaughair anāsangair alabhyā sucirād api
hariṇā cāśvadeyeti dvidhā sā syāt sudurlabhā

“Pure bhakti is rarely attained. Bhakti is difficult to attain in two ways: if

undertaken in great quantity but without attachment ( āsakti), bhakti
cannot attained even after a long time; and even if practiced with
attachment, Kṛṣṇa does not give bhakti to the practitioner immediately.”
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.35]

The stage of āsakti is actually very high, beyond even anartha-nivṛtti. If

one cannot rid himself of all material desires, both gross and subtle, there
is no question of attaining the benefits that result from pure bhakti alone.

The talks in this book were originally delivered as a part of a video

darshan series broadcast to our worldwide community of students. We do
not want them to repeat the error of our Godbrothers and others who think
that the exalted qualities of pure bhakti are obtainable by casual, neophyte
or even offensive service. That is why we are taking up this great study,
and all of our students should follow along, not missing anything, and get
the incomparable benefit of transcendental confidential pure loving service
to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī

January 13, 2010
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 8

 Introduction: The importance of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu
tad aśma-sāraṁ hṛdayaṁ batedaṁ
yad gṛhyamāṇair hari-nāma-dheyaiḥ
na vikriyetātha yadā vikāro
netre jalaṁ gātra-ruheṣu harṣaḥ

"Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one's chanting the

holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy
takes place, tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 2.3.24]

Sometimes devotees question why we have chosen to focus on the study

of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . After all, Śrīla Prabhupāda preached
mostly from Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; his classes on Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu are comparatively rare. The short answer is that
without a deep understanding of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , our
knowledge of bhakti is insufficient to attain the higher stages of the path
chalked out by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Śrīla Prabhupāda gave great mercy to the fallen inhabitants of the West,
bringing them to the authentic Vaiṣṇava path and revealing the
confidential methods that lead to the highest attainments of bhakti.
However, very few of his disciples have trod that path to its ultimate
conclusion. Many of them have become attached to management and
politics; too much dollars and not enough good sense. Thus many have
fallen down, if not into sinful activities then into the misconception that
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is just another mundane religion. Thus their spiritual
lives remain incomplete.

If, however, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is understood properly as a

transformation of consciousness and meaning from the mundane to the
transcendental ontological platform, then anārthas (polluted desires in the
heart), even subtle ones like pratiṣṭhā (attachment to religious honor and
position) are easily vanquished and the stage of ecstatic devotional service

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 9

described in the śloka above is easily reached. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not
just a collection of stories; it is an ontological literature designed to lift us
from the mundane to the transcendental platform of consciousness.

"The human society, at the present moment, is not in the darkness of

oblivion. It has made rapid progress in the field of material comforts of
life, education and economic development of the entire world. But it
suffers a pin-prick somewhere in the social body at large and therefore
there is large scale quarrel even on less important issues. Therefore there
is the want of the clue as to how they can become one in peace,
friendship and prosperity by the common cause. Srimad Bhagwatam
will fill up this gap by ontological aspect of human education. It is
therefore a cultural presentation for re-spiritualisation of the entire
human society." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, original Delhi edition, Preface.
Emphasis added.]

Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is the ontological analysis of Śrīmad-

Bhāgavatam. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī shows how all the categories of ecstatic
spiritual consciousness are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and backs
up all of his points by extracting authoritative quotations from Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam and other Vedic literatures. His style of presentation, which
he himself called "quiet conviction" is very powerful, and is also the
manner of exposition followed in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books and our own
writings.

Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu details all the steps from ordinary material

consciousness through the highest perfection of prema-bhakti. Therefore
every devotee who sincerely wants to attain the highest perfectional stage
of Kṛṣṇa consciousness must study this great transcendental literature. My
concern has always been that devotees do not give enough attention to Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Actually, it is very difficult to understand
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam properly without it. The fact that so few of my
Godbrothers have attained the authentic transcendental consciousness is
proof of this.

Hopefully, this detailed program of studying Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu

will bring some balance to the devotional society. As usual, all the videos

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 10

from this series will be posted on YouTube and anyone will be able to see
them. But the members of this site will have the additional advantage of
being able to post questions on this forum. Please take full advantage of
this discussion group to clarify your understanding of uttama-bhakti, pure
devotional service as described in Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . This will
certainly provide a powerful impetus to make your life and consciousness
perfect.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Generally devotees concentrate on Kṛṣṇa, chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa,
think of Kṛṣṇa and consider Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. But many devotees, especially in India, do not realize the
importance of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu reveals Kṛṣṇa to the aspiring devotee. In

fact, were it not for Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu we would not even
know the places of Kṛṣṇa's earthly pastimes in Vṛndāvan, because they
had become covered over by the passage of time (over 4,000 years) since
His appearance. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Vṛndāvan,
remembered and rediscovered the locations of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes and
instructed His disciples to renovate them. Thus today we are able to visit
these places and experience the transcendental bliss of Vṛndāvan-dhāma.

More than that, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also revealed the inner
moods of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees to an unprecedented extent. Normally
the transcendental pastimes of the Lord and His intimate devotees are very
confidential. When Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, not even the Yadu
dynasty, Kṛṣṇa's family members, knew of them in detail. But Lord Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu revealed these pastimes, explaining their deep
meaning through His disciples like Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, thus opening
these pastimes to all sincere devotees.

sei pañca-tattva mili’ pṛthivī āsiyā

pūrva-premabhāṇḍārera mudrā ughāḍiyā

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 pāṅce mili’ luṭe prema, kare āsvādana
yata yata piye, tṛṣṇā bāḍhe anukṣaṇa

"The characteristics of Kṛṣṇa are understood to be a storehouse of

transcendental love. Although that storehouse of love certainly came
with Kṛṣṇa when He was present, it was sealed. But when Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu came with His associates of the Pañca-tattva, they broke
the seal and plundered the storehouse to taste transcendental love of
Kṛṣṇa. The more they tasted it, the more their thirst for it grew." [ Śrī
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 7.20-21]

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Himself:

yad advaitaṁ brahmopaniṣadi tad apy asya tanu-bhā

ya ātmāntar-yāmī puruṣa iti so ’syāṁśa-vibhavaḥ
ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇo ya iha bhagavān sa svayam ayaṁ
na caitanyāt krṣṇāj jagati para-tattvaṁ param iha

"What the Upaniṣads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the

effulgence of His body, and the Lord known as the Supersoul is but His
localized plenary portion. Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself, full with six opulences. He is the Absolute
Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him." [ Śrī Caitanya-
caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.3]

Although Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, He has

appeared in the mood of His greatest devotee, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī:

rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād

ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau
caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptaṁ
rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa-svarūpam

"The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental

manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves
eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in
the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested
Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself." [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.5]

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 12

Kṛṣṇa appears in the form of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to understand
Himself from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's point of view:

śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā-

svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ
saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt
tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ

"Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful

qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the
happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the
Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from
the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean."
[Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.6]

All of these important concepts are explained in detail in the first few
chapters of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta; I am only giving a summary here.
But before beginning our detailed study of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, we
must understand the ontological significance of this book. For Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu is the ocean of immortal nectar itself, issuing from the
lotus mouth of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Himself. He is giving the esoteric key to unlocking the mysteries
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and relishing the sweetness of rasa ourselves.

Therefore it is stated in the śloka quoted above, "…when Śrī Caitanya

Mahāprabhu came with His associates of the Pañca-tattva, they broke the
seal and plundered the storehouse to taste transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa." If
we follow the process of pure devotional service (uttama-bhakti) with the
understanding of rāsa-tattva given in Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, then we
shall certainly be successful in reaching the highest spiritual perfection.

Pure Devotional Service

The most important śloka in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , which Śrīla
Prabhupāda summarized in the Nectar of Devotion, gives the definition of
uttama-bhakti: pure devotional service, which is the subject of the work.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 13

 anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

"When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all

material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and
fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favorably, as
Kṛṣṇa desires." [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

Each word in this definition is significant in describing the characteristic

of pure devotional service. The characteristics given in this śloka are
divided into svarūpa-lakṣana, essential or primary characteristics, and
tatastha-lakṣana, secondary characteristics.

Svarūpa-lakṣana:

There are three primary characteristics of pure devotional service:

• Pure devotional service is for Kṛṣṇa.
• Pure devotional service is an active engagement.
• Pure devotional service is executed with positive intent.

Taṭasthā-lakṣana:

There are two secondary characteristics of pure devotional service:

• Pure devotional service is free from ulterior motive.
• Pure devotional service is not covered by jñāna or yoga.

Kṛṣṇa—Pure devotional service is for Kṛṣṇa

The most essential of the attributes of pure devotional service is that it is

performed only for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa, and no one else. In other words,
only Kṛṣṇa and His direct expansions ( viṣṇu-tattva) are appropriate objects
of our devotional service. Other living entities may also be Kṛṣṇa’s
expansions, but those expansions are indirect. His differentiated parts and
parcels (jīva-tattvas) and various energies (śakti-tattva) are also servants

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 14

of Kṛṣṇa and as such, not eligible to receive our devotional service. Pure
devotional service can be offered only to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, because He is constitutionally the beneficiary of all kinds of
sacrifices.

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

"The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and

austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the
benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from
the pangs of material miseries." [Bhagavad-gītā 5.29]

Anuśīlanaṁ—Pure devotional service is an active engagement

Anuśīlanaṁ means ‘cultivation by following the previous teachers.’ There

are two aspects to this following: pravṛtti, or activities favorable to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, and nivṛtti, avoidance of activities unfavorable to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. Pure devotional service is possible only by the mercy of
Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees; thus in the śloka under discussion, the prefix
anu (by following) links śīlanaṁ (activities) to Kṛṣṇa. Thus initiation by a
bona fide spiritual master is an indispensable feature of the spiritual path.

All the activities in Kṛṣṇa’s service are directly under the control of His
internal pleasure potency. Therefore the spiritual masters of the lineage
descending from Kṛṣṇa are all servants of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. To reach
success in attaining pure devotional service, we must connect ourselves
with Her by accepting initiation into the guru-paramparā. In this way all
our life energy can become spiritualized by connection with the original
source.

Ānukūlyena—pure devotional service is executed with positive intent

Sometimes Kṛṣṇa derives pleasure from fighting with demons, but the
activities of the demons is not considered devotional service because of

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 15

their inimical intent. Therefore Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī qualifies his definition
of pure devotional service with ānukūlyena, positive intent. It indicates
that a favorable attitude toward Kṛṣṇa is an essential attribute of pure
devotional service.

Whereas the demons’ activities sometimes please Kṛṣṇa, they are not
accepted as devotional service because of lack of positive intent; yet
sometimes Kṛṣṇa’s devotees perform activities that apparently displease
Him, yet are accepted as devotional service because they are performed
with love. For example, Mother Yaśodā sometimes chastises her son, but
this is accepted as pure devotional service because it is done out of love
for Him.

Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ —pure devotional service is free from ulterior

motive

Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ means ‘devoid of any other desire.’ Any desire

except for the devotional service of the Lord is material desire, even if it is
apparently spiritual, such as the desire for liberation, because the motive
of such desire is selfish benefit and not devotional love. Ordinary desires
such as the instinct for self-preservation, to eat or take reasonable care of
the body are not out of the range of devotional service, as long as they do
not become the main motivational focus of our life. The body must be kept
fit to engage in meaningful service to Kṛṣṇa. The point here is that the
objective even of ordinary desires must ultimately be the pleasure of the
Lord.

Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam —pure devotional service is not covered by

jñāna or yoga

It is not that we must completely abstain from all philosophical

speculation or rational thought, as long as the aim of such reasoning is to
confirm the conclusions of the śāstra and the instructions of the spiritual
master and other great souls. Philosophical defeat of opposing systems of

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 16

thought is also valuable in preaching, although not necessary for pleasing
Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Similarly we can engage in ordinary social and religious activities

(karma), as long as these engagements do not become more prominent
than our direct engagements in bhakti. One should not be a full-time
fruitive worker, philosopher or speculator and a part-time devotee, but a
devotee who occasionally engages in karmīc activity to maintain himself
and his family responsibilities.

In conclusion, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s definition of uttama-bhakti is perfect.

Each word is so precise and exact that once we understand it, we cannot
mistake anything else for pure devotional service. His definition is neither
overly exclusive nor overly inclusive, and it applies perfectly to all stages
of devotion, from the neophyte stage of practice to the exalted stage of
prema-bhakti. The entire content of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is based upon
this scientific definition of pure devotional service. Every bona fide
student of the Esoteric Teaching must be completely familiar with it and
also be able to apply it in practice.

Qualities of Pure Devotional Service

In Chapter 1 of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī explains
that there are three categories of pure devotional service:
• Sādhana-bhakti: devotional service in practice
• Bhāva-bhakti: devotional service in ecstasy
• Prema-bhakti: devotional service in pure love of Godhead

It is also described that pure devotional service displays six transcendental

qualities:
• Kleśaghnī: pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all
kinds of material distress.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 17

 • Śubhadā: pure devotional service is the beginning of all
auspiciousness.
• Sudurlabhā: pure devotional service is rarely achieved.
• Mokṣa-laghutākṛta: Those in pure devotional service deride even
the conception of liberation.
• Śāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā: pure devotional service automatically
puts one in transcendental pleasure.
• Śrī kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī: pure devotional service is the only means to
attract Kṛṣṇa.
Each category of devotional service displays two of these transcendental
qualities.
• Sādhana-bhakti, in its pure stage, displays the qualities of
kleśaghnī and śubhadā.
• Bhāva-bhakti displays the same qualities as sādhana-bhakti, plus
sudurlabhā and mokṣa-laghutākṛta.
• Prema-bhakti displays all the previous qualities, with the addition
of śāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā and śrī kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī.
This explains the statement of Śrīla Prabhupāda at the beginning of
Chapter 2 of Nectar of Devotion,

"Generally it is understood that in the category of devotional service in

practice there are two different qualities, devotional service in ecstasy
has four qualities, and devotional service in pure love of Godhead has
six qualities."

Earlier we introduced the definition of pure devotional service . Bhakti-

rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11 defines pure devotion, uttama-bhakti, thus:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 18

 "One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord
Kṛṣṇa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through
fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure
devotional service."

The Lord fulfills the desires of everyone. Pure devotees are interested in
achieving the transcendental service of the Lord, which is nondifferent in
quality from Him. Therefore, the Lord is the only desire of the pure
devotees, and devotional service is the only perfect spiritual process for
achieving His favor. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.11 (quoted above) that pure devotional service is jñāna-karmādy-
anāvṛtam: pure devotional service is without any tinge of speculative
knowledge and fruitive activity. Such devotional service is able to award
the pure devotee the highest result, namely direct association with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa.

According to the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad, after Brahmā's extensive

tapasya, the Lord showed him one of the many thousands of petals of His
lotus feet. It says:

brāhmaṇo'sāv anavarataṁ me
dhyātaḥ stutaḥ parārdhānte
so 'budhyata gopa-veśo me
purastāt āvirbabhūva

"After penetrating meditation for millions of years, Lord Brahmā could

understand the original form of the Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa as a transcendental
cowherd boy, and thus he recorded his experience in the famous prayer
Brahma-saṁhitā, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi ."

Devotees whose objective is to associate personally with the Lord have no

desire to accept the activities of karma-kāṇḍa or jñāna-kāṇḍa, for pure
devotional service is above both. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-
anāvṛtam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]. In pure devotional service
there is not even a pinch of jñāna or karma. The devotees accept only the
upasana-kāṇḍa process of pure devotional service.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 19

 iti bhāgavatān dharmān
śikṣan bhaktyā tad-utthayā
nārāyaṇa-paro māyām
añjas tarati dustarām

"Thus learning the science of devotional service and practically

engaging in the devotional service of the Lord, the devotee comes to the
stage of love of Godhead. And by complete devotion to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, the devotee easily crosses over the
illusory energy, Māyā, which is extremely difficult to cross." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 11.3.33]

Simply executing the duties of the regulative principles of the scriptures,

all the varṇas and āśramas of external religious duty, is not as good as
offering all the results of one’s activities to the Lord. When one gives up
all fruitive activity and fully surrenders to the Lord, he attains sva-
dharma-tyāga, wherein he abandons the social order and takes to the
renounced order. That is certainly better. However, better than the
renounced order is cultivation of knowledge mixed with devotional
service. Yet all these activities are external to the activities of the spiritual
world. There is no touch of pure devotional service in them.

Pure devotional service is the highest transcendental platform. It cannot be

attained by empiric philosophy, nor can perfection be attained simply by
good association. Devotional service by self-realization is a different
subject matter. It is untouched by fruitive activity, for one surrenders the
results of activities to the Lord, abandons prescribed duties and accepts the
renounced order of life. Such devotional service is situated on a higher
platform than that of empiric philosophical speculation with a mixture of
bhakti.

Without coming to the stage of prema-bhakti, pure love of Godhead, the

whole process is a failure. Therefore the path of devotional service must
not be reduced to an external religious process based on the rules and
regulations of the scriptures; although it may begin from regulated vaidhī-
bhakti, it must help the aspiring devotee advance to rāgānugā-bhakti,
spontaneous loving service, and ultimately reach the perfectional stages of

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 20

bhāva and prema. Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu gives this progressive path,
beginning from the regulative principles of scriptural injunction up to the
highest platform of pure devotional service. Therefore it is unique, even
among the Vedic literature, for it educates the devotee in the highest and
most esoteric science of rāsa-tattva, or how to satisfy Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

The Importance of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu

In Jaiva-Dharma by Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, Chapter 31, it is stated:

Now I can truly realize the importance of these wonderful words

composed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in the Southern Division, Fifth Wave,
Verses 78-79, of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:

sarva thaiva durūho ‘yam abhaktair-bhagavad-rasaḥ

tat pādāmbuja-sarvasvair bhaktair evānurasyate
vyatītya bhāvanā-vartma yaś camatkāra-bhāra-bhuḥ
hṛdi sattvojjvale bāḍhaṁ svadate sa raso mataḥ

"Those who are convinced that the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa are the
summum bonum of life are the purest of devotees, and they alone
are capable of relishing bhakti-rasa. Those whose hearts are bereft
of bhakti and rampant with mundane emotion are generally
contaminated by impure habits and are fond of logic and
argumentation. They can never perceive this transcendental rasa.
The person who has transcended the noumenal plane and whose
consciousness and heart have been enlightened by the brilliance of
pure goodness that ushers the dawn of magnificent transcendental
bhāva is alone able to experience rasa."

True rasa is not available upon the material plane; it is of the spiritual
world. As the jīva is cit-kaṇa, a spark of spiritual energy, rasa manifests
within his consciousness. Rasa appears only in deep bhakti-samādhi,
devotional meditation. Those who have received the grace of Śrī
Gurudeva and have realized the distinction between śuddha-sattva, pure
goodness, and miśra-sattva, mixed goodness, are free from all doubts.
There is a profound difference between the ordinary goodness in the
material world and the pure goodness of the transcendental plane of

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 21

consciousness. The root of this difference has to do with our intentions.
When our intention is to benefit ourselves, we are capable of action in the
mode of goodness, but such action is still contaminated with the
conception of selfishness. Pure goodness, on the other hand, is bereft of all
sense of self-benefit, and seeks only to benefit the beloved or object of
service, namely Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself.

We cannot understand this subtle distinction, nor purify ourselves from the
desire for self-benefit, by any other process than pure bhakti. Karma,
jñāna and yoga are all predicated on the assumption of activity for the
purpose of benefiting oneself. Pure bhakti is the only platform of actions
performed in pure loving service without any desire for oneself. One only
desires more and more service for the beloved, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa reciprocates
this service by arranging more and more facility for the devotee to engage
in His transcendental loving service.

This process of pure devotional service is a very confidential subject

matter, and it is the principal subject of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Although
pure devotional service is mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is not
explained in detail there. But Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu discusses uttma-
bhakti, pure devotional service, more elaborately than any other Vedic
literature. Vaidhi-bhakti is devotion inspired by following scriptural rules,
whereas rāgānugā-bhakti is devotion inspired by lobha, or greed. While
there is ample explanation of vaidhī-bhakti (regulated devotional service)
in other works, spontaneous devotion ( rāgānugā-bhakti ) and the higher
stages of devotional service such as bhāva-bhakti and prema-bhakti are
discussed in detail only in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

To be inspired towards bhakti means to be single-minded in executing all

the different processes of bhakti. Therefore the two ways to foster bhakti
are first by strictly following scriptural rules, and second, through
developing intense greed ( lobha) to serve the Lord. Of these two methods,
Śrīla Rūpa Goswami gives more importance to lobha, as he expresses in
his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 22

 tat tat-bhava-ādi-mādhurye śrute dhīr-yad-apekṣate
nātra śāstraṁ na yuktiṁ-ca tallobhotpatti-lakṣaṇam

"After the devotee has heard the detailed descriptions of the sweetness of
Lord Kṛṣṇa's loving spiritual sentiments ( bhava-mādhurya) with His
associates, he is spontaneously drawn towards those sentiments of
Kṛṣṇa's beloved associates. Such a devotee, desiring to possess those
feelings, shakes free the shackles of logic and scriptural bindings.
Liberating himself from these bonds is the devotee's first symptom of
lobha."

When a devotee becomes greedy for Kṛṣṇa while hearing about the
different ecstatic emotions displayed by a parikāra (confidante)
participating in Kṛṣṇa's Vraja pastimes, the devotee thinks, "Let this
spiritual emotion also bloom in my heart." Such meditations are never
interrupted by a need to seek consent from either the scriptures or logic.
If by chance a devotee feels any uncertainty, then his desire to possess
the spiritual emotions of a Parikāra cannot be called lobha. No one can
ever develop lobha from following scriptural injunctions, nor can one
obtain the desired spiritual object if the mind is endlessly analyzing
whether or not one is eligible. Real lobha appears spontaneously when
one sees or hears about Kṛṣṇa.

Lobha has two divisions according to the two sources from which it may
develop: the pure devotee's mercy and the Supreme Lord's mercy. The first
division of lobha, that which is owing to the devotee's mercy, is of two
kinds: ancient and modern. Ancient lobha appears by the mercy of pure
devotees steeped in the same sweet, eternal devotional mellows the
constant associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa relish. When lobha originates from the
grace of pure devotees in the present time it is known as contemporary, or
modern. When lobha starts from the previous birth and begins to bloom in
the present life, then the devotee must take shelter of a guru who is a
rāgānugā pure devotee. The second kind of lobha, or modeni-lobha, is
developed only after the devotee takes shelter of his spiritual master.
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu confirms:

kṛṣṇa tat-bhakta kāruṇya-mātra lobhaika hetukā

puṣṭi-mārga-tayā kaiścid iyam rāgānugocyate

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 23

 "Lobha is produced solely by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees.
Devotion initiated by such lobha is defined as rāgānugā-bhakti;
sometimes it is termed puṣṭi-mārga-bhakti."

When both kinds of devotees, the one yearning for ancient lobha, the other
for modern lobha, hear how to acquire the devotional mellows possessed
by Kṛṣṇa's eternal associates, or nitya-parikāra, they seek guidance from
the proper scriptures. This is because the authorized method for attaining
bhāva is delineated in scriptural injunctions and purports; no other sources
for receiving this information are indicated anywhere.

The following analogy illustrates this point: A person becomes greedy for
milk and its products, but first he must want to know how to procure milk.
He then has to seek advice from a trustworthy person conversant with the
subject who will tell him how to purchase a cow and how to take care of
her properly. In other words, knowledge on a subject cannot be simply
invented—proper guidance is necessary. As Lord Brahma explains in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.6.12:

yathāgnim edhasy amṛtaṁ ca goṣu

bhuvy annam ambūdyamane ca vṛttim
yogair manuṣyā adhiyanti hi tvāṁ
guṇeṣu buddhyā kavayo vadanti

"As one can derive fire from wood, milk from the milk-bag of the cow,
food grains and water from the land, and prosperity in one's livelihood
from industrial enterprises, so by practice of bhakti-yoga, even within
this material world, one can achieve Your favor or intelligently approach
You. Those who are pious all affirm this."

For a rāga-bhakta (the devotee who is following the path of rāgānugā-

bhakti) this intense eagerness for hearing and chanting about the all-
purifying qualities and activities of Kṛṣṇa begins with the rāga-bhakta's
surrender to the lotus feet of his guru, and continues to flourish until he
attains his spiritual goals. The more a devotee is purified by hearing and
chanting, the more spiritual realizations he will have; just as medicine

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 24

applied correctly to diseased eyes cures them, so hearing and chanting
cures the devotee of material ignorance.

The formula for this concentrated medicine is found in Śrī Bhakti-

rasāmṛta-sindhu, and nowhere else. It is described very nicely in the five
Waves of the Southern Ocean as a combination of five bhāvas: vibhāva,
anubhāva, sāttvika-bhāva, vyabhicārī-bhāva and sthāyi-bhāva. This
transcendental prescription coming from the original physician, Lord Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is powerful enough to cure all our material diseases
and restore us to full spiritual health.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 25

 Chapter 1: Glories of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 8, 2009

I want to talk about Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , because this darshan series,

Ocean of Nectar is going to be a detailed study of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu. We know Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu in the West as Nectar of
Devotion. Śrīla Prabhupāda didn't have time to translate the entire Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu like he did with Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-
caritāmṛta, Bhagavad-gītā and so many other books; so he simply made a
summary study. Now he also did this with Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it's called
Teachings of Lord Caitanya; and he did the same thing with the Tenth
Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which is called KṚṢṆA Book, or KṚṢṆA,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So, unfortunately Śrīla Prabhupāda didn't have time to finish translating

Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . There were more books that he wanted to
finish, like Vedānta-sūtra, but now gradually his disciples are finishing the
work for him. So now some of his disciples have come out with
Mahābhārata, some of have come out with translations of different books
of the Six Gosvāmīs. We ourselves did Vedānta-sūtra, someone else is
translating Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, and another disciple has done the complete
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . So this is a great contribution to the Vaiṣṇava
literature. We’re going to use this translation by Bhanu Svāmī and go
through the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu verse-by-verse. And there are also
two commentaries: one by Jīva Gosvāmī and one by Sanātana Gosvāmī,
that we will study in this series.

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu was written by Rūpa Gosvāmī. And Rūpa

Gosvāmī got the instructions recorded in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu directly
from Lord Caitanya. The story is that Rūpa Gosvāmī was a high-ranking
minister in the government of Bengal, which was run by Nawab Hussain
Shah at that time. However, although he was a cabinet minister, and he
was involved in so much political and government activity, at home he

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 26

was studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . So he and his brother, and some
devotees, some very advanced devotee brāhmaṇas, were going through
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , and at the same time they were corresponding with
Lord Caitanya. I just read in Bhakti-ratnākara that Rūpa and Sanātana
Gosvāmī were corresponding almost daily, because they had lots of
resources; they were very, very wealthy men. They could afford private
mail service, back and forth with Lord Caitanya. They were not at all
strangers to Lord Caitanya, but they were writing Him personal letters
back and forth, practically daily. So Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī wanted
to leave the government service and retire from material life and join Lord
Caitanya, and Rūpa left first.

When Rūpa Gosvāmī retired from government service, he had twenty-two

boatloads of gold coins, wealth that he had accumulated in his service of
the Shah. He divided this wealth in a way which is very exemplary for all
Vaiṣṇavas. He donated half of his accumulated wealth freely to the
brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas. And, although they're not named, I assume
that they were the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas who were tutoring him in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . In any case they were certainly qualified; because in
Bhagavad-gītā it's stated that the proper way to give charity is to the
proper person, a qualified person at the proper time. One should give
freely out of one's own heart's desire because they have such nice
qualifications and activities that you want to support them, you want to
help them. We follow this same principle. We don't ask anybody for
money. But if someone wants to give—and many, many nice devotees
have given wonderful donations—that's how we support our mission. We
don't ask, but people give out of their own free will. So he gave fifty
percent of his accumulated wealth like that. Then twenty-five percent he
gave to his family members—his wife, children, and other family
members—for their maintenance. And the other twenty-five percent he
kept in a bank, which in those days they didn't have banks but they had
grocers. So he deposited the gold coins with a grocer. And the idea is that
these grocer families were all over India, and so you could deposit a
certain amount with a grocer in one part, and then go to another place in

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India and present his note, and actually withdraw the cash from another
member of this family. And this system actually is still going on today.

Rūpa Gosvāmī deposited all this money and gave some to his family, took
care of the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas and then he left the world. He took
sannyāsa. And he gave up all his government salary and position and nice
clothes and everything, and he just dressed like a mendicant and went to
Allahabad. Allahabad is sometimes known as Prayāg, a very important
holy place where the rivers Ganges and Yamunā come together. Sarasvatī
River is also there, but in a virtual form. So it's called triveṇī; the three
rivers come together there at Prayāg. Every twelve years, there is a huge
festival held there called the Kumbha-Mela. Anyway, Rūpa Gosvāmī met
Lord Caitanya at the house of a devotee. And then Lord Caitanya
instructed him continuously for eleven days. Can you imagine? Night and
day, day and night, continuously for eleven days. Rūpa Gosvāmī sat with
Lord Caitanya, and Lord Caitanya revealed to him the most intimate
secrets of bhakti, devotional service to the Lord. So, this transfer of
wisdom is extraordinary because up until this time, Śrī Caitanya
Māhaprabhu had not written anything, had not given any instructions in a
written form. Later on He composed eight verses called Śikṣāṣṭaka. But
the Śikṣāṣṭaka are the only written verses that we have. Just eight verses—
very, very important verses—from Lord Caitanya. Everything else He
gave to Rūpa Gosvāmī. Rūpa then later on gave it to his brother Sanātana
Gosvāmī, who was also personally instructed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
at Varānāsī. So Rūpa Gosvāmī heard everything from Lord Caitanya. And
then Lord Caitanya instructed him to write books and propagate this
Esoteric Teaching, which is the essence of rasa.

As you know, if you've been following our darshans, rasa means taste. It
means like nectar, spiritual nectar. What is this nectar? It is the flavor of
ecstatic love between the Lord and His devotees. So, the relationship
between the Lord and His devotees is very sweet, very affectionate, very
ecstatic; it's full of charged energy of devotional service. It's not at all
static. It's dynamic, it's evolving, it's growing all the time. And it's always

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changing, going through different phases, changes, and moods, always
expanding. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī titled his analysis of Lord Caitanya's
teachings the bhakti-rasa-amṛta-sindhu. Bhakti of course is devotional
service. And rasa I just explained as the taste of this devotional service, or
this devotional relationship between the devotee and the Lord. And amṛta
is a special word, it has two meanings. It means a-mṛta: no death,
immortal. Also, amṛta refers to the nectar of immortality. The nectar of
immortality is drunk by the demigods. Although it doesn't give them
actual immortality, it gives them a lifespan equal to the entire duration of
material creation. So the demigods are drinking this amṛta. But even better
than this amṛta is the nectar of this devotional service, rasa. And there is
so much of this nectar. It's just unlimited, therefore it's called an ocean,
sindhu. So Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is the ocean of the nectarean taste of
the immortal eternal relationship of devotional love between the devotees
and Kṛṣṇa; and that's exactly the subject matter of this book. The title is
very descriptive. You may think “Oh it's poetic, it's metaphorical.” No, it's
an exact description of the contents. And now that I have read a lot of
these original verses from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , I understand where
Śrīla Prabhupāda gets his style of writing. His style of writing is coming
exactly from Rūpa Gosvāmī. Rūpa Gosvāmī, although he used poetic
metaphorical statements at times to describe things that are very difficult
to describe in ordinary words, he always does so with great precision,
great exactitude. Every word means exactly what it needs to mean, to
contribute to describe that particular phase of consciousness.

And of course, since we are talking about the relationship between the jīva
or spirit soul, and the Īśvara, the Lord, the Controller—or the ātma and the
Paramātma—everything in this relationship is on the spiritual platform,
nothing is on the material level. Of course the conditioned soul has a
material body, but the instructions and the philosophy in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu include how to engage the material body in the transcendental
service of the Lord, actually how to spiritualize the material body so it
doesn't hold us back in our spiritual quest. So this is the secret or the
precise meaning of The Nectar of Devotion, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu and

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 29

this rasa-tattva. Tattva means a division of knowledge or a certain set of
truths. Like you have viṣṇu-tattva, guru-tattva, śakti-tattva, śiva-tattva, so
many different tattvas in Vedic knowledge. But the most important one is
rasa-tattva, because rasa-tattva describes completely the possibilities of
relationship between the soul and the Lord.

There's nothing more important than this rasa-tattva, because this is the
actual substance of our eternal life. In Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa reveals that
the soul is eternal:

“Never was there a time when you and I did not exist. Nor in the future
shall we ever cease to be. The soul is immortal, unchanging and
indestructible. He does not die when the body dies.” [ Bhagavad-gītā
2.12]

So we know that right from the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. Yet in

Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa is giving a summary. He doesn't describe all the
details or all the possibilities of this relationship. He just gives a very basic
summary, a basic explanation of the principle:

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

“You think of Me all the time. Absorb your mind in Me. Become My
devotee. Bow down to Me. Offer your service and your love to Me.”
[Bhagavad-gītā 9.34]

That's what Kṛṣṇa says. And He doesn't want us to divide our attention
between Him and other things. He says:

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

“You give up all other kinds of religiousness and just surrender unto
Me.” [Bhagavad-gītā 18.66]

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That is the qualification. If you want Kṛṣṇa's mercy, that's what you're
going to have to do. So then once a devotee passes that point of total
surrender, pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then what? Well, that's described in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like a vast encyclopedia of bhakti. And it gives so

many examples, in story form, of relationships between pure devotees and
the Lord. How they became a devotee, what kind of sādhana they did,
how long it took, what was the result, how did they develop, where did
they go afterwards, what was their destination. So many, many, many
things. But this is all presented in story format because it's a purāṇa,
Bhāgvata-Purāṇa. Purāṇa means history. So Bhāgvata-Purāṇa, or
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , is the history of the different appearances of the
Lord (Bhagavān) throughout the material creation. And what is striking is
that every single appearance of the Lord, is part of the relationship
between the Lord and His devotees. The Lord doesn't just show up
somewhere, some arbitrary place and say, “OK, here I am!” No; He comes
into this world through His relationship with His devotees. He executes
His pastimes in relationship with His devotees. And then even when he
leaves this world, it's still in relationship with His devotees; and then He
goes back to the spiritual world where—what does He do? He has eternal
relationships with His devotees.

So the Lord is always in relationship with His devotees, and many, many
types of relationships that the devotees have with the Lord are described in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . But these relationships are not described
analytically, they are presented in the form of stories. What Rūpa Gosvāmī
has done, on the instructions of Lord Caitanya, is to take these stories and
analyze them, and to give an ontological system by which we can
understand the different classifications of these transcendental
relationships. Rūpa Gosvāmī, in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , gives an
ontological system of classification by which all different types of
relationship with the Lord are described, and the different varieties and
permutations and even the different methods of attaining the relationship

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are all explained in tremendous detail, with support and examples from
many different Vedic scriptures.

Ontology is very important, crucially important to understanding. The

value of ontology is illustrated by one experience we had in Chile, where
we were trying to get our truck repaired. And I don't speak Spanish very
well. Uddhava would say that I don't speak Spanish at all. So Uddhava had
to manage the relationship with the mechanics, and he kept getting
cheated. And so, finally I said to him,“Look, you have to learn the
ontology of car repairs. You have to learn all the terminology referring to
the different parts of the motor and how they work, their relationships with
one another, and what kind of processes are required to repair and fix
them. You have to learn this background knowledge; otherwise, every
time you go to the mechanic they will cheat you.”

In New York we have joke that, "Oh, we gotta respline the franistat."
Because if somebody doesn't know anything about cars the mechanic will
say some nonsense double-talk like that, "It's very serious, we gotta
respline the franistat otherwise it's gonna blow up on ya." But actually he
takes one spark plug out and then turns on the engine, "Oh yeah, see it's
running real rough, the franistat is desplined, it’s almost finished." So then
he'll charge you a big bill. They were doing the same thing to Uddhava
until he actually learned the language of car repairs, and then he could
speak with the mechanic and he could tell "Oh, this guy knows what he’s
talking about, so we can't cheat him." From that point on we got very good
results from the mechanics.

Similarly, in spiritual life, you have a situation where you're trying to

change your consciousness. And specifically you are trying to establish a
devotional relationship, a service relationship, a loving relationship with
the Lord. How are you going to do this unless you know the terminology?
How are you going to do it unless you know how the thing works, unless
you have an ontological background with which to understand the

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meaning of the different things that happen in this process? If you don't
have this background, you can very easily be cheated.

Some so-called spiritual teacher can come and say,"Oh yeah, just give us
money and everything will be OK." They can quote Bhagavad-gītā, "If
you can't follow these principles of devotional service, then just work for
me, for by working for Me you will purify your existence." [ Bhagavad-
gītā 12.10] Yes, Kṛṣṇa says that in Bhagavad-gītā, but that's taking it out
of context. Actually, He says:

“Just think of Me, become My devotee, love Me with all your heart.
And if you can't do that, then follow the regulative principles of
devotional service, for by doing this process you will develop the desire
to love Me. But if you can't do that, then work for Me because by
working for Me you will purify your existence. And if you can't even
do that, then just try to cultivate knowledge and try to be self-situated.
For by cultivating knowledge you will eventually come to the platform
of spiritual knowledge, spiritual wisdom.” [ Bhagavad-gītā 12.8-12]

If someone takes one of these statements out of context and just presents it
as ‘this is what you should do,’ you don't realize you have a choice of
which level you can engage in.

Just like if the car mechanic says,"Oh yeah, we gotta do this, we gotta
replace that, we gotta do this." If you don't know what that part does and
how it works, what the context is and what the different options are, you
can very easily be cheated. So similarly, if you're in spiritual life and some
spiritual authority or some organizational authority says to you, "Yeah you
have to do this, you have to come to this service, give money and do like
this and like that and then we'll let you know, we'll take care of everything,
don't worry about it," it's just like the mechanic talking to the naive
customer and saying, "Yeah that’s OK, we'll just replace this and that and
everything will be fine." And usually what they'll do is put some sawdust
in the transmission or whatever, and five thousand miles later it breaks
down again, and then of course what are you going to do? Come to the
same guy and get cheated all over again. That's their game.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 33

So similarly, in spiritual life there's a bunch of unscrupulous, ignorant
people who are representing themselves as great authorities on spiritual
life. And because they don't really know the science, they're presenting
their neophyte level of understanding as, “This is it.” So what happens
when people go to them, they'll tell the people what's good for them:
"Yeah, just give money to our temple, come every Sunday for the feast and
don't worry about it. Chant a little Hare Kṛṣṇa, this and that, now and then
read Bhagavad-gītā, and just do your work at home and don't think about
it because we'll take care of everything." That sounds very good; just like
it sounds really good to the people who go to the church and they say,
"Just believe in Jesus Christ and you'll be saved." That's it; that's all you
have to do: just believe. You don't have to know anything; you don't have
to do anything. There's no process, there's no nothing. Just believe. And of
course, actually it turns out there's a lot more required, but “Just believe
and give money, and be a loyal member, and do this and do that and
you’re going to heaven.” That’s the sales talk.

So this kind of cheating business is going on only because people do not

know the science of spiritual life. They don't know the ontology, the
science of consciousness. They don't know how to change their
consciousness. They don't know the methods, they don't know the
expected results and so many other things. But all this knowledge is given
in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . I would go so far as to say that even if you
read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , if you haven't read Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , it's
very likely—almost certain in fact—that you'll misunderstand it. You'll
misunderstand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because you don't have the
background knowledge, the transcendental ontology of rasa.

For example, let's say you don't know anything about cars, and you're
reading some story about cars, and they make some technical statements:
"We increased the horsepower and the foot-pounds of torque 61% by
tweaking the fuel injector." Huh? Oh, sounds great. But you don't really
understand it. And you wouldn't be able to apply it; you wouldn't be able
to install the same equipment in your own car, or tune up your own car to

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have the same performance, because you don't have the background
knowledge to fully understand the description. So even though the
technical description is accurate and truthful, because you lack the
background knowledge you can't apply it.

The same is true of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are

so many statements, very, very exact, high, complete technical statements
about devotional service; but because they're in the form of stories, if you
don't have the background knowledge you won't be able to understand it to
the degree that you would be able to apply it in your own life. So although
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is certainly not a cheating process—in fact the
specific quality of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that it kicks out all cheating
processes. There's a nice śloka right in the beginning of the First Canto
that says,

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

"Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially

motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is
understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 1.1.2].

The specific standard of this scripture is that it kicks out all cheating
processes of religion based on material considerations. In other words,
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is purely spiritual, and this is based on Nārada's
instruction to Vyāsadeva. Up until that time Vyāsadeva had written many
Vedic scriptures. But the principle of all of them was based on karma-
kaṇḍa. Karma-kaṇḍa means you do your material activities very nicely
according to Vedic instructions, and from that you will get spiritual
advancement and you'll be able to go somewhere where you'll be in a
better condition than you are now. And that's all true, but it does not give
the instructions for attaining the highest stage beyond all material
engagement, which is pure devotional service, or uttama-bhakti.

Uttama-bhakti is so powerful that Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes controlled by it.

Therefore, He does not give it out very easily. Uttama-bhakti requires

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some knowledge, some technical skill, and then it requires great personal
dedication, personal practice over a long span of time. But what's the
alternative? Being cheated; being engaged in some materialistic process of
religion. And almost all of the devotees we meet are like that. They have
this attitude of, "Kṛṣṇa, please help me with my fruitive activities so that
my business goes very smoothly and I make a lot of money. Haribol!"
That's really their attitude. They're praying to Kṛṣṇa, they’re chanting
Kṛṣṇa's name, but actually their desire is, "Kṛṣṇa please help me with my
work, please help me with my business, please help me with money,
please help me with my family problems. Kṛṣṇa do this for me, Kṛṣṇa do
that for me." What's the difference between that and the naive Christian
who approaches Jesus and asks for some material benediction? They make
fun of this. There's a song, "O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz."
They're making fun of this very materialistic approach to religion. But
actually most devotees aren't a whole lot different.

Most devotees are in the neophyte stage where they maintain some
material attachment. And they perform their devotional service in order to
further their material process. This is going on. We see it everywhere. But
this is not pure devotional service. This is not how Kṛṣṇa becomes
satisfied. In fact, even ordinary pure devotional service is not enough to
satisfy Kṛṣṇa:

sakala jagate more kare vidhi-bhakti

vidhi-bhaktye vraja-bhāva pāite nāhi śakti
aiśvarya-jñānete saba jagat miśrita
aiśvarya-śithila-preme nāhi mora prīta

"Everywhere in the world people worship Me according to scriptural

injunctions. But simply by following such regulative principles one
cannot attain the loving sentiments of the devotees in Vrajabhūmi.
Knowing My opulences, the whole world looks upon Me with awe and
veneration. But devotion made feeble by such reverence does not attract
Me." [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 3.15-16]

Even if a devotee is following all the rules and regulations of the

scriptures very strictly, and even if he is successful in being promoted to

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the Vaikuṇṭha planet, that's no guarantee that he can actually satisfy Kṛṣṇa.
That's why there's always a little bit of distance between Kṛṣṇa and His
Vaikuṇṭha devotees. He is on a higher platform: He's Īśvara and they are
the jīva. He's the leader and they're the followers. Even though they have
all opulences, great mystic powers, and great attainment of spiritual life,
and even though they're engaged in pure devotional service without any
material activities, still because they have some selfish desire for
opulence, Kṛṣṇa is not fully satisfied.

Kṛṣṇa is fully satisfied with the residents of Vṛndāvan who are in pure
love with Him, who have no desire for material opulence, no desire for
personal benefit, no desire even for spiritual opulences. They just live very
simply, very naturally, very close to the Earth, and they just naturally love
Kṛṣṇa. They love Kṛṣṇa without any feeling of awe and reverence. This is
the key: the love of the residents of Vṛndāvan for Kṛṣṇa is devoid of any
hint of fear. And what is awe and reverence but a certain flavor of fear, "O
God, You're so great and I'm nothing, please help me." It's kind of pathetic
actually. But the devotees in Vṛndāvan are completely in love with the
Lord in whatever mood, whether it's servitude, friendship, parenthood, or
conjugal love. They're completely in love with the Lord. There's no feeling
of awe that, "O, You're God and I'm nothing." The friends even think of
Kṛṣṇa as being their equal; and in parenthood, the devotees actually think
they're Kṛṣṇa's superiors. And Kṛṣṇa loves this. He enjoys it. Why?

Because nothing can threaten Kṛṣṇa. Nothing can detract from His
supreme position. He is constitutionally the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, eternally in the past and eternally in the future. Nothing could
ever change that. He can never lose His position; He can never be
dethroned. So He doesn't mind taking a subordinate position, even to the
rascal living entities in this material world. We see so many times in this
material world that someone desires to enjoy some material position and
Kṛṣṇa fulfills his desire—whether they're pious or not, whether they're
worshiping Him or not, even they can be atheist. But Kṛṣṇa, as the
dearmost friend of every living entity, He gives the desire, He gives them

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whatever they want. Of course they have to accept the karma, that's
another thing. But as it says in Upaniṣads:

nityo nityānāṁ cetanś cetanānām

eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān

“The one supreme conscious living entity is fulfilling the desires of all
the other conscious living entities, all the other eternal souls.” [ Kaṭha
Upaniṣad 2.2.13]

That's the difference. That's the difference between jīva and Bhagavān:
jīva is desiring and Bhagavān is fulfilling that desire. Jīva has some need
and God is fulfilling that need, as a friend. This is His unconditional love
for His creations. We're all like sons and daughters of God. So whatever
desires we have, He's fulfilling. He may not fulfill it right away, but
eventually He fulfills. What's the difference between the nondevotees and
the devotees? The devotee recognize this.

So devotees in the beginning state are in the mood of awe and reverence,
because they realize this tremendous difference between themselves and
the Lord, “Oh, I'm nothing and He's everything.” And this is true. But then
—now think about it—the Lord is always going to be the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. There's nothing that can unseat Him from that
position. There's nothing that can threaten His supremacy, His absolute
mastery of everything and everyone. So what does He gain by someone
being in awe and reverence to Him? And what does He lose if they are in a
more familiar mood of worship to Him? Nothing: He can't gain, He can't
lose. He already has everything, constitutionally, by His Absolute nature.
So He doesn't lose anything if the devotee relates to Him as an equal, or
even as an inferior.

He can't lose anything, and He can't gain anything; He already has

everything. So it's no problem for Him if the devotees are in a mood where
they're not giving Him respect and reverence. Respect is automatically
there because of love. The pure devotees love Kṛṣṇa so much that they
would never do anything to hurt Him. Not that they could hurt Him, but

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you understand the attitude: their attitude is always positive, it's always
favorable towards the Lord. And this is part of one of the integral qualities
of pure devotional service. And we'll go into that when we go into the
actual ślokas themselves, once we have set up the preliminaries and we
can go into deeper, more confidential talks.

The nature of devotional service is that it's always favorable, and it's
always from the intention to benefit the Lord, to help Him, to give Him
pleasure, to give Him service. All the devotees in Goloka Vṛndāvan have
this feeling toward the Lord that, "Oh, the Lord is my best friend." And
the Lord is our best friend, the Lord is everyone's best friend; but only the
devotees have realized it because only they have given up all distance or
separation and have become intimate devotees of the Lord.

So Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu gives the process for reviving this close

devotional relationship with the Lord. It gives the process which is based
on this transcendental knowledge, this transcendental ontological analysis
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is the key. This is the secret. Everyone wants
to know the secret of spiritual life. And the secret of spiritual life is that
you must have a transcendental ontology. “Huh? A what? Can’t I just give
money?” No. That won't get you where you want to go. You have to
change your consciousness; you have to change your mood. You have to
have a mood of pure love towards Kṛṣṇa; and when you have this mood of
pure love, then Kṛṣṇa reciprocates that mood. It's simple for the simple. If
one's heart is very simple and pure then it's simple: just love Kṛṣṇa. Love
Kṛṣṇa in whatever mood that you want to love Him, and He will respond.
It's very simple for those who are simple. For those who are still very
complicated, sophisticated people, well, there's more to it. You have to
purify yourself. And there's some preliminary process that you have to go
through to get to that stage. We want to teach devotional service on this
platform of spontaneous love for Kṛṣṇa, because this is the actual platform
of devotional service: pure devotional service, uttama-bhakti. This is the
actual kind or style of devotional service that's pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. So we
want to please Kṛṣṇa; we want Kṛṣṇa to be pleased with our service.

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We want to teach how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa on this platform of uttama-bhakti.
But before we can do that, there's some preliminary knowledge which is
necessary. This preliminary knowledge is given in the first few chapters,
the Eastern Division of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . Rūpa Gosvāmī gives all
these preliminary qualifications, vaidhī-bhakti. And when you have
mastered all of these preliminaries, then you can enter into the Southern
Ocean, which is about the actual transcendental devotional service itself.
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is divided into four divisions or four oceans: the
eastern, southern, western and northern. And within each of these oceans
there are several waves. Each wave is a specific topic in the study of
devotional service; each wave has a specific content which brings us
closer to Kṛṣṇa. So by reading, by studying the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
we're surfing on these waves in the ocean of ecstatic bliss. And these
waves are bringing us closer and closer to Kṛṣṇa. So this is our mood as
we study this great scripture which is the foundation of our lineage, the
foundation of the Esoteric Teaching.

There's nothing higher than this; there's no higher knowledge, no higher

topics, even in all the Vedas. If you understand this, then you can
understand everything else. And if you don't understand this, then
everything else will be a mystery to you, because you won't have the
background knowledge, you won't have the ontology to decode the
meaning properly.

Question from Mukuteśvara: “Should we read Nectar of Devotion

before Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam then? I have been reading Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam in the morning but would you recommend I concentrate on
reading Nectar of Devotion and carefully following along with your
darshans on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu before proceeding with Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam?”

Bābājī: Well, we already went through the first half of Nectar of Devotion
in previous darshans. If you have been following the darshans, then you
probably have enough background to read at least the first nine Cantos of

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 40

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . Tenth Canto is very high. But what we've gone over
is probably enough. We will go back over these same subjects again, but
this time we'll do it scrutinizingly instead of in summary form. So I think
you have enough background to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam .

Question from Mukuteśvara: "What do you mean by Sarasvatī being at

the Ganges and Yamunā in virtual form?”

Bābājī: Previously there were three great rivers in north India. The
Sarasvatī River was in the northwest near Rajasthan. And then there was
an earthquake in the Himalayas about four thousand years ago, and the
Sarasvatī River dried up because the earthquake diverted the water that
was feeding it to another channel. The so-called scholars, academic
scholars, used this absence of the Sarasvatī River as "proof that the Vedas
are mythology." But when the United States mapped the surface of the
world using radar from space, then the channel of the Sarasvatī River was
discovered by this radar mapping, exactly where it's described in the
Vedas. You see, the rascals always try to say the Vedas are mythology. But
actually they're history, they're fact; and if you follow the instructions of
the Vedas, then you get the results. That's our experience. So yes, Sarasvatī
River is there in virtual form. It's one of the seven sacred rivers of India.
So even though now it is dry, still it merges into the other two great rivers,
Yamunā and Ganges.

Question from Marino: "What are the preliminary studies and

preparations one must have before begin to approach Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu?"

Bābājī: Well, I would say a general background in Vedic philosophy,

Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Īśopaniṣad; if you know Mahābhārata, Rāmayana
that's better. But really the main thing is to have a desire to be a devotee.
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu teaches us how to be devotees. So if you have a
desire to be a devotee, if you have some taste for bhakti, then it will be
meaningful for you, it will have value for you; if you don’t then you will
be like, “Why are they talking about all this stuff?” It won’t make sense; it

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 41

will be like, “What’s the application of this?” or “What’s the meaning of
this?” But if you want to be a devotee and you read Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu, then it’s like a manual, step-by-step: “Here’s how you do it. You
want to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, you want to please Kṛṣṇa? Here’s how you do it, 1-
2-3.” Everything is there. So the best background is to have a desire to be
a devotee; then it will be very meaningful, very valuable for you.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 42

 Chapter 2: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 11, 2009

Today we're going to begin the study of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu with

verse 1.1.1, the Maṅgalācaraṇam. The Nectar of Devotion, which Śrīla
Prabhupāda wrote, is a summary study of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . By
good fortune, one of my Godbrothers has translated it, so we now have
access to the original text.

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is very, very important. We've often discussed

ontology, which is the science of meaning, and epistemology, which is the
science of knowing. How do we know what we know? And the shortest
path to knowing something is to hear from an authority. That's the best
way of learning, by hearing. Second-class way of learning is by seeing
another person's example. Third-class way is by trying it yourself, trial and
error—mostly error. But hearing is perfect. Because if you hear from the
qualified person, you can learn everything perfectly immediately. No need
for trial and error. You can immediately do, and get good result.

So if we want to know about devotional service, if we want to know about

Kṛṣṇa, then who should we hear from? We should hear from Lord Śrī
Caitanya Māhaprabhu and the people who have heard from Him. That
means Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa
Gosvāmī, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī: the Six
Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvan. These six Gosvāmīs were Lord Caitanya's most
intimate disciples for preaching. He had other intimate disciples like
Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Śikhi Māhiti. Nobody
has ever heard of these people, because they weren't preachers. They were
His intimate associates, and they accompanied Him in His most
confidential pastimes, the Antya-līlā. But Rūpa Gosvāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī,
Sanātana Gosvāmī, these were His preaching associates and they took up
His preaching work.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 43

Caitanya Māhaprabhu left only eight verses. Śikṣāṣṭaka. Śikṣā means
instruction, āṣṭaka means eight. So He left these eight instructions so that
everyone could attain love of Godhead. But these eight verses are very
condensed, very powerful, very confidential; you have to be very
intelligent, very advanced, to understand them. So for the rest of the
people who are not so advanced—still advanced, you have to be somewhat
advanced to be engaged in devotional service at all—Caitanya
Māhaprabhu instructed Rūpa Gosvāmī especially to write. And actually all
the Six Gosvāmīs, at one time or another, cooperated in this writing
business. They all worked together; so even though one Gosvāmī's name
may be on the book as the author, still all of them working cooperatively
together produced the book.

Just like when I was writing my commentary on Vedānta-sūtra, the

devotees were cooking and cleaning, going to the market and doing so
many things to support me while I was writing. You can't say that any
book is a product of just one person. That's why every book begins with
acknowledgements. In the Preface usually the author acknowledges, "So
many people helped me with this book." Because nobody can write a book
all by themselves; it's too much work; it's a great deal of work.

So Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī had the help of the other Gosvāmīs in Vrindavan,
and cooperatively they would search the śāstra for the appropriate verses
to support the points made by Caitanya Māhaprabhu, and to explain His
philosophy and methods. And the result was this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
and so many other books; but Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is the best. Now
why do I say that, even though there are so many wonderful books by the
Gosvāmīs like Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, Bhakti-ratnākara, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and
so many other wonderful books?

Because if you understand this one book, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , you can

understand everything else: Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
even the most esoteric books by the Gosvāmīs on the science of spiritual
life. You can understand everything. Why? Because Bhakti-rasāmṛta-

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 44

sindhu gives the background ontology, the background philosophy, the
terminology, the structure of bhakti itself. And since the conclusion or the
aim of these other scriptures is bhakti, if you understand bhakti you
automatically can understand all of them. If you don't understand bhakti,
even if you study all these books, you won't understand them properly.
You'll take them in the wrong way; you'll think that they are promoting
some mixture of karma, or dharma, or jñāna, or yoga, or something other
than pure bhakti: mixed devotional service. But no; the actual aim of all
the Vedas—and this is stated very clearly in Vedānta-sūtra—the actual aim
of the Vedas is pure bhakti, bhāva-bhakti, prema. The actual aim of the
Vedas is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Kṛṣṇa states this in Bhagavad-gītā [6.14, 9.18,
12.20], but unless you have the background you won't understand the
meaning.

We've gone over this so many times: how the background that you have
when you approach an experience will determine the meaning that it has
for you. So the experience of studying Vedas, or the experience of
performing devotional service has to happen against the ontological
background of the understanding of pure bhakti given in Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu. Otherwise you'll misunderstand, and you'll get some
different result. You won't get pure love of Godhead, you'll get something
else. Some mixed result.

We don't know what that will be. But generally, there's pure devotional
service, uttama-bhakti and there's mixed devotional service, miṣra-bhakti.
And devotional service can be mixed with various different things: karma,
fruitive activities; jñāna, transcendental or speculative knowledge; or it
can be mixed with religiosity, the urge to accumulate pious activities so
that we get rewards in the heavenly planets later on; yoga, the acquirement
of mystic powers—see through walls, read peoples' minds, whatever—
woo-woo stuff, magic. So when people approach devotional service with
these different motives, different purposes, this is called mixed devotional
service. And actually it's a kind of offensive devotional service, the
beginning stage or neophyte devotional service. Whereas, once we really

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 45

understand the meaning of bhakti, then we're in a position to perform
uttama-bhakti.

Uttama-bhakti means pure devotional service. Pure devotional service is

the fundamental quality of bhakti, when it has no mixture with any other
process. It has no contamination of karma, jñāna, yoga or any other kind
of fruitive activity or self-realization. Pure devotional service is defined in
the very first chapter of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and then the succeeding
chapters explain that definition and give innumerable examples. Anyone
who studies this book will have a very clear idea of what is meant by
bhakti. Not just any kind of bhakti, but pure bhakti. So this pure bhakti,
being the aim of all the Vedas, is the key to understanding all the Vedas. If
you have this key, you can read any Vedic literature and immediately
understand.

om ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ
śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣ ṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam

“I was born in the darkness of ignorance and my spiritual master opened

my eyes with the light of transcendental knowledge. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto him. I also offer my respectful obeisances
unto Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, and the other Gosvāmīs of
Vrindavan who actually manifested the desire of Lord Caitanya
Māhaprabhu. May they have mercy upon us.”

akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrtiḥ prasṛmara-ruci-ruddha-tārakā-pāliḥ
kalita-śyāmā-lalito rādhā-preyān vidhur jayati

“Kṛṣṇa, the destroyer of all sin and the bestower of all bliss, the very
form of the highest bliss, filled with all rasas, excels all others in glory.
He brings Tārakā and Pālikā under His control by the diffusion of His
beauty; He accepts Śyāmalā and Lālitā as His equals; and gives pleasure
to Rādhā by His excellent qualities.” [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1]

Now this verse also has an alternate translation:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 46

 “The full moon, which destroys suffering and creates happiness by its
cooling rays, shines everywhere with its excellent qualities and beauty. It
is the very form of nectar, filled with all tastes. It eclipses the host of
stars by its light, accepts the playful gestures of the night, and fondly
enters the Viṣākā constellation in the spring season.” [Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1]

Such nice poetry. Very, very nice. Tasty, this is all tasty. Everything, from
the kīrtana to all the verses, everything in the process of bhakti is very,
very tasteful and the highest standard of artistic expression. So now let's
read Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary. Jīva Gosvāmī was Rūpa Gosvāmī's
nephew. And he came to Vṛndāvan as a young boy. He was like Rūpa
Gosvāmī's research assistant. Rūpa Gosvāmī had him looking up all these
verses in śāstra, and then incorporating them into his different works. And
he liked Jīva Gosvāmī so much that he ascribed the authorship of some of
his books to him: “Actually Jīva Gosvāmī wrote this book.” So even
though Rūpa Gosvāmī may have actually compiled the book, Jīva
Gosvāmī did all the research work, and so he gave him the credit. Jīva
Gosvāmī then wrote commentaries on many of Rūpa Gosvāmī's books,
because he was in an excellent position to know Rūpa Gosvāmī's
intention.

So here is Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary on this verse:

“Śrī Rūpa, eternal peace incarnate, identical in mood to Sanātana, [who

was his elder brother] and whose younger brother was Śrī Vallabha, is
the means of my success and the good fortune of all the jīvas. Obsessed
by the desire to benefit all the devotees of the Lord, the esteemed author
Śrī Rūpa compiled this remarkable work, the scripture called Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu, using the rasas presented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam .”

In other words, this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is a derivative work. It's

derived from the material presented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And what is
that material? The transcendental pastimes of the Lord in relationship with
His devotees, and that relationship is called rasa: the sweet taste of
transcendental love in different flavors. So there are innumerable varieties

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 47

of rasa, and Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu will describe all the different
categories of rasa and how to attain them.

It's a very important book. “So Śrī Rūpa compiled this remarkable work.”
He calls it remarkable. “The scripture called Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu uses
the rasas presented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which appeared within the
lotus bud of his heart.” In other words, he realized all these rasas. He's not
just writing a theoretical work; it's not just a work of philosophy. It's not
an ordinary literary work, but a reflection of these rasas which were
realized in his heart, which is compared with a lotus bud. A lotus bud is
very beautiful, and it's the precursor of the lotus blossom, which is
considered the most beautiful thing in nature. So Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī's heart
was lotus-like, and also a bud, and this was an oblique reference to his
eternal identity as Rūpa Mañjari. We will explain this esoteric meaning
later.

“Discerning that what will be described is the most exalted among all
topics, he adds the introductory maṇgala verse to indicate this, and thus
announces that the whole of this work is auspiciousness incarnate.”

The opening verse of any Vedic work is called maṅgalācaraṇa. Maṅgala

means auspicious, and ācara means a ritual worship that you perform for
self-purification. So a Vedic author beginning any auspicious work
purifies himself by means of writing a certain kind of verse, which is
usually intended as a glorification of the main Deity described in his work,
which of course here is Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So this verse, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.1, is the maṅgalācaraṇa verse for this śāstra.

Why did he write this verse? Well, Jīva Gosvāmī explains that “discerning
that what will be described is the most exalted among all topics.” This isn't
any ordinary book. It's not even an ordinary Vedic literature; but it
describes the most exalted topic that there is. In other words, if you can
understand this, you can understand everything.

This rasa-tattva—the truth of rasa, or trascendental ecstatic relationship

with the Lord—this truth underlies all of the different truths in the Vedic

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scriptures. There are many, many Vedic scriptures on many, many topics.
But the ultimate goal of all of those topics is rasa: ecstatic devotional
relationship with the Lord. If you can understand this topic, then you
understand everything. So he announces to the whole world by this verse
that his purpose is to describe these different relationships between Kṛṣṇa
and His devotees.

Now Jīva Gosvāmī goes on to describe each and every word in this verse,
one by one. And the first word that he describes is vidhu. It's near the end
of the verse: vidhur jayanti. Of course jayanti indicates auspiciousness and
victory, it also indicates the birth, like Kṛṣṇa- jayanti means the appearance
of Kṛṣṇa. He's indicating the birth of this knowledge into the world, for
previously this knowledge had become forgotten. It became obscured, and
nobody could understand it. It became secret by neglect of the people.

Just like today, we go down the street to these temples in Kumbakonam,

and we see that many of the temples are in a state of neglect. People are
allowing them to decay because they don't realize their value. Similarly,
the value of this science of rasa-tattva was not properly appreciated, and
so after Kṛṣṇa's disappearance it was allowed to decay to the point where
it was practically forgotten. But then when Lord Śrī Caitanya Māhaprabhu
appeared, He injected this same knowledge back into the human society
by His own pastimes and teachings. So now this book is going to explain
that teaching. I explained before that Rūpa Gosvāmī sat with Lord
Caitanya for eleven days at Prayāg, and Lord Caitanya directly instructed
him; so this book is that instruction, being written down for the benefit of
all the devotees.

So anyway, vidhu: “Vidhu refers to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Vidhu, or Kṛṣṇa, excels all
in excellent qualities: vidhur jayati. Vidhu means ‘He who is marked with
the Śrīvatsa symbol.’ ” Śrīvatsa is a curl of hair on the chest of the Lord
where the Goddess of Fortune places her head, and this is how the Lord is
recognized in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. I'm having to explain these things
because this is very, very high philosophy; and you can get confused and

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lost, so I'm being very careful. Some readers may know these things
already, but I would rather go slow and explain everything.

“Vidhu meaning ‘He who is marked with the Śrīvatsa symbol,’ indicates
a general form of the Lord who makes successive appearances in the
world.” In other words, Māha-Viṣṇu. “It also indicates specifically
Kṛṣṇa. The reason is this: vidhu stands for vidhunoti, which means ‘He
defeats.’ It indicates that the person who transcends all suffering, or the
person who surpasses all other things. Vidhu can also stand for
vidhudatti, which means ‘He produces.’ This indicates the person who
produces all happiness or the person who causes everything. In this way,
the meaning of vidhu can be derived. Considering these factors, one can
come to a conclusion of the meaning of vidhu. One must conclude that
vidhu means Kṛṣṇa. He alone is famous for His ability to liberate even
the demons, and thus destroys even their suffering. He alone is famous
for His ability to surpass all others by His power. He alone is famous for
bestowing happiness up to the greatest happiness found in His most
astounding prema.”

Prema is defined elsewhere in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as "super-

concentrated loving happiness." It's so concentrated that it's like a solid; so
concentrated that it’s impenetrable, like a diamond. When one is in this
state of prema, nothing else can reach him. His concentration on this point
of relationship with the Lord is absolute, and his bliss is so intense it's
impenetrable. Nothing can cut his mood of bliss. He is so completely
enjoying; just like in this kīrtana today, we had a little drop of bliss. But
Kṛṣṇa is an ocean of bliss. So, if we have access to this ocean then why
would we want some river of liberation or some other small body of
water: the lakes of material knowledge or the puddles of material sense
gratification?

“He alone is famous for bestowing happiness, up to the greatest happiness

found in his most astounding prema.” If you taste this prema even one
time, you will be astounded. Astonished; flabbergasted. You can't imagine
that such happiness could exist. It's so much beyond any other kind of
happiness that you can't even measure it in terms of some other kind of
happiness. You can't even say “Well, it's ten million times better than sex

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life,” or something like that. There's no comparison; there's just no
comparison. Because this prema, once it takes root in the heart, is eternal.
That means nothing can destroy it, nothing can change it, nothing can
make it go away. So, once you taste this prema even one time, there is no
question of any other kind of happiness. It's just all insignificant.

“He alone is famous as svayam bhagavān, the original cause of

everything. Therefore His names are particularly mentioned in the Amara-
kośa.” The Amara-kośa is the standard Sanskrit dictionary. See, all this is
coming from authorized sources. People think that when I say that
scrutinizing study means “You have to look up every word in the
dictionary,” that I'm making some absurd rule, that I'm just speculating.
No, this is actually coming from Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, Jīva
Gosvāmī, the originators of our disciplic lineage. That you must look up
every word in the dictionary and know the normal meaning of the word,
the derivation of the word and so many things. “Therefore, His names,”—
Kṛṣṇa's names—“are particularly mentioned in the Amara-kośa with great
prominence, with such statements as vāsudevasya-janaka.” His father is
Vasudeva. “All these meanings of vidhu are made clear by the word
jayati: He excels all others.” But there's a note here: “A list of names of
Viṣṇu is given in the Amara-kośa, and among them, many of them
specifically refer to Kṛṣṇa.” So he's giving one of the names on this list,
vāsudevo janaka, His father is Vasudeva. “He excels all others, jayati.
This means He exists with all the most excellent qualities. That indeed
only refers to Kṛṣṇa. The present tense is used to dispel the conception of
common people that He cannot be perceived now, since He was visible
only for the period of His descent.”

So you see the meaning of every word, every single word in this śloka is
absolutely significant. If we are studying the history of Kṛṣṇa as one who
appeared a long, long time ago and can never be seen again, then it
becomes dry, academic, useless; just something to pass the time of people
who are bored, or something like that. But no; we can see Kṛṣṇa now. We
can be in love with Kṛṣṇa now. We can have so many pastimes with Kṛṣṇa

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now. Crucial to attaining this love of Kṛṣṇa is perfect understanding of the
philosophy and the method of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, bhakti-yoga. So, you
will find that the Gosvāmīs, when they do these commentaries—Jīva
Gosvāmī here, Sanātana Gosvāmī in other places, there's another
commentary by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, which is also included here when
it makes different points that aren't in Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary—they
all refer to the Amara-kośa dictionary as the authority for the meaning of
the words.

Now, why is this? Why don't they just use the derivation of Sanskrit roots
to make any meaning that they want? Well, this is explained by Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa in his introduction to Vedānta-sūtra. He says:

upakramopasaṁhārāv abhyāso ‘pūrvata-phalam

artha-vādopapattī ca liṅgaṁ tātparya-nirṇaye

“The factors to consider in interpretation of obscure passages are the

beginning, the ending, what is repeated again and again, what is unique
and novel, the general purpose of the book, the author’s statement of his
own intention, and appropriateness.” [Govinda-bhāṣya]

If we apply these criteria to the different Sanskrit ślokas, we will see that
they cannot be interpreted whimsically or speculatively, they have to be
interpreted according to the original meaning, and especially according to
the author's intention, what he repeats again and again and so on. And
we'll find in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in Bhagavad-gītā, and in Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu, that Kṛṣṇa is repeated again and again and again and
again. So this can only refer to Kṛṣṇa. Now the proofs are as follows.

“That Kṛṣṇa destroys all suffering:

vijaya-ratha-kuṭ umba ātta-totre

dhṛta-haya-raśmini tac-chriyekṣ aṇīye
bhagavati ratir astu me mumūrṣ or
yam iha nirīkṣya hatā gatāḥ sva-rūpam

“At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Śrī Kṛ ṣṇa, the
Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver

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 of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in
His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna's chariot by
all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kurukṣ etra attained
their original forms after death.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.39]

So Kṛṣṇa destroys all suffering. “Surpassing all others:”

svayaṁ tv asāmyātiśayas tryadhīśaḥ

svārājya-lakṣmy-āpta-samasta-kāmaḥ
baliṁ haradbhiś cira-loka-pālaiḥ
kirīṭa-koṭy-eḍita-pāda-pīṭhaḥ

“Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of all kinds of threes and is independently
supreme by achievement of all kinds of fortune. He is worshiped by the
eternal maintainers of the creation, who offer Him the paraphernalia of
worship by touching their millions of helmets to His feet.” [Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 3.2.21]

“Bestowing the greatest happiness:”

yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-cāru-karṇa-
bhrājat-kapola-subhagaṁ savilāsa-hāsam
nityotsavaṁ na tatṛpur dṛśibhiḥ pibantyo
nāryo narāś ca muditāḥ kupitā nimeś ca

“Kṛṣṇa's face is decorated with ornaments, such as earrings resembling

sharks. His ears are beautiful, His cheeks brilliant, and His smiling
attractive to everyone. Whoever sees Lord Kṛ ṣṇa sees a festival. His face
and body are fully satisfying for everyone, but the devotees are angry at
the creator for the disturbance caused by the momentary blinking of their
eyes.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.24.65]

Ah, what a wonderful verse. See what you're missing by not reading
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? Another one:

kā stry aṅga te kala-padāyata-veṇu-gīta-

sammohitārya-caritān na calet tri-lokyām
trailokya-saubhagam idaṁ ca nirīkṣya rūpaṁ
yad go-dvija-druma-mṛgāḥ pulakāny abibhran

“Dear Kṛṣṇa, what woman in all the three worlds wouldn't deviate from
religious behavior when bewildered by the sweet, drawn-out melody of

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 Your flute? Your beauty makes all three worlds auspicious. Indeed, even
the cows, birds, trees and deer manifest the ecstatic symptom of bodily
hair standing on end when they see Your beautiful form.” [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 10.29.40]

yan martya-līlaupayikaṁ sva-yoga-

māyā-balaṁ darśayatā gṛhītam
vismāpanaṁ svasya ca saubhagarddheḥ
paraṁ padaṁ bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇāṅgam

“The Lord appeared in the mortal world by His internal potency, yoga-
māyā. He came in His eternal form, which is just suitable for His
pastimes. These pastimes were wonderful for everyone, even for those
proud of their own opulence, including the Lord Himself in His form as
the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. Thus His [Śrī Kṛṣṇa's] transcendental body is the
ornament of all ornaments.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.2.12 ]

Every word in these scriptures is significant. Every word is chosen exactly

for its precise meaning. They’re not accidental; they're not simply poetry
or metaphor, they're not exaggeration, they're more like scientific formulas
where every letter, every symbol, every operation is carried out with great
precision and exactitude. And if you follow the formula, you get the same
result, a standard result: pure bhakti.

Just like the other day we bought some gold. When we got the gold, our
friend the gold-wallah was with us. He works with gold every day. This is
what he does all day, every day, his whole life; this is his business. He
knows every kind of gold just by looking. And so he showed us, "This is
24-karat gold, this is 22-karat gold, this is 20-karat gold, this is gold mixed
with silver, this is alloy gold..." He has all these different kinds of gold just
sitting there in his shop. So he showed us all the different types of gold.
Then we went to the place where the gold is sold, and the man came and
showed us this nice piece of gold, 100 grams. And so the gold-wallah took
one look at it and goes, "Ah yes, pure gold." He doesn't have to take
chemical analysis. He doesn't have to scratch it on the stone or any of the
other tests. He knows just by looking: “This is pure gold; this is pakkā,
you buy it.” He recommended it.

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Similarly, a devotee who really understands these scriptures will know
automatically what authentic spiritual life is. You will know because you
have the description, the formula, the scientific specification there in your
mind. And then when you actually encounter it in your devotional
practice, you can recognize “Ah, yes, this is it; this is the real thing.” And
you'll also recognize the bogus thing, the impure thing, when you have
some other thing masquerading as bhakti. Just like there's something
called pyrite which is called fool's gold. Many people get deceived by this
fool's gold. They spend a lot of time digging it up, and then they take it to
the place to sell it, and the assayer says “Oh that’s pyrite; worthless.” An
expert can know just by looking, “This is pyrite.” It has a particular shine
to it, a particular plasticky texture. It's too shiny; real gold isn't that shiny.

Similarly you can have yoga, or karma, or sense gratification, or jñāna,

speculative knowledge, or other things masquerade as bhakti. Some
people think—in fact this is very, very common—“If I worship God very
nicely, then all my business will go very, very well. I'll make good profit,
I'll get a better job or I'll be able to sell my house,” or whatever it is that
they want. Their idea of religion is that “I go to God and pray, and He
gives me what I want.” Great. Super. Except the problem is that God isn't
like that. God is not a businessman; He doesn't say in Bhagavad-gītā,
"You come and pray to Me and I'll make your business go very well." No,
He says,"You come and surrender everything, then we'll talk. Then we'll
see. First come and surrender." He wants to give you something much
better than this nonsense materialistic business.

Just like the other day, someone came to me and said,"Bābājī, can you
help me with my marriage? Can you help me get reunited with my wife?"
And I said, "Oh boy, you're talking to the wrong guy. You come and talk to
me when you want to get away from your wife forever. Come and talk to
me when you're ready to give up this family life, this material life, and
simply surrender to the Lord." Because that's what Kṛṣṇa asks for. He
says, “Just think of Me all the time, become My devotee, bow down to
Me, worship Me, love Me with all your heart. And then if you can't do

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that, then you follow the principles of regulated devotional service
because that way you will get a desire to attain Me. But if you can't do
that, then work for Me.” In other words, “Don't expect Me to give you the
results of your fruitive activity, but you give the results of your fruitive
activity to Me.” You see, they have it exactly backwards. And they're
thinking,"Oh, if I give the results of my fruitive activity to Kṛṣṇa then
He'll make it go nicely so I can give Him more." No, no; they don't
understand Kṛṣṇa. They don't understand.

Another devotee asked me a question last night, "Why is it that devotees

of Śiva are very materially opulent; and the impersonalists and the
Māyāvādīs and Buddhists, they all have material opulence, but the
devotees of Kṛṣṇa are impoverished, living very simple?" And this same
question, Māharaja Pariksīt asked to Śukadeva Gosvāmī in the Tenth
Canto, 88 th chapter; then Mahārāja Parīkṣit referred back to a previous
discussion between Nārada and Kṛṣṇa. Nārada asked Kṛṣṇa the same
question and Kṛṣṇa replied,

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi
hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ
tato 'dhanaṁ tyajanty asya
svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam

sa yadā vitathodyogo
nirviṇṇaḥ syād dhanehayā
mat-paraiḥ kṛta-maitrasya
kariṣye mad-anugraham

The Personality of Godhead said: “If I especially favor someone, I

gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the relatives and friends of
such a poverty-stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one
distress after another. When he becomes frustrated in his attempts to
make money and instead befriends My devotees, I bestow My special
mercy upon him.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.88.8-9]

Kṛṣṇa is trying to arrange and give us His special mercy. What is that?
Simply Him, Himself; He gives Himself to His devotees. And this is so

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much better than any material reward. It's so much better than any mystic
power or any speculative knowledge or anything else whatever. Anything
else that you can imagine is going to be inferior to the taste of this eternal
relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Try to understand: this is what we keep trying to
tell everyone, and they keep misunderstanding it. You imagine that “Oh, if
I get this, if I get that, then I'll be happy and everything will be
wonderful.” But even if you get that, compared with this happiness of
being in love with Kṛṣṇa in pure devotional service, it's just nothing.

Somebody might say, “Well, is it ten times better than my material

happiness? Is it a hundred times better? Or a thousand times?” It's the
wrong question. That's called ‘frog philosophy.’ Dr. Frog is living in the
well, and all he sees is his little puddle at the bottom of the well. And then
his cousin comes from the ocean and he says, "Hey Doc! I just went and
saw the ocean." And Dr. Frog says,"Well, how big is it? Is it bigger than
my well?" And the frog says, "Dude, you can't imagine; it's just so big, I
mean it's enormous." And so Dr. Frog said, "Well, is it ten times as big as
the well? A hundred times as big as the well?" You see, it's the wrong
question. No. Among bodies of water, the ocean is in a class by itself. You
cannot cannot measure the ocean in terms of the well; the comparison
would be meaningless.

Similarly you cannot measure the happiness of being in touch with Kṛṣṇa
by any material standard. You can't say, “Oh it's a hundred times better
than getting a new job.” Or “It's a thousand times better than having a
million dollars.” Or “It's a million times better than being elected
President.” These are all, actually, very nasty things; but people are so
impure that they think that they are nice. Just like our neighbors
downstairs. Every day they cook with garlic and onions, and they think it
is very nice. They can't imagine the taste we get when we honor
prasādam; the taste that we get is so pure. Like today's prasādam was
very wonderful. The devotees are finally getting the hang of this South
Indian style cooking, and it's coming out very, very nice. So we’re all
happy by taking this prasādam. If we went downtown in the market and

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went to the sweet stalls and the commercial restaurants and we ordered the
same dish, it wouldn't be anywhere near as nice. It wouldn't be nice at all,
actually we would probably be disgusted. We’d probably get sick, that’s
really what would happen; especially if we looked in the back and see how
they cooked in the kitchen. You cannot measure the quality of material
happiness versus spiritual happiness, material food versus spiritual food,
material music versus spiritual music. The kīrtana we had tonight was
totally astonishing, even to me. So if you try to measure Kṛṣṇa by your
current standard of happiness, then you're asking the wrong question;
you're trying to do the wrong thing, and you'll get the wrong answer.
Kṛṣṇa is in a class by Himself, He's unique; and so to be in relationship
with Kṛṣṇa is also in a different class than being in relation with anybody
else. You can't imagine it, and you can't measure it in terms of any other
kind of relationship. The only way you can understand is by actually
following the process. And to follow the process, first you have to
understand it properly.

So it comes back again to the terminology, the philosophy, the logic,

looking up words in the dictionary, finding the exact definition; not any
old speculative understanding, but the precise mathematical
understanding. What is really the meaning? Once you know the actual
meaning of the scriptures, then you can follow the process properly, and
by following the process you will get the experience of Kṛṣṇa
consciousness.

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is an experience; it can't be explained. Just like if I

have some wonderful dish and I'm tasting it and I'm going “Mmm-mm,
this is really good, mm-mmmm” and you say, "What does it taste like?"
Like this morning we had this—oh I can still taste it—we had this bitter
melon. It’s very, very bitter, and it has thick skin. When you cut it in slices
and deep-fry it in ghee—everybody's salivating, just thinking about it—it
stimulates your appetite and helps with your digestion. And they also
made these fried potatoes, taking the vegetable peeler and cutting the
potato with it, making very very thin slices, then deep frying in ghee with

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salt, and the combination of these two things was like... I can't even
explain it. You can't even get this vegetable in the West, so how can I
explain the taste? It’s not possible. I can sit here all night attempting to
explain, but it won't do justice to the taste. So similarly, I could spend
hours and days trying to explain the taste of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa,
but ultimately you just have to try it yourself; you just have to experience
it for yourself. This is the only way you are going to understand. Just let
me tell you, let me say that it's fantastic. It's unprecedented; it's
astounding. It's awesome. No. It's more than awesome. Flabbergasting!
Awe and reverence is far less than this.

Question from Nitya Anu: It's in the context of him traveling to Chennai,
and Vṛndāvan and Hṛiṣīkeśa. He went there and he developed a deep
feeling for Kṛṣṇa. He's asking that “Since going to India, has your bhakti
increased? How has it increased? And which aspect has given you the
most bliss?”

Bābājī: I've been to India about ten times already, and it's not that my
bhakti increases. but that it comes out more; it's easier to express it. In the
West I always feel inhibited somehow. It's not OK to actually express it,
bring it out. But in India, it's just like “Oh, what the heck!” So, in India I
always feel more at ease to express my feelings of bhakti, rather than keep
them all bottled up inside. The nature of the culture, I think, it makes it
easier. It makes it less of a problem and I feel less awkward and less
inappropriate.

Anytime you go to place of pilgrimage, your bhakti automatically

deepens. We came to Kumbakonam because it is one of the places where
Lord Caitanya came on His South India tour. We came here specifically
because the culture is so nice. And there are no tourists; I mean zero
tourists, it's great. So it's authentic, completely untouched. It's original.
When we first came to India in 1974, it was like this everywhere. Now if
we go to Vṛndāvan this winter, you'll see the whole bus of tourists from
LA coming in, and it really affects the atmosphere; whereas here,

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practically everyone is a practicing devotee. So the atmosphere, you can't
compare it with any place in the West.

Uddhava, do you want to say something? How has your bhakti increased
since you came to India?

Uddhava dāsa: For me, well I'm still adapting in terms of the body, and
it's very hot out here. One thing that's very noticeable is the temples that I
went to. Rāmasvāmī and all these temples are incredible. The energy there
is just very, very special. They’re just amazing, just incredible.

Bābājī: You can feel Lord Caitanya's presence there. He visited this
temple Rāmasvāmī and another temple, Kumbeśvara, that are literally a
five-minute walk from our house. So who knows, maybe Lord Caitanya
walked down this street. He was here. And when you go to these places
you can feel His presence. Similarly, Vṛndāvan, Māyāpur, Haridwar,
Hṛiṣīkeśa, all these holy places have thousands of years of sacred energy.

Uddhava dāsa: Yes, and for example, today I went to the Rāmasvāmī
temple. I went for the Darshan and the Brāhmaṇa there was like doing his
job like everyday, he did the same thing.

Bābājī: They are all government employees.

Uddhava dāsa: So he just said “Oh, come here, come here to the front.” I
was like a meter from the Deities. The energy was so powerful, I was
completely blown away.

Bābājī: The Deities in this temple, by the way, are maybe a hundred
thousand years old, made of black stone, about they're about eight or ten
feet high. You can't believe some of these temples. We have to go again to
Thanjāvur to the Nṛsiṁha temple; the Lord Nṛsiṁha is like twelve feet
tall.

Uddhava dāsa: Wow!

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Bābājī: He's got a big smile and His tongue's out, and He's got the His
arms this way, and that way, every which way. We had a kīrtana there that
was unbelievable.

Question from Mukuteśvara dāsa: “Please accept my humble

obeisances. Why are there two translations of the śloka?”

Bābājī: OK, we're getting to that. The commentary will explain that later
on. It gets into a whole technical discussion about Sanskrit and derivations
of words and stuff. The important point is what I made tonight: that the
derivations that we accept as devotees are always based on the dictionary
meaning of the words. This is very important because the Māyāvādīs, the
impersonalists, will take the words of the scriptures, break them up into
their roots, and then speculate some completely fantastic meaning based
on the word roots that has nothing whatsoever to do with the context.
What Baladeva was saying that the principle of interpretation is:

“The factors to consider in interpretation of obscure passages are the

beginning, the ending, what is repeated again and again, what is unique
and novel, the general purpose of the book, the author’s statement of his
own intention, and appropriateness.” [Govinda-bhāṣya]

What is an obscure passage? An obscure passage is defined as a śloka

whose dictionary meaning does not make sense in the current context.
That means you have to interpret it somehow as a metaphor. And so what
is giving us guidance as to how to interpret? The beginning, the ending,
the statement of the author's intention, what is repeated again and again,
what's unique and novel to this particular book. All these factors must be
considered, not some speculative meaning based on word roots. The
nyāyikas who use, or I should say, misuse logic, say that “Logic alone is
the means for interpreting any text.” But logic which is separated from the
context or the intention of the work can do a disservice, because it can
lead us down the wrong path and it can make us read some meaning into
the text that's not there in the original. The intent, the purpose, the
declaration of the author's intention are all very, very important factors in

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considering the meaning of obscure passages. Now, if just by looking up
the meaning of the words in the dictionary, the passage is perfectly clear,
then there's no need even for this kind of interpretation. There's no need
for interpretation at all. Simply take the meaning that's in the dictionary
and that's fine. But in this case, in this particular śloka, it was written
intentionally with a double meaning. And Jīva Gosvāmī is going to
explain exactly why this happened and how it happens, and the whole
thing. Don't worry, you'll get all the details; just tune in tomorrow for the
next episode and you'll hear all about it.

Question from Arun: “Please accept my humble daṇḍavats. How to

achieve balance of devotional service plus chanting each day?”

Bābājī: What's the difference? Why are you making a distinction between
chanting and devotional service?

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau

bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā
tan manye 'dhītam uttamam

“Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form,

qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them,
serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship
with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord,
becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and
surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the
body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure
devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of
Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most
learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.” [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 7.5.23-24]

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All the processes of devotional service are as good as the others. Why
make a distinction between chanting and hearing and serving and any of
the others? They're all on the spiritual platform. Prabhupāda says that any
one of them can give the perfection that we’re speaking, what to speak of
all nine of them. The question is that it’s really a matter of taste. Some
people like chanting more. In South India, they really like to hear. They'll
sit there and hear all night. Won't chant a word. Other people like serving.
There's this one lady down at the ISKCON temple here who is always in
the kitchen; in fact, you can't get her out of the kitchen. Even if she does
come out of the kitchen, it's to serve. She's amazing, and she was the
hostess of that festival that we took the video of that was so nice. That was
really a wonderful welcome to South India. So anyway by serving, by
becoming Kṛṣṇa's friend, by offering everything to Him, these are all
different methods of devotional service; why try to make a distinction in
quality between them?

Uddhava dāsa: He's saying “Regulative bhakti principles before Deity

while chanting could be at work or driving.”

Bābājī: No. Don't chant at work. Don't chant while driving. That's
horrible. No, no, no. If you're going to chant, give your chanting your full
attention, otherwise it's offensive. The tenth offense against the Holy
Name is not giving your full attention to your chanting. How can you give
your full attention to chanting while you’re driving or doing anything
else?

Sometimes I'll chant while walking up and down on the roof, but I've got
the walking down to a total robotic thing. I just tell my body "Walk up and
down," then I'm just chanting, I don't have to think about walking. For
driving you have to think, for doing any other kind of work you have to
think. That means it's offensive chanting; don't do it. Then you wonder
why you're not making so quick advancement? Arun, you've been reading
these ten offenses for how long now? Come on.

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We have to avoid the offenses in chanting, no matter what. It's almost
better not to chant than to chant offensively; because if we are making any
of these offenses and we know that we are being offensive, then we are
making an additional offense of chanting offensively and thinking that
Kṛṣṇa or the Holy Name is going to purify us. That's the seventh offense
against the Holy Name. So, by not chanting with full attention, that's one
offense, the tenth offense; and by knowingly chanting without full
attention, that's another offense, that's the seventh offense. And then if you
don't follow the spiritual master's instruction, that's the third offense. So
this chanting means regulative devotional service. We should chant a
certain number of rounds each day. That's regulative devotional service.
When you chant spontaneously, that's rāgānuga-bhakti . But even then,
you don't want to chant in such a way that your intention is split between
chanting and something else. Why would you want to do that? I don't
understand these devotees. I really don’t get it. I could never do that.

I see devotees, driving, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare,
Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma,” I mean, how could they do
it? It’s horrible. Singing kīrtana, doing a little kīrtana that's not so bad, but
chanting japa while driving is absolutely prohibited; don’t do it. It's very
offensive. We should strive to chant offenselessly. Offenseless chanting is
the beginning of madhyama-adhikārī. If you want to be madhyama-
adhikārī, you have to chant offenselessly. Then you get to chant pure
nāmābhasa. Up until that point it's impure, and you're in the offensive
kaniṣṭha-adhikārī stage. Ninety-nine percent of my Godbrothers are still in
kaniṣtha-adhikārī stage, even big-big gurus, big-big Temple Presidents, all
these people. Prabhupāda says in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, "Temple
construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees, but
the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books,
publish them and distribute them widely." [ Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Madhya 19.132 Purport] Neophyte devotee means kaniṣṭha. So if you're
kaniṣṭha, offensive, not following, then OK, collect some money and build
some temples; that will help you advance. But if you really want to learn
devotional service, you must perform offenseless chanting. That's the

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beginning of real devotional service. That is the process that leads to
realization. As long as you permit yourself to keep making offenses in
chanting, you're not going to get out of the offensive stage. You're not
going to get out of the neophyte kaniṣṭha stage. So, you have to rethink
this whole thing, your activities.

Comment from Nitya Anu: "Thank you Bābājī and the devotees. I am
blissful that you are all in South India. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says it will be
the only place in kali-yuga to maintain the sanātana-dharma."

Maṅgalācaraṇam Part 2
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 25, 2009

The qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa are extremely elevated; and the qualities of
bhakti are really very amazing, especially pure bhakti. Pure bhakti is the
solution to all problems, the cure for all suffering, the path of liberation
and so many other things. So where does bhakti get these qualities? Well,
bhakti itself gets these qualities from Kṛṣṇa. So, we're going to look into
the qualities of Kṛṣṇa here in the purport of the maṅgalācaraṇa verse
which you all remember, of course, from the last satsang:

"Kṛṣṇa, the destroyer of all sin and the bestower of all bliss, the
very form of the highest bliss, filled with all rasas, excels all others
in glory. He brings Tārakā and Pālikā under His control by the
diffusion of His beauty; He accepts Śyāmalā and Lālitā as His
equals; and gives pleasure to Rādhā by His excellent qualities."
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1]

Now we're discussing the purport; p roofs from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that

Kṛṣṇa destroys all suffering:

"At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the
Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver
of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in
His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna's chariot by

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 all means. Those who saw Him on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, attained
their original forms after death." [ Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.39]

So Kṛṣṇa destroyed the suffering of every soldier on the battlefield of

Kurukṣetra, whether friend or foe, just by His presence there.

Surpassing all others—there's another quotation from Śrīmad-

Bhāgavatam:

"Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of all kinds of threes. And is independently
supreme by achievement of all kinds of fortune. He is worshiped by the
eternal maintainers of the creation, who offer Him the paraphernalia of
worship by touching their millions of helmets to His feet." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 3.2.21]

Who else can say that? Or who else can demonstrate that? That the
millions of creators of the different universes all come and place their
heads at His lotus feet? Bestowing the greatest happiness:

"Kṛṣṇa's face is decorated with ornaments, such as earrings resembling

sharks. His ears are beautiful, His cheeks are brilliant, and His smiling
attractive to everyone. Whoever sees Lord Kṛṣṇa sees a festival. His face
and body are fully satisfying for everyone to see, but the devotees are
angry with the creator for the disturbance caused by the momentary
blinking of their eyes." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.24.65]

Kṛṣṇa's form is so beautiful that when you see it—or when you see Him,
because unlike ourselves, His form is non-different than Him—when you
see Kṛṣṇa then you don't want your eyes to blink even for a moment,
because His beauty is so attractive. Here's another verse about the Lord
bestowing the greatest happiness:

"Dear Kṛṣṇa, what woman in all the three worlds wouldn't deviate from
religious behavior when bewildered by the sweet, drawn-out melody of
Your flute? Your beauty makes all three worlds auspicious. Indeed, even
the cows, birds, trees, and deer manifest ecstatic symptoms of bodily
hairs standing on end when they see Your beautiful form." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 10.29.40]

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Kṛṣṇa's form is so beautiful that just to see Him immediately puts you in
ecstasy, even the animals. Here's another one from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

"The Lord appeared in the mortal world by His internal potency yoga-
māyā. He came in His eternal form, which is just suitable for His
pastimes. These pastimes were wonderful for everyone, even for those
proud of their own opulence, including the Lord Himself in His form as
the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. Thus His [Śrī Kṛṣṇa's] transcendental body is the
ornament of all ornaments." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.2.12]

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so beautiful that even when Nārāyaṇa sees Kṛṣṇa, He's
amazed; He's just blown away by Kṛṣṇa's beauty. Now another quality of
Kṛṣṇa that's discussed in this maṅgalācaraṇam verse, is that Kṛṣṇa is the
source of all others. And here's that famous verse from Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam:

ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ

kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

"All the lists of incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either

plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme
Godhead, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself."
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.28]

Plenary means equal, on the same plane. So the plenary expansions of

Kṛṣṇa are Lord Balarāma, His first plenary expansion and then the catur-
vyūha: Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, Vāsudeva and Pradyumna. These are the
plenary expansions and they have potencies equal to Kṛṣṇa, and then Their
expansions are on the level of Mahā-Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī-Viṣṇu,
Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and so on. They're considered parts because they
don't manifest the full potencies of Godhead, or all the qualities of
Godhead, and we'll get into that very deeply in this book, in the Southern
Ocean. Another quality of Kṛṣṇa is that He exists eternally with all
excellences:

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 "Lord Kṛṣṇa lives eternally with all excellences among the cowherd men
and the Yādavas and is conclusively both the son of Devakī and Yaśodā.
He is the guide of the Yadu dynasty and the cowherd men, and with His
mighty arms He kills everything inauspicious in Vraja, Mathurā, and
Dvārakā. By His presence He destroys all things inauspicious for all
living entities, moving and inert and the suffering of separation of the
inhabitants of Vraja and Dvārakā. His beautiful smiling face always
increases the desires of the gopīs of Vṛndāvan and women of Mathurā
and Dvārakā. He remains eternally in this situation." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 10.90.48]

So Kṛṣṇa has all excellences, and He remains eternally with all those
excellences. He's never bereft of any of them, and He never loses any of
His powers or any of His opulences. All His excellent qualities are a
permanent feature of His transcendental form. Another quality of Kṛṣṇa is
called akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrti , that He is the source of all the forms of the
different rasas. Rasas of course means ecstatic moods of loving
enjoyment.

“And the cause of all these outstanding qualities: destroying all

suffering, surpassing all, bestowing the greatest bliss, and being the
source of everything, is His unique feature which is the cause of all
qualities: His form of supreme bliss, amṛta-mūrti, since He contains all
twelve rasas, akhila-rasa, starting with śānta.”

So whatever there is that's enjoyable, rasa means the taste of its

enjoyment. Everyone has some taste, some mood that they enjoy, and then
all of the things that they enjoy—the activities, the paraphernalia, the
different objects of enjoyment that they try to collect—are all based on
this fundamental mood. And there are five basic moods: neutrality,
servitorship, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. Those are the five
main moods, and then there are seven other indirect moods beginning with
hāsya (laughter), and Kṛṣṇa is the source of all of those. All of those
moods are found in His pastimes and in His form. So now here's some
evidence from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

"Taking Him into their hearts through their eyes, they embraced Him,
the embodiment of all ecstasy, and as their bodily hairs stood on end, O

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 subduer of enemies, they forgot the unlimited distress caused by His
absence." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.41.28]

Here's another one:

"This universe appears real because it is manifested by the potency of

illusion emanating from You, whose unlimited transcendental forms are
full of eternal happiness and knowledge." [ Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
10.14.22]

Here's a really good one:

“The various groups of people in the arena regarded Kṛṣṇa in different

ways when He entered it with His elder brother. The wrestlers saw Kṛṣṇa
as a lighting bolt (vīra-rasa), the men of Mathurā saw Him as the best of
males (viṣmaya-rasa), the women as cupid in person, (mādhura-rasa),
the cowherd boys as their relatives (sakhya-rasa and hāsya-rasa), the
impious rulers as a chastiser (raudra-rasa), His parents as their child
(vātsala-rasa and karuṇa-rasa), the king of the Bhojas, Kaṁsa as death
personified (bhyānaka-rasa), the unintelligent as the Supreme Lord's
universal form (bībhatsa-rasa), the yogīs as the Absolute Truth (śānta-
rasa), and the Vṛṣṇis as their supreme worshipable Deity ( dāsya-rasa).”
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.43.17]

Describing when Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma entered the wrestling ring of

Kaṁsa, and so all the rasas are present in this one verse. Because all the
different devotees who were present there saw Kṛṣṇa in their own way. So
even in the same scene Kṛṣṇa can manifest all rasas simultaneously. This
is His great excellence. And nobody else is capable of this, not even the
other personalities of Godhead, because none of them have the particular
special glories of the mādhurya-rasa. Kṛṣṇa only manifests that; no other
form of Godhead manifests this parakīya-rasa. Parakīya means unmarried
conjugal love. Only Kṛṣṇa manifests that. Svakīya means married conjugal
love, and of course we see many other forms of Godhead manifesting that
rasa, but only Kṛṣṇa manifests the parakīya-rasa, therefore His glories
exceed all the other Personalities of Godhead.

And here is a quote from Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.48:

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 "Therefore, Kṛṣṇa is the Lord beyond the material modes. One should
meditate upon him, relish Him, serve Him, and worship Him."

So now the next line of this maṅgalācaraṇam is:

prasṛmara-ruci-ruddha-tārakā-pāliḥ
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1]

This gets a little esoteric so stay with me here.

One sees the through the superiority of Kṛṣṇa's appearances in this world
through the supreme position of His follows who are endowed with the
highest quality of rasas. This reaches its highest degree with those
persons endowed with the supreme conjugal rasa, and thus the maṅgalā
verse depicts Kṛṣṇa's relationship with the gopīs. Here's a quote from
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.44.14:

"What austerities the gopīs must have performed! With their eyes they
always drink the nectar of Lord Kṛṣṇa's form, which is the essence of
loveliness and is not to be equaled or surpassed. That loveliness is the
only abode of beauty, fame, and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever fresh,
and extremely rare."

So the gopīs have this special position where they can perceive all of
Kṛṣṇa's opulences. Nobody else gets to see these things. That's
confidential; it's only within the groves of Vṛndāvan. Even the other
inhabitants of Vṛndāvan don't get to see these pastimes, only the gopīs and
their servants. So to see the full, complete opulences of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, one must be, one must enter into these pastimes
of Goloka Vṛndāvan. This is why the conjugal rasa, especially in
Vṛndāvan is praised so greatly; because only in these pastimes are the
complete glories of Kṛṣṇa revealed. So if we want to relish the highest
bliss, that rasa which includes all others, which is the origin of all others,
ādi-rasa—the mādhurya-rasa is also known as ādi-rasa, the original rasa,
because it includes the qualities of all the other rasas and all the other
rasas can be found within it. So here's another one, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
10.32.14:

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 "His transcendental body, the exclusive abode of beauty and opulence
within the three worlds, shown brilliantly as the gopīs worshiped Him.
In the midst of the dancing gopīs, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared most brilliant,
like an exquisite sapphire in the midst of golden ornaments."

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is telling us that "If you want to see the greatest

beauty, then you have to approach Lord Kṛṣṇa in this conjugal mood."
And if you do this, if you become a servant of the gopīs:

gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ

[Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madya-līlā 13.80]

My name comes from this verse. It means one should aspire to become the
servant of the servant of the servant of the gopīs. This is the best position,
because in that position only one gets to see Kṛṣṇa in His original form,
His complete opulence, without any covering, without anything left out.
That's Kṛṣṇa. And all other manifestations are derived from that view of
Kṛṣṇa. So that original view of Kṛṣṇa in the mādhurya-rasa, this is the
most coveted thing, the most rare thing, the most amazing and astonishing
thing, the highest experience of any spiritual path. No other spiritual path
can offer this. Even other Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas don't give this. They give
maybe up to vātsalya-rasa, parental relationship; but they don't give this
conjugal relationship. This is very, very rare. It's only by the mercy of
Lord Caitanya that we have access to this. Just like in South India we see
many nice Vaiṣṇavas, but none of them are in this conjugal mood; they're
all in dāsya-rasa, which is nice but when you have a higher position, it
seems to be, well, kind of boring. Dāsyam is nice, but it's not as nice as the
conjugal mood. So now let's talk about gopīs. The chief ten among all the
gopīs are described in the Uttara-khaṇḍa of the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa:

“The ten chief gopīs are Gopālī (head of a group friendly with
Candrāvalī), Pālikā (who's a friend of Candrāvalī), Dhanyā (an
unmarried gopī), Viśākā (Rādhā's sakhī with her own group), as well as
Dhaniṣṭha (Lālitā's friend), Rādhā (of course we know who Rādhā is,
Rādhārāṇī), Lālitā (also known as Anūrādhā), Candrāvalī (also known as
Somabhā, Rādhā's chief competitor), Tārakā (a distant friend of Rādhā)
and Daśamī.”

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So these ten gopīs are the leaders of the groups, the groups of gopīs that all
serve Kṛṣṇa in the forest of Vrindavan. These groups are called pālyas.
Sometimes they're called gana, gopī-gana, groups of gopīs. And they each
have a slightly different mood within the conjugal mood. And they each
have different functions, a different service that they perform. So then
there's some very technical discussion about the gopīs.

"But the point here is with the intention of showing the devotees with
the highest rasa, and in order to show the successive superiority of rasa
in pairs of chief gopīs, Rūpa Gosvāmī first mentions the two gopīs,
Tārākā and Pālī, who are of lesser stature of the chief gopīs, and points
out the excellence of rasa by their example. Kṛṣṇa controls Tārakā and
Pāli by His beautiful features, which radiate outwards."

The two gopīs first mentioned are under Kṛṣṇa's control; Kṛṣṇa controls
Tārakā and Pāli with His beauty. Then he mentions two chief gopīs of
medium status, that Kṛṣṇa accepts Śyāmalā and Lālitā, making them like
His very Self. That's an expression meaning that they're like bosom
friends, very dear friends. So Kṛṣṇa accepts these gopīs as equal to
Himself. Why? Because they have a deeper understanding, or deeper
realization of the conjugal rasa and they help Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa meet their
desires, realize their desires in conjugal love.

"And then finally, the supreme among the chief gopīs is mentioned.
Kṛṣṇa gives most pleasure to Rādhā, rādhā-preyān."

So then, this technical stuff...

"In consideration of Rādhā's most extraordinary nature, she is not

described in a similar way as the two other pairs of gopīs. In the first two
pairs of gopīs, Kṛṣṇa is the agent of enjoying (He's the enjoyer) but in
the case of Rādhā, He gives pleasure to Her (She becomes the enjoyer).
Therefore, she must be considered to be the chief gopī. This fact is
mentioned in the Padma Purāṇa, Kārtika Mahatmya, describing Rādhā-
kuṇḍa. Rādhā's kuṇḍa is as dear to the Lord as Rādhā Herself. She alone
among all the gopīs is dearest to the Lord. The Matsya Purāṇa and
Skanda Purāṇa also show Her as the main gopī in Vṛndāvan. Though
the statement is made considering Her non-different from Rukmiṇī."

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But, anyway, this is very technical, and I don't want to confuse everybody.

"In the sense that just as Rukmiṇī is the chief queen of Dvārakā, Rādhā
is the chief gopī of Vṛndāvan."

That's the point that they're trying to make here.

In the Bṛhad-Gautamīya Tantra it is stated: 'Radhika is the Supreme

devatā, non-different than Kṛṣṇa, She is the embodiment of all opulence
and all beauty, She is the supreme enchantress.'

In the Ṛk-pariśiṣṭa it is said:

"Among all people, Kṛṣṇa eternally shines with supreme qualities in the
company of Rādhā. And Rādhā shines with supreme qualities only in the
company of Kṛṣṇa."

It is Rādhā, therefore, who it is described in the following Bhāgavatam

verse:

"Certainly this particularly gopī has perfectly worshiped the all-powerful

Personality of Godhead, Govinda, since He was so pleased with Her that
He abandoned the rest of us, and brought Her to a secluded place"
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.30.28]

This is a verse from the description of the rasa dance, where the gopīs and
Kṛṣṇa were dancing and then suddenly He left with Rādhā alone, and the
rest of the gopīs were wondering, "Oh, why did Kṛṣṇa leave with Rādhā?"
And the answer is that She has perfectly worshiped Him. Kṛṣṇa gets
complete satisfaction only from Rādhā. She is the chief among all
devotees. The gopīs are very, very exalted devotees, what to speak of the
other residents of Vṛndāvan. But even among the gopīs, Rādhā is the
topmost, the best, and the other gopīs are considered expansions of Her.
They reflect various different qualities of Rādhā.

We are going to discuss all these technical aspects of rasa in great detail.
By the time we're finished studying this book, Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu, we will go through the complete study of rasa. I'm not going to

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discuss the explanation of the second meaning of the verse. There's an
alternate translation of this verse but it's very technical, it's all full of
Sanskrit grammatical terms, and it probably would just confuse everybody
so I'm not going to discuss this. What I would rather do is talk about the
general structure of rasa, which after all is the subject of this First Wave,
or actually the whole Eastern Ocean of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu .

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is divided into four main sections called oceans.

The first is the Eastern Ocean, then there's the Southern Ocean, Western
Ocean, and finally the Northern Ocean. This subject of rasa is so
extensive that it's like an ocean. The qualities of rasa, and the amount of
rasa that one can relish are just unlimited. It's eternal, ever-expanding and
ever-fresh. So it requires quite an extensive explanation to understand
bhakti-rasa. The first ocean, the Eastern Ocean, actually describes in
general what is bhakti and what is rasa. And then each ocean in Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu is divided into waves; the first ocean, the Eastern Ocean
is divided into four waves; the Southern Ocean is divided into five waves,
and so on. So the first part that we're going to study is the Eastern Ocean,
and the First Wave of the Eastern Ocean is an overview of bhakti.

What is bhakti? And then what is rasa? Well, bhakti is the way of reviving
our eternal relationship with Supreme Lord. We're all spirit souls, we're
not these bodies. And we come from, we’re emanated by the Supreme
Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. And the proof of this
is explained in the first verse, the maṅgalācaraṇam verse, that He has so
many exalted qualities that even other personalities of Godhead don't
display, because They're simply expansions of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the original
Supreme Personality of Godhead from which all others are derived. Just
like Rādhā is the original devotee from which all other servants of God
come, including ourselves. Therefore, our relationship is with Kṛṣṇa, and
specifically with Rādhā because we're all servants of Rādhā; we're all
trying to follow in the footsteps of Rādhā. We're trying to please Kṛṣṇa in
the same way as Rādhā. And this is the best way to approach Kṛṣṇa, the
best way to please Kṛṣṇa, because Rādhā's servants' service is the best

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among all the different devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, we want to follow in
Her footsteps. This is the meaning of dāsānudāsa. Rādhā is a servant,
dāsa, and we're also servant, dāsa. But we're not independent servant,
we're dāsānudāsa, following in the footsteps. So if we follow in the
footsteps of Rādhā then we're going to be very successful in pleasing
Kṛṣṇa, and we're going to get a relationship with Kṛṣṇa which is of the
same quality, or similar quality as Rādhā. This is the meaning of bhakti.

So obviously bhakti is not a thing of this world; it's not material at all.
Although in the beginning, in the very neophyte stage of bhakti, we
perform actions with our senses—various services in the temple and to the
Lord and among the devotees and so on. But even these services have be
be accompanied by some spiritual quality. And that spiritual quality means
love. Spiritual life and love are virtually synonymous. You can't have love
without spiritual life, and you can't have spiritual life without love. Any
attempt to do so is very misguided and will be unsuccessful, a failure.
Because what about Kṛṣṇa? Is He sitting up on a cloud, hurling
thunderbolts at people and condemning them to hell and destroying
planets and stuff? No; He is simply playing in the spiritual world with His
eternal devotees. He has nothing to do, everything is automatically done
by His potencies, simply by His desire. All He has to do is desire, and then
everything happens automatically as a natural matter of course. Because,
being the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, He has set things up in
such a way that simply by His desire everything is going on automatically.
This is the meaning of omnipotence—omni-potent: all powers. All powers
means that He doesn't have to do any work personally, He simply wishes it
to be so and then it happens automatically, without any further effort or
involvement on His part. That's God, He's all-powerful.

So then what is Kṛṣṇa doing? Well, He is simply enjoying pastimes of love

with His beautiful devotees. Just like a very rich man. You can imagine, if
someone has millions or billions of dollars, they hire people to take care of
all their business affairs. They never go to the office; j ust once a month or
so, they pick up the phone and say, "How many millions of dollars did we

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make this month? Oh yeah, great, keep it up, bye." And then what do they
do? They're engaged in whatever their pleasure is, whatever they like to
do. So if this is true even here in the material world, just imagine in the
spiritual world with God. He doesn't have anything to do. He doesn't have
any work to perform. He doesn't have to go to the office. He doesn't have
to show up anywhere. He does whatever He likes to do. So what does He
like to do? He likes to love people. He likes to engage in pastimes of love.
This is God. God means the highest aesthetic person, the most creative
person, the most beautiful person, the most loving and beloved person.
Otherwise what meaning is there to God? So bhakti is the art of loving
relationship with God. Actually, love means relationship with God. You
cannot have love in the material world. You cannot have love with other
living entities devoid of a relationship with God.

Why is that? Because all those kinds of relationships are going to be

imperfect. At the very least, they're going to be temporary. And of course
in this material world everything is imperfect, there's always some kind of
mistake, we have imperfect senses and mind, and of course we have the
cheating propensity, the well-known human tendency to cheat. Therefore,
every relationship in this material world is covered by these four
erroneous or illusory qualities of existence. How can you have love in an
atmosphere like that? You can only have love when the relationship is
based on or related to our original eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Because
first of all, to be satisfying, our relationship has to be eternal. If we really
have love, then we don't want it to end. But any relationship in this
material world is bound to end, so that can't really be love. It could be
some reflection or imitation of love, but it's not real love. Real love is
eternal. It's also perfect; it doesn't have any flaw. It's not like one day
you're in love, and the next day you're fighting, like in this material world.
No. Real love is always sweet, it's always beautiful and it's always
growing. It's perfect. That's what love means, a perfect relationship:
perfectly beautiful, perfectly pleasing, perfectly aesthetic. So in this
material world there are no relationships like that. We can dream about it

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but that's all, it's just a dream, just a desire. If we really want to enjoy
perfect loving relationships, then we have to approach Kṛṣṇa.

So bhakti means the art of reviving our original relationship with Kṛṣṇa,
and rasa is the particular taste of that relationship. And as we have spoken
many times, there are five main flavors of neutrality, servitorship,
friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. And of those, conjugal love is
the highest because it contains all the others. Therefore, our particular
mood is that we want to approach Kṛṣṇa in the mood of conjugal love.
Now you notice all of us are celibate, we're all brahmacarīs. So you might
say, “Well what do you know about conjugal love?” Well actually, quite a
bit. For example, if a couple is engaged to be married and they're
expecting to become a married couple and live together for the rest of their
life, then you don't expect that one or the other is going to go out and have
an affair during the engagement. That would ruin everything, wouldn't it?

Similarly, when we're trying to approach Kṛṣṇa in bhakti, this is called

sādhana. Sādhana means that we're working on reviving this relationship,
we're trying to develop our spiritual qualities, we're trying to purify our
consciousness and approach Kṛṣṇa in different ways according to this
bhakti science. We're doing our sādhana and we're trying to approach
Kṛṣṇa because we want to live with Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world eternally.
So we're in the same position as someone who's engaged to be married.
Now if we go out and we have an affair with somebody else while we're
engaged to be married to Kṛṣṇa, what kind of an engagement is that, what
kind of love is that? What kind of dedication is that? What kind of
commitment? That's not spiritual love; that's not eternal. That's not perfect.
So if we're really serious about conjugal love with Kṛṣṇa. it means we're
going to be become celibate, we're going to be brahmacarīs in this world.
And in the spiritual world, we'll, that's a different story. But I'm getting
ahead of the story.

The process of reviving this relationship with Kṛṣṇa is called sādhana. So

sādhana begins with different bodily activities. Like you see us playing

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musical instruments, and after a while you'll probably see us dancing and
so on. And of course, we do Deity worship and many other things using
these physical bodies, these material senses. And we also use the mind.
We engage the mind in study, in contemplation, in memorizing the
different prayers and stories about Kṛṣṇa and thinking about Kṛṣṇa's
qualities, thinking about our service to Kṛṣṇa, and so on. So even though
they're material, the body and the mind should be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's
service, because they're Kṛṣṇa's energy. This is the principle of sādhana.
Then as we become developed in sādhana, we get past the neophyte stage
and we start the real bhakti-sādhana, in which we begin to cultivate a
particular mood of love towards Kṛṣṇa; and this mood is called rasa. So
the specific rasa that each of us has with Kṛṣṇa is already there. It's
existing eternally. Eternally means without beginning and without end.
Now in material existence, it has become covered over by this material
body and mind. But by performing sādhana, we cleanse this
contamination. Especially by chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, we
cleanse the contamination of the mind and heart, and we revive our
original relationship, our original understanding, our original mood of love
towards Kṛṣṇa. This is the second stage of sādhana, which is called
rāgānuga-sādhana .

So, the beginning stage of sādhana involves the material body and senses.
But the middle stage, or the higher stage of sādhana, involves this
cultivation of mood, of rasa, and in the highest stage when it becomes
mature, the sādhana is called bhāva, bhāva-bhakti. Bhāva-bhakti means
that one develops an ecstatic mood, a transcendental ecstatic feeling
toward the Lord. And by cultivating this feeling only, one achieves the
highest perfection of prema-bhakti. So this is the aim, this is the goal
toward which all bhakti is developed.

If we don't have the conception of bhakti based on this goal of attaining

prema, then our sādhana will fail. We will not attain the goal. And we
have seen this happen many, many times; that’s why I mention it. We've
seen many devotees who begin the process of sādhana, but they get some

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misconception. They start thinking that success in devotional service
means attaining a high position in some religious organization, or
collecting many followers, or a lot of money, power or fame. They want
influence over other people, they want some kind of recognition. And they
start to pursue these things with more enthusiasm than their actual
relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And we see that because of this they eventually
fall down from bhakti. Actually, their bhakti is only a shell. They're faking
it, they're pretending to be a bhakti-yogi but on the inside they're actually
trying to get fame, and money and power and all these things. Of course
what happens when something is just a shell and it has no substance
inside, it's hollow, so it eventually falls apart. It's not solid, it's not
substantial. So we see that over a long period of time, these people cannot
continue.

For devotees to be successful in reviving their eternal relationship with

Kṛṣṇa they have to reach the second stage of sādhana, rāgānuga-bhakti .
Rāgānuga-sādhana-bhakti is attained when one reaches the stage of
anartha-nivṛtti. Anartha-nivṛtti means that all of the material desires and
material activities and imperfections of the mind and heart are cleansed.
One has no more material desires. All his desires are for satisfying Kṛṣṇa.
Now does that mean that we just sit in a corner and chant, and we never go
anywhere and do anything? No, but it means that we perform all of our
activities with the aim of satisfying Kṛṣṇa. We're not performing our
activities for our own satisfaction, but we're doing them out of love. Love
means service. If we really love somebody, then of course we're going to
want to please them by service. It's not just sentimentalism—saying, “Oh,
I love you”—but then I don't do anything. No. Love means practical
service. As any of my students can tell you, I'm always engaged in service.
I get up in the morning and I immediately check my messages and reply to
the people who have written me with questions. Then I'll do some
chanting or I'll get involved in study. Right now I'm going through this
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . I'm actually transcribing every single translation
and verse in the whole book. And there's thousands of verses. Why am I
doing this? So that I can present it nicely, so that I can discuss it nicely, so

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that I can give an accurate presentation of the content of the book. Why
am I doing this? To serve the devotees. This is my service. Being guru
doesn't mean that you get to tell people what to do; being guru means that
you have more service than anybody. Being guru means you have more
experience in service, more expertise, more different things. All the
devotees here learned to cook from me. All the devotees here learned to
play musical instruments from me. All the devotees here learned how to
teach different courses on the Internet, and preach and do all these things
from me. I taught them. This is my service.

My service, guru’s service is teaching, but don't get teaching confused

with authoritarianism. Western education has those two all mixed up,
because they use education in a political way to teach people, or train
people actually, to be submissive and follow orders. The teachers have
way more authority over the students than their knowledge or their
personal development actually justifies. So when a person who has had
this kind of education thinks about a teacher, they usually think, "Oh this
is the guy yelling at me, telling me what to do, making me stay after
school," or something like that. But actually, it's not like that at all. My job
is to show an example that will inspire my students, will inspire my
devotees to do something similar. That's the meaning of ācārya. A bona
fide guru is called ācārya. Acar means activities. Ācārya is one whose
activities are exemplary; he teaches by his activities, by his example. So
I'm trying to show my students how to preach by my example, because the
great need in this world at this time is for people who can teach and
present this science of bhakti, this science of rasa. That's why we're
focusing on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . Because even among devotees, there
is a great misunderstanding of this particular topic: what is bhakti, and
what is rasa? And because of this, we see some very strange things. One
older devotee from India is claiming to teach rāgānuga-bhakti. But if you
go through their whole organization and pass all the tests and get into the
inner circle and you find out, what is this teaching of rāgānuga-bhakti?
Well, it has more rules than the standard bhakti. But rāgānuga means

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spontaneous. How can it be spontaneous if it's rule-based? This is a
fundamental misunderstanding of what rāgānuga-bhakti is.

Rāgānuga-bhakti means you're so competent that you become free from

the rules. Let me give you an example of a great composer. I happen to be
a little familiar with the subject of music. So when a composer begins to
study music, in the beginning he has to write music following many rules,
because if you don't follow those rules the music will sound bad. It will be
very weak, and it won't be very pleasing. But once you understand what
the purpose of all those rules are, then you actually get the license to break
the rules. Just like a great artist like Picasso can draw a woman's head with
two eyes on different sides and different colors, it looks like a box, and
everybody goes, "Oh that's great!" But if you or I were to do that, then
people would say, "Oh this is junk!" What's the difference? That Picasso
was such a great artist that he can even start a whole new school of art. He
can make up new rules, start a whole new style. Miles Davis, another
personality like this, knows the rules and has become such an expert
performer of these rules that he can break all of them, throw them all out
and start a whole new style, a whole new school; and he did that several
times. So a real expert is someone who knows the rules, is so competent at
following the rules that he can go beyond them, he can transcend the rules
and still attain the purpose of those rules. And in bhakti, the purpose of the
rules is very simple: always remember Kṛṣṇa, never forget Kṛṣṇa. Very
simple. If you simply remember Kṛṣṇa, constantly, consistently, and
favorably, for a long time, then you will develop bhakti. Sounds simple,
doesn't it? Well, it might be simple but it's not easy, because in this world
there are so many distractions.

People are always interrupting and they have all these different purposes
that they're trying to establish and so on, and they don't care if they
interrupt you or break your train of thought or deviate you from your work
or whatever you're doing. So this is the material world, and we have some
real rascals who are now interrupting everybody with this idea of having
to work for living and earn money. Where did this come from? Well, some

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people developed it so that they could bring other people under their
control—that's all.

Money does not have to exist. Ancient Egypt worked just fine without
money. In Vedic society, the only people who have money are the
merchants and the kings. Everybody else got along just fine without
money. Ninety-five percent of the Vedic society never touched money in
their whole life. Śūdras and brāhmaṇas never touched money: śūdras
because they're too stupid, brāhmaṇas because they're too smart. And so
maybe four or five percent of the Vedic civilization were involved with
money. But even then it wasn't used for control, it was used for service.
And that's the fundamental difference between the use of money and
economics in Vedic society, and the society that we have now. The society
that we have now is basically an excuse for exploitation. And so you
wonder why economics is so confusing, you wonder why economists are
so often wrong, because the economy is manipulated by the people who
want to control others. And they don't care about making money, because
they're the ones who print the money. What do they care about making
money? Their aim is not profit; their aim is control. Their aim is to
manipulate people. So money has become a major distraction; a major
interruption in the normal healthy lives of people everywhere.

Somehow or other we have to get free from this yoke, this burden of
money, because it's simply a method of control. We can do that by forming
communities. And in communities individuals don't need money; the
community as a whole uses money to create a space where we can
perform devotional service without distraction. So this is my service; I
manage the money, I'm the treasurer. Nobody else needs any money. It's
very nice: they don't have to think of money, they don't have to work, they
don't have to do so many things; they're freed from all these considerations
of money so that they can concentrate on worshiping Kṛṣṇa. In a
devotional saṅga, devotional society, all these distractions are minimized
and one can actually focus one's attention on remembering Kṛṣṇa. Because
remember it's all about "Always remember Kṛṣṇa, never forget Kṛṣṇa."

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The easiest way to do this is to always chant Kṛṣṇa's name, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Or oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Vāsudeva is another name for Kṛṣṇa.
So many names of Kṛṣṇa. We often chant Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma , the
Thousand Names of Lord Viṣṇu, but these are also names of Kṛṣṇa. Where
do you think Viṣṇu got them?

So there are many, many ways to remember Kṛṣṇa: doing service for
Kṛṣṇa, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, reading about Kṛṣṇa, worshiping in the
temple, doing service, cleaning, cooking, painting, doing so many things,
even with computers; we use computers quite creatively to serve Kṛṣṇa.
Whatever a person's interest is, there is a way to engage that activity in
service of Kṛṣṇa. So it doesn't matter what our interest or what our
intelligence is, or what our activities are, those activities can be engaged in
serving Kṛṣṇa, and that's devotional service. That's the beginning of
devotional service, karma-yoga. But then after a short period of time one
begins to think of Kṛṣṇa favorably, because he starts getting the results of
the karma-yoga. The results of karma-yoga include a relief from material
distress, economic development, various kinds of blessings,
auspiciousness—we'll discuss auspiciousness extensively when we talk
about the qualities of bhakti. Any engagement in bhakti-yoga bestows so
many benefits, that it requires an entire chapter, an entire wave of Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu just to list them. Actually there are far more that can be
listed in any one book. And the greatest benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness of
all, is Kṛṣṇa consciousness itself. Because simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa,
one experiences so much pleasure. Just like all these verses that we quoted
tonight from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describe how wonderful Kṛṣṇa is, how
beautiful His form is, how wonderful His activities are, how He’s full of
all rasas, He's full of all flavors of enjoyment, He's on the topmost level of
artistic aesthetic craftsmanship, His relationships are so beautiful and so
aesthetic and so wonderful and so true. Now who would not want to be in
relationship with a person like Kṛṣṇa? Only a fool, right?

So this world is full of fools; fools and rascals who don't want to be in
relationship with Kṛṣṇa, but who want to try to imitate the qualities of

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Kṛṣṇa as the enjoyer, the owner, the creator, controller, the doer, the
knower and so on. Of course they're not very good at it; especially when
they try to imitate Kṛṣṇa as a lover, they're usually completely
unsuccessful. I have experience. So, when we give up this foolish, futile
imitation of Kṛṣṇa, and instead we begin to serve Kṛṣṇa, then we begin our
engagement in bhakti. This bhakti can go from the beginning stage up to a
very, very high stage of realization; so high that actually it never ends, it
continues forever.

And that's another quality of bhakti: it's eternal. Bhakti is never exhausted;
you never reach the end. You never get to the point where you say, "Yeah,
yeah, I've been here, I know this." No. It's always ever-expanding and
increasingly astonishing at each turn. You can't believe how wonderful
bhakti can be. You think that, "Oh, that last one was just too much. It can
never get better than this.” And then it does!" So bhakti is the eternal
engagement for the eternal spirit soul. If we really want pleasure—even if
you want material pleasure—bhakti is still the best approach, because
bhakti will get you material pleasure almost effortlessly. And then you'll
see actually how insignificant material pleasure is, compared with spiritual
pleasure. So the real enjoyment of life, or the real purpose of life, is to
taste this spiritual pleasure of bhakti: bhakti-rasa. Rasa means taste. And
of course we know that someone who has taste means someone who
knows about aesthetics, who knows what's pleasing, and they exercise this
taste in their activities, and because of this they enjoy life more than the
typical person. So we should endeavor to get taste. If we don't have it, then
we should want to acquire it. We should desire good taste. And the best
taste, of course, is the appreciation of the qualities and activities of Kṛṣṇa.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: Earlier on in the lecture you mentioned the verse of

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where Kṛṣṇa enters the arena of the wrestlers, and
different people see him in different moods and different rasas, from the
cowherd boys, and the gopīs and like that, all the way to Kaṁsa, who saw
Kṛṣṇa as death personified, and that was also mentioned as one of the
rasas, bhayankār. So in that sense is it correct to say that everybody, that

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even the atheists in the world are experiencing some kind of rasa in
relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

Bābājī: Yes. But not all of those are considered devotional service,
because devotional service requires that we have a positive attitude toward
Kṛṣṇa. Just like, for example, Kaṁsa was thinking of Kṛṣṇa night and day.
He was intensely absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa, but he was thinking of
Kṛṣṇa as death personified. So he was not considered a devotee, even
though he got liberation from Kṛṣṇa. Or similarly, Pūtanā also got
liberation and even devotional service from Kṛṣṇa, but her activities are
not considered devotional service because she was trying to kill Kṛṣṇa.
But simply because she had some activity in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, even
though it was inimical, she got elevated to a very, very high position, and
this is wonderful. And even though Kṛṣṇa may have enjoyed killing
Kaṁsa, still his activities don't count as devotional service because they
were not done with the intention of pleasing Kṛṣṇa. There's another
example given that Mother Yaśoda, when Mother Yaśodā put Kṛṣṇa down
to stop the boiling pot of milk from boiling over, Kṛṣṇa was not pleased;
He started to cry. But Mother Yaśodā's action is considered devotional
service because her intention in doing that was to serve Kṛṣṇa nice sweet
rice. So because her intention was to please Kṛṣṇa, her activity is accepted
as devotional service even though actually it didn't please Kṛṣṇa. And
even though Kaṁṣa pleased Kṛṣṇa by allowing Kṛṣṇa to kill him, the
activities of Kaṁsa are not considered devotional service because he didn't
have that intention.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: Why does Pūtanā get devotional service compared

to the other demons?

Bābājī: Ah. Because she fed Kṛṣṇa from her breast milk.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: Was that considered as something positive?

Bābājī: It was because when Kṛṣṇa sucked out her life airs, she became
purified. So she performed a little tiny bit of devotional service, and that

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was enough to get promoted to Vaikuṇṭha as one of Kṛṣṇa's mothers. It
doesn't take much pure devotional service to gain all kinds of wonderful
benedictions. Our problem is that our devotional service is not pure. It's
always mixed with other things, different motives and different desires,
like I was saying earlier about people who get all caught up in religious
politics. Our devotional service is mixed; we want some material benefit
from Kṛṣṇa, subtle or gross. But the demons, by contact with Kṛṣṇa they
became purified and then they got their original position, whatever it was.
Maybe merging into Brāhman in most cases. Any questions from online?

Question from Mukuteśvara dāsa: "Please accept my humble

obeisances. What is the significance of Kṛṣṇa's shark earrings? Are there
pastimes with sharks?"

Bābājī: It must have been the style that year. He has these little earrings in
the shape of sharks and they swing back and forth. No, the significance is
that the devotees, especially the close devotees of Kṛṣṇa, are considered
the sharks in the ocean of bliss, because the shark is very powerful and
eats all other kinds of fish too. So similarly, the highest devotees are very,
very strong like that. And they engage all these other devotees by their
influence, because of their strong love of Kṛṣṇa. So these devotees are
known as the sharks; the sharks in the ocean of bliss.

Question from Robin: "Where can we find more information on the

gopīs?"

Bābājī: In Kṛṣṇa Book. We have an online library on our site with all my
spiritual master's books. The best way to find out would be to read Kṛṣṇa
Book, also known as KṚṢṆA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead .
Kṛṣṇa Book is a summary study of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam.

Another question from Robin: "Why is Kṛṣṇa often displayed with a

peacock feather or a peacock?"

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Bābājī: Because when a peacock dances in the forest there is one male
peacock and many females, and that's also Kṛṣṇa's style. So he always
wears the peacock feature as a reminder that that's Kṛṣṇa's style.

Question from Marino: "What's the reason why different people on battle
arenas saw Kṛṣṇa differently?"

Bābājī: Their consciousness is different. This happens all the time

anyway. People in this world see the same thing but they see it differently
according to their desires, according to their mentality. A passerby will see
a car crash and think, "Oh that's terrible, what a tragedy." An ambulance
driver will think, "Oh, I have to get to work now!" A lawyer will see a car
crash and think, "Ah, I can make some money." The relatives will see the
car crash and be stricken with grief because their loved one got injured.
Everyone sees everything differently according to their desire. So how is it
that one would not see Kṛṣṇa that way also? That's natural. The thing that's
striking about that particular verse is that one Kṛṣṇa in one activity
demonstrated or manifested all the twelve rasas that are possible, all the
twelve basic moods that are possible for human beings in one activity.
That's why Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful. Any more?

Question from Draviḍa-rāja: "I have been pondering what I should have
as my purpose and identification when telling my mind or others the
answer to the question, ‘Who am I?’ Am I the servant of Śrī Gaurahari
Dāsānudās Bābājī and my purpose is to serve him to the best of my
ability?"

Bābājī: Sounds like a good start. Just like when we first begin a kīrtana,
we always begin with obeisances to the spiritual master. This is our
principal identity, our principal identification, that we are disciples of a
particular spiritual master. Then beyond that, we're servants of Śrī Śrī
Gaura-Nitāi, Pañca-tattva; then beyond that, we're servants of Rādhā-
Kṛṣṇa. The point is that our relationship with the spiritual master makes all
these other relationships and these other identifications possible. If I
wasn't a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, I wouldn't know anything about

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Lord Caitanya or Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya reveals Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa,
otherwise only maybe a few people up in Vṛndāvan would know about
Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. If it wasn't for Lord Caitanya, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa would have
already been forgotten in this whole world. So the spiritual master is
revealing the Lord, and then the Lord is revealing Himself progressively,
higher and higher. So there are different levels. There's no one simple
answer to ‘Who am I?’ Although you could say, ‘I am servant.’ But a
servant of whom? Who am I servant of first and foremost? Always my
spiritual master, and then I am a servant of Lord Caitanya Māhaprabhu
and then I'm a servant of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and a servant of all of their
devotees.

Question from Ronald Singh: "Please accept my humble obeisances. Is

Kṛṣṇa the only incarnation that displays all the twelve rasas or is Lord Śrī
Kṛṣṇa Caitanya part of it also?"

Bābājī: I think you have a confusion about what rasa is. Kṛṣṇa does not
display rasas. Devotees display rasas in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's
qualities reflected in the consciousness in the devotees is what gives rise to
rasa. You have to clear this term rasa. Rasa is a relationship, just like in
music, a interval like ṣa, ṛ, gā, mā, pa, dha, ni, is a relationship. Rasa
means the relationship of the spirit soul with the Lord. Kṛṣṇa can walk into
a room and there are twelve devotees there, and they have twelve different
relationships. So rasa is not something that is intrinsic in the Lord, but
rather it's a reflection of the Lord's qualities in the consciousness of the
individual devotees. You have to get really, really clear on that so you
know how it works. Kṛṣṇa has all qualities so depending on which of those
qualities are attractive to a specific devotee, then the devotee will put
themselves into a certain relationship with Kṛṣṇa. So depending on which
of Kṛṣṇa's qualities that they're attracted to, their relationship, they'll
manifest a relationship in one of the five principal rasas. And then the
other decorations of the seven indirect rasas will be manifested around
that. So try to think over this question and we can discuss it on the forum,
because it's a bit of an extensive discussion.

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 Chapter 3: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.2-4
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 27, 2009

Let’s continue with Evening Darshans based on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu .

We're going back to the beginning and studying the original text, which
we were able to get a hold of as soon as we came to India, so that was no
doubt Kṛṣṇa's arrangement. And so we'll take the hint. Because really the
editing on Prabhupāda's Nectar of Devotion leaves a great deal to be
desired. And this is the original text. So today we'll try to go over a few
verses. The first verse was so long and the commentary was also quite
extensive. So today we'll do two or three verses starting with the second
verse:

hṛdi yasya preraṇayā pravartito’haṁ varāka-rūpo’pi

tasya hareḥ pada-kamalaṁ vande caitanya-devasya

"I offer my respects to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord in the form of
Caitanyadeva. Though I am a vile person by nature, by His inspiration
within my heart I have undertaken this work." [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu 1.1.2]

Now this is Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

“In this verse, the author offers his respects to the avatāra who delivers
the people of kali-yuga by spreading devotion to Himself, Śrī-Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanyadeva, the Supreme Lord, and particularly to His lotus feet
which have become his shelter. ‘By His inspiration within my heart I
have been able to accomplish this work.’ He addresses himself as low,
varāka-rūpa, out of humility. Goddess Sarasvatī however cannot tolerate
that. Therefore she produces another meaning. Varā also means the best.
Ā combined with ka becomes ākāiti which means ‘boldly indicates.’
Therefore varāka stands for varām ākāiti, she praises him as the person
who is clearly indicated as the best. The word api in the verse indicates
that only by the inspiration of the Lord, and not otherwise, will the
person be able to dedicate himself to writing a worthy literary work.”

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There are so many points here. This second verse is the opening of the
whole book; so Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī here is trying to set the mood and the
tone for the whole work. And we discussed in earlier segments of this
series how this book came to be written by the inspiration of Lord
Caitanya Mahāprabhu. That Śrī Caitanya Māhaprabhu, being the
incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, for this kali-yuga, instructed
Rūpa Gosvāmī at Prayāg, Allahabad, here in India. And He instructed him
continuously for eleven days, and then He commanded him, "You write
books on this subject." So these instructions are the highest, most
complete exposition of devotional service to the Supreme Lord because
they're given by the Supreme Lord Himself, who appeared as His own
worshiper. And of course God can do anything, so He can also do that.
Don't worry about how it's possible; He can do anything by His internal
potency, yoga-māyā. So Lord Caitanya appeared as His own devotee. But
of course being the Supreme Lord, He appeared as the Supreme devotee,
the highest devotee, the most empowered devotee, and He gave His
personal example on how to preform devotional service.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself only wrote eight verses, the
Śikṣāṣṭaka, which we'll study in due course. But He instructed His close
disciples, like Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, Raghunātha Dāsa
and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmīs, Jīva Gosvāmī and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa
Gosvāmī, that they should write books. And so the Six Gosvāmīs got
together at Vṛndāvan and they worked together to write many, many
wonderful books. This is one of them, and perhaps the most important of
all of them, because it gives the ontology, the background philosophy by
which all the other rasa-śastras, including Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, must be
understood.

It's just like if you were to go into an engineering school and just pick a
book off the shelf in the library and start reading about it, it might be a
book on power transmission, or it might be a book on microcircuits, or it
might be a book on logic, or computers, or radios, or some other technical
subject. And the average person reading this book would be very

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confused; but if you have the basic knowledge of electricity and
electronics, and how circuits work and electrical physics, then you can
bring that knowledge to the subject at hand and figure it out somehow or
other, based on this background knowledge. So devotional service to the
Supreme Lord is the same; it's a very, very technical subject: a very high
subject that requires a lot of education, training and experience to master
it.

So if you just pull a book like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Lalitā-Mādhava,

Vidagdha-mādhava , Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛta, or so many devotional works like
that, off the shelf and you start reading, there are going to be so many
expressions related to rasa. Rasa means the sweet emotional relationship
between the soul and the Lord. This is the essence of bhakti. So if we are
to become advanced in bhakti we have to learn how to cultivate this rasa.
This is a great science, and Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu explains this
science step-by-step. It's just like in electrical engineering, to use one
example, it would be like the explanation of electrical physics and theory ,
basic electronics, the basic physical theory of electrical knowledge. Or
let's say we're studying music. Then the comparable thing would be a
learned work on musical theory that explains the scales, the notes, the
intervals, rhythms and many other fundamentals of music. If you don't
have those fundamentals of music, and you take some piece by some great
composer and you try to play it, you won't be able to understand anything.
It will be completely misunderstood. And the same goes for devotional
service: without this understanding given in this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
or some similar work, like the Nārada-bhakti-sūtras or something like
that, you won't be able to understanding anything.

It's a fact that when Westerners came to India and tried to understanding
the Vedic culture, they looked at some of these books and they couldn't
understand anything, they got it completely wrong. They thought that
Kṛṣṇa was some village god and that His activities were all mythology and
so on, all this nonsense. Because they could not understanding the nature
of the sweet relationship between the soul and God, or rasa. And this book

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Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is the key to understanding rasa, the key to
practicing rasa and experiencing it for yourself. So it begins with a
statement of the author's feeling of humility. That “I am a low, vile person
by my very nature. I have no qualification for understanding this bhakti;
but somehow or other by the inspiration of Mahāprabhu now I have been
engaged in this task of spreading this knowledge.” And we all feel like
that; it's the nature of a bhakta to feel very low and unqualified. We also
feel unqualified for the work that we're doing, spreading this very, very
high knowledge. But our spiritual master Śrīla Prabhupāda engaged us in
this work, so somehow or other by his inspiration and mercy, we're doing
it and it's turning out successful.

Now the second part of the purport is interesting, because Jīva Gosvāmī
being younger, the nephew of Rūpa Gosvāmī, he was always defending
Rūpa Gosvāmī because Rūpa Gosvāmī's knowledge and understanding of
Vedas was quite controversial in his time and there were many challenges.
And Jīva Gosvāmī many times became the defender of his uncle, so here
he says, "Even after he addresses himself as low out of humility, Sarasvatī
cannot tolerate that." Sarasvatī is the goddess of learning and also of
course she's in charge of Sanskrit, grammar and like that. He takes the
same words and interprets it in a different way by means of Sanskrit roots,
dhātus. Dhātu means a root word. So by dividing the words differently
and using the meanings of the roots of those words, he comes out with
actually the opposite meaning, which is that his uncle Rūpa Gosvāmī is
the best of men and that he boldly indicates the actual truth. And so the
disciple is always looking at his guru like that. Guru looks at himself as
being very low and unqualified. But disciple always looks at guru as being
the most qualified. So this is a perfect example of this mood of bhakti and
the relationship between the guru and disciple.

And finally, the conclusion is that the only way that someone can write a
worthy literary work—and by that is meant a book about transcendental
knowledge—the only way this can happen is by the direct inspiration of
the Lord, and not otherwise. If we try to write something or speculate

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something from our own opinions, our own knowledge, it will fail. We
may be able to get some little influence temporarily but then it won't last;
it won't have any potency and it certainly won't go on into the future. So
instead we should try to find a higher standard: try to find actually the
highest standard, and situate ourselves on that standard. And that means
we will actually come to a better understanding of these subjects. Better
than what? Well, when Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the West he introduced
this subject of bhakti. Bhakti had not really been studied or understood
very well in the West. Up until then there had been teachers from India
coming to the West who had explained yoga and meditation and different
types of liberation and things like that, but their orientation was mostly
impersonalist. In impersonalism there cannot be any bhakti because bhakti
means love, and love can only happen between persons.

So the Supreme Lord is a person. And of course, the worshiper is also a

person. And when these two persons have a wonderful sweet relationship
based on transcendental love, this is bhakti. But none of the teachers who
came from India before Śrīla Prabhupāda were bhaktas; they were all
impersonalists—or voidists or Buddhists, or people like that—trying to
say that nothingness is the Absolute Truth. And of course there's no
question of love in the nothingness or void. It means actually
extinguishing one's individuality and one's personality, and so of course in
that event there's no question of love. So Śrīla Prabhupāda was actually
the first teacher to come from India and give the means by which we can
experience transcendental love. And that's bhakti. Bhakti is the actual
conclusion of the Vedas. And if you study the Vedas properly, you will
come to the same conclusion. And you will also engage yourself in
cultivating this kind of transcendental relationship.

viśrāma-mandiratyā tasya sanātana-tanor mad-īśasya

bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhur bhavatu sadāyam pramodāya

"May this work named ‘the ocean of nectar composed of bhakti-rasa’

always serve as the recreation hall of my Lord, manifested in the form

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 called Sanātana [Gosvāmī] for His pleasure." [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu 1.1.3]

Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

"Praising his guru Sanātana as the avatāra of his worshipable Lord, the
author makes a prayer. This scripture is called ‘the ocean of nectar,’ in
which the nectar is bhakti-rasa. May this work serve as the resting place
of my Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa who, although always situation in His own form,
sanātana-tanoḥ, manifests many other forms including the body
Sanātana. In addition, the ocean is the resting place of another eternally
perfect form called Nārāyaṇa. In this case the normal meaning of
sanātana, eternal, is taken. Thus the verse is a metaphor. As Nārāyaṇa,
with His eternal body lies down on the milk ocean to take rest, may
Sanātana, the empowered expansion of Kṛṣṇa, lie down and take rest in
the work called 'the ocean of bhakti-rasa.' [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu ]"

This is another example of the disciple worshiping the guru. In this case
he's worshiping Sanātana Gosvāmī. Sanātana Gosvāmī was the eldest of
the six Gosvāmīs and this book in its present form was actually his idea:
maybe the title Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu came from him. Certainly the
concept to make an ontological analysis of bhakti came from him; to give
the complete explanation of the terminology, the concepts, and the
classifications of different types of bhakti. And that way everyone who
wants to cultivate bhakti would have the necessary background
knowledge, and the scientific explanation of what is bhakti; and they
would be able to approach this great science without any confusion or
misconception.

bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhau carataḥ paribhūta-kāla-jāla-bhiyaḥ

bhakta-makarān aśīlita-mukti-nadīkān namasāmi

“I offer my respects to the devotees who are like makaras, kings among
fishes, frolicking in the sweet ocean of devotional rasa; who disregard
the insignificant rivers of liberation, and who are free from fear caused
by the net of time.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.4]

So here's another metaphor. He's comparing the great devotees with

makaras. The makaras are great fish, even greater than the timiṅgala fish.

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A timiṅgala fish can swallow a whale just like a snack. So in this ocean, in
the ocean of this world, we don't see such fish. But in the Causal Ocean,
the ocean of the higher world, there are many fish that are too big to live
in this worldly ocean; and some of these fish are enormous, indeed. So just
because we don't experience this kind of fish in this world, or in this
ocean, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist someplace else in the great
creation of God.

Similarly, just because we don't normally experience pure love of God,

pure bhakti, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist somewhere. In other
words, we may not have it in our tiny experience, but that doesn't mean
that someone else, somewhere else is incapable of that experience. Let's
use another musical example. Someone who is just beginning to learn an
instrument, they cannot or should not attempt to play some great concerto,
because they'll certainly fail. And if they fail then they may say, "Oh,
nobody can play this! It's impossible. Nobody can do it." So they don't
understand: somewhere there is a great musician who can play this, that's
why the composer wrote it. He wasn’t about to write something that no
one could play. So he made the arrangement so that someone, maybe a
very great musician, someone can certainly play it. Just because you can't
play it doesn't mean that no one can play it. Similarly, just because we are
fallen and unintelligent, contaminated and degraded, and as a result we
can't imagine pure love—pure unconditional, unselfish, eternal love and
service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead—just because we don't
have that experience doesn't mean that someone can't have it, somewhere.
No. If we can write about it, if we can imagine it, if we can think about it,
then somewhere it must exist. And actually this experience, or this kind of
love exists in great personalities.

These great personalities are compared to the great fishes that exist in the
ocean of higher planets, higher worlds than our own. And he also makes
another nice comparison that the great fishes who live in the open sea
don't go into the rivers, because the rivers are insignificant. The rivers
aren't big enough for these great fishes. So similarly, the rivers of

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impersonal liberation, mokṣa—and what to speak and voidism and all
kinds of nonsense impersonal speculation—these are too small for the
great devotees. The great devotees need more facility than that. They need
more space than that, they need a bigger game. These very, very small
insignificant philosophies like impersonalism and voidism and like that,
can't hold the interest of a truly spiritual developed person for very long.
Actually, as soon as we hear about them we reject them, just like a great
fish coming to the mouth of a river and seeing, "Oh it's so shallow and so
small," they would immediately reject and simply go back into the open
sea.

Similarly the devotees, the great souls, reject these impersonal and
actually materialistic ideas. Because they're not big enough, they're not
complex enough, they're not rich enough, they're not beautiful enough,
they're not satisfying to the soul. So if the great souls have rejected this
nonsense idea, then we should also follow in their footsteps, and we
should not entertain this idea that God is all one, or that we are God, or
that God is nothingness, or something like that. These are all very, very
poverty-stricken ideas compared with bhakti. And if you will kindly
remain patient and go through this whole science of bhakti-rasa with us,
you will also see what a great science it is, how complete and how
extensive it is. And how actually, it's so huge and unlimited that you could
never find the limit of it, even in a thousand lifetimes or a million years or
ten million years. And that's the way it has to be, because spiritual life has
to be unlimited, eternal. Never find any end, never find any border, never
find any insufficiency in it. It's ever-expanding, ever-fresh, always
beautiful, more and more interesting and satisfying. That's bhakti. So all
these things are true of bhakti.

Now let me read Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary on this verse. I think that's
about all we'll be able to handle today:

“Having offered his respects to Śrī Sanātana by name through a literary

device, the author offers his respects to all the other devotees who are
also dear to him without specifying particular names. The devotees are

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 compared to makaras. The makara is an aquatic animal and is called the
king of fish. The devotees are similar to the makara in three ways.
Firstly, the devotees as makaras joyfully swim in unlimited bhakti-rasa
which is compared to an ocean of nectar which is the final shelter of
various types of rivers of liberation and is full of the highest bliss.
Secondly, they ignore liberation which is compared to a river— aṣīlita
mukti nandīkān—the happiness of merging in Brahman, even though that
happiness cuts the bondage of birth and death, and even though that
happiness flows eternally, just as a river provides relief and flows
constantly without ever stopping. Sometimes the word ānādṛta is see in
place of the aṣīlita in this verse. The devotees ignore liberation because
they prefer to play in the ocean of bhakti-rasa. This is illustrated in the
following verses:

sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-
sārūpyaikatvam apy uta
dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti
vinā mat-sevanaṁ janāḥ

“A pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation— sālokya,

sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya or ekatva—even if they are offered by the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, if they do not include service to
Him.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.13]

mat-sevayā pratītaṁ te
sālokyādi-catuṣṭayam
necchanti sevayā pūrṇ āḥ
kuto 'nyat kāla-viplutam

“My devotees, who are always satisfied to be engaged in My loving

service, are not interested even in the four principles of liberation
[sālokya, sārūpya, sāmīpya and sārṣṭi], although these are
automatically achieved by their service. What then is to be said of
such perishable happiness as elevation to the higher planetary
systems?” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.67]

Sālokya is to reside on the same planet as the Lord. Sārūpya is to have the
same form as the Lord. Sāmīpya is to have the personal association of the
Lord, and sārṣṭi is to have the same opulences as the Lord. These are the
four types of liberation that devotees can sometimes accept if they include
devotional service to the Lord. But they never accept the fifth kind of

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liberation, impersonal liberation, or merging into the existence of the
Lord, because that means the extinguishing of their personal existence.
And without personal existence there can't be any service, there can't be
any love, and these are the things they desire. So the devotees never accept
impersonal liberation, and they only sometimes accept these four other
types of liberation: to have the same form as the Lord, to live on the planet
of the Lord, to have similar qualities and opulences, or the personal
association of the Lord. Only when they can go and be in the spiritual
world and offer the Lord their service, then they might accept. But the
interesting thing about these four kinds of liberation is that they are
automatically given to the devotees who attain pure devotional service.
The devotees automatically go to the planet of the Lord. They
automatically get a form similar in quality to the Lord, and they engage in
wonderful pastimes eternally in the spiritual world in those forms.

People are struggling so hard to gain liberation; but actually we see that
the impersonalists are unable to gain it. If they were able to get it, then
they wouldn't be going and opening hospitals and starting different
charitable organizations. They would be so satisfied with their spiritual
relationship with the Lord that they wouldn't have any need for all these
things. It's just like you see some devotees working very hard to open big,
big temples and engage thousands of people in these huge events and
festivals. But this means actually that they're in the neophyte stage of
devotional service.

In the advanced stage of devotional service, the devotees are so satisfied

that all they want to do is engage in their beautiful loving relationship with
Kṛṣṇa or one of His expansions, whoever they are in relationship with,
whoever their bhakti is for. They don't want to get involved in big, big
projects that distract them from their sweet relationship with the Lord.
That's not their mood at all. So if these things come by themselves, then
they're very happy. If someone comes and says, "I have ten million dollars,
I want to build a big temple." The devotee is very happy to say, "OK, go
and take these other men here, and start the project and take care of it.

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Hare Kṛṣṇa!" Not that the pure devotees themselves want to get involved
in all these complicated big, big projects. They want to advise and inspire
those kind of projects, yes. But they don't want to personally get involved
because that would distract them from their real engagement.

“Thirdly, in the ocean of bhakti-rasa they disregard the fear arising from
time, which causes a succession of miseries through bondage of birth
and death. Just as fish swimming in the deep ocean are free from the fear
of the fisherman's nets. Paribhūta-kāla-jāla-bhīyaḥ. This is understood
from the following verse.

te deva-siddha-parigīta-pavitra-gāthā
ye sādhavaḥ samadṛśo bhagavat-prapannāḥ
tān nopasīdata harer gadayābhiguptān
naiṣāṁ vayaṁ na ca vayaḥ prabhāva-nāma

“My dear servants, please do not approach such devotees, for they
have fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.”

This is spoken by Yamarāja. It's part of the story of Ajāmila.

“So please do not approach such devotees for they have fully
surrendered to the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
They are equal to everyone and the demigods and the inhabitants of
Siddhaloka sing their narrations. Please do not even go near them. The
club of the Supreme Personality of Godhead always protects them and
therefore, Lord Brahmā, I, and even the time factor are not competent to
chastise them.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.3.27 ]

So the verse under discussion, text four, compares the different miseries
caused by time to fisherman's nets. In the ocean, fisherman go out and
throw their net, but in the deep ocean, what is the range of the fisherman's
net? It's insignificant. The ocean is miles deep in places. And their net is
maybe, you know, a hundred feet or so, at the most. So the devotees
escape this net of time and suffering by diving deep into the ocean which
is beyond the reach of the net.

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This ocean is an ocean of nectar: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Bhakti-rāsa-
amṛta; bhakti-rāsa nectar. Rasa means that which is relishable, that which
is tasteful. When we see someone who is enjoying life, who is very expert
in different tasteful arrangements for enjoyment, we say, "Oh, he has taste.
He has style." What is this taste? Taste means a knowledge of what is
enjoyable. And rasa, this is the prime subject matter, or the prime process
for enjoying life. Because it's amṛta. Bhakti-rāsa-amṛta, amṛta means
nectar but it also means deathless, eternal. If we really want to enjoy, we
have to enjoy something which is eternal. If we try to enjoy something
which is going to die, then what kind of enjoyment is that? Because we
always have the specter of death hovering over our enjoyment. We know
that someday in time this method or this object of enjoyment is going to be
destroyed. So why should we accept this kind of enjoyment, which is
simply temporary and conditional and someday it's going to end? Because
we are eternal; we are spirit souls. We are pure consciousness, so why
should we accept a form of enjoyment which is inferior to our own self?
This body, the mind, the intelligence, the ego, all these things are inferior
to the soul.

If we try to enjoy a big-big ego, "Oh yes, I am the enjoyer of all I survey,"
or some nonsense like this; or if we try to enjoy the mind, different kinds
of speculation and thinking and different things; what to speak of trying to
enjoy the material bodily senses. All these things, all these types of
enjoyment are inferior, they're low taste. They're in bad taste, because they
are not on the same level as our real self; they are not on the same level as
the soul. The soul is eternal, transcendental, subtle. So all these things in
the material world can never satisfy the soul. And you'll see this
manifested in people's behavior. They enjoy something for a little while,
and then they give it up and go enjoy something else. People will have sex
life for some time, a few minutes, and then they'll light up a cigarette. If
sex life was really that enjoyable, then why don't they just go on doing
that? Why do they do something else? This is called bhoga-tyāga. Bhoga
means sense enjoyment and tyāga means renunciation. So everyone is
going through bhoga-tyāga, bhoga-tyāga, where they're trying to enjoy

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one thing, and then they're giving it up and then enjoying something else.
The businessman works hard all week in the office; but he can't enjoy that
perpetually, so on the weekend he gives up his office work and tries to
enjoy in some club, or takes a holiday or something. But then that's too
expensive, so he has to give that up and go back to work and save more
money. This is going on; this is life in the material world. But the
devotees, every day they're doing the same thing: chanting the Holy Name
of the Lord, preaching, studying, playing beautiful music—all for the
pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. We have the best food, the best music, the best
knowledge, simple life, very nice, clean, pure.

For example, we've fixed up our place here and cleaned everything out.
This used to be a silk factory, winding silk threads on these spools. I guess
they sell them or make them into cloth or something. So anyway, that was
going on. When we came here the whole place was full of silk fibers. It
took three or four men a whole day to simply clean the silk fibers off the
walls, the ceiling, the floor, the windows, everywhere. And then finally we
moved everything in, and we painted the walls a very nice while color.
And now we're getting curtains. We got a whole bulk of cloth here, thirty
meters, and will make that into curtains for behind the altar, and the side,
and it's going to make everything look very, very nice. So devotees are
always making beautiful arrangements for the pleasure of the Supreme
Lord, and consequently we get to live in beautiful surroundings, beautiful
circumstances. And even so, we live very simple; we don't care for
elaborate arrangements for our sense gratification. This is actually more
pleasurable, because then we don't have to spend so much time taking care
of all of our stuff. There are so many practical advantages to being a
devotee. And that's the least of it, because the real pleasure we experience
is internal due to our wonderful relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

We're not trying to squeeze every little drop of enjoyment out of this
material world. We simply do our duty externally, but internally we relish
this relationship with Kṛṣṇa. This is the real taste; this is the real source of
enjoyment. This is the Bhakti-rāsa-amṛta, the deathless nectar of

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devotional relationship, ecstatic love, bhakti-rasa. So there are more
flavors, just like when you go into an ice cream store, and one says, "We
have twelve flavors", and the other one says, "We have twenty-seven
flavors", and the other one says, "We have a hundred and seventy-three
flavors." But bhakti-rasa has unlimited flavors, and they can be put
together in all kinds of combinations; and if you know what you're doing
you can make very harmonious mixtures of these different flavors and
they're very, very tasteful and relishable.

So, the devotees are always relishing these beautiful tastes of relationship
with Kṛṣṇa, and as a result they don't feel compelled to try to seek inferior
forms of enjoyment in the material world. You see, this is real happiness;
this is real enjoyment, real pleasure because it's spiritual. It's internal. You
can't see it, you can't touch it, you can't measure it with some kind of
instrument, but it's there. It's there, just as certainly as when you sit down
to a nice meal and you eat your fill, afterwards you feel, "Ah, I'm satisfied,
I'm full." Just as certain as that kind of satisfaction, is the satisfaction we
get internally from our engagement in bhakti-rasa. If we didn't have that
we couldn't keep doing this. I've been doing this since 1967. What's that,
forty-two years now? And I can't imagine doing anything else. And even I
had a life that would be considered desirable. I was a successful musician.
I was a composer. I was traveling with a great jazz band, doing gigs, and
you know, all of that stuff. But I gave it all up to become a devotee. I
would never go back to that life now. Why? Because I wasn't getting the
taste that I was after. I wasn't getting the full enjoyment from these
material activities that I got from spiritual activities in the service of
Kṛṣṇa.

We have to understand what is real enjoyment. What we're doing in the

material world by trying to enjoy sense gratification is simply a substitute
for real enjoyment; a very poor substitute, because it really doesn't satisfy
us, that’s why we always go through bhoga-tyāga. We want something
that will satisfy us eternally, will never wear out, always be fresh and new,
ever-expanding, ever-deepening and that's only bhakti. There's nothing

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 102
else like it. We have looked through the philosophies and the religions and
the practices of all these different groups all over the world, and we’ve
never found anything even close to the wonders of bhakti. And not just
armchair exploring, reading books. I've gone to the East and studied with
Taoist masters and have gotten quite far into their whole trip, and I've gone
different places and studied martial arts, and Tarot and all these different
things, and there's nothing like this devotional service. There's just nothing
like it. Even here in India there are many, many different arts and sciences
derived from Vedic knowledge, but most of them are not pure. They have
some contamination or distortion introduced by people with less
understanding, less realization. Fortunately, we are a student of a perfectly
self-realized soul, Śrīla Prabhupāda. He revealed all these things to us, and
we're similarly passing these things on to you. But you have to have the
patience and the discipline to absorb and apply all this knowledge, and
then you can benefit from it.

We're offering this pure bhakti; this is our service. You should keep up
with these as we go through this whole book. And after you understand
what bhakti-rasa is, then you won't want any other enjoyment. You won't
need any other enjoyment. Bhakti is self-sufficient. Bhakti is it's own
cause, and it's its own result. So bhakti is completely self-referential and
independent. It does not depend on anything else: knowledge,
renunciation, or fruitive activity, or liberation, or any other form of
spiritual life. It's completely independent. That's why when people come
to us, "Well I studied this and this and this and that." I tell them, "Just
forget all that stuff. You’re not going to need it here. It's just going to
become extra complication and you'll become confused. So just drop all
that other stuff and concentrate completely on bhakti, and then you'll get
the highest result.” That's the message of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu .

Nava-yauvana dāsa: When you were talking about the verse where the
devotees don't go to the rivers of liberation, you're talking about the
impersonalists, and these rivers of liberation are considered not satisfying
enough, not beautiful enough, and not complex enough for the devotees to

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relish and enjoy. So the impersonalists are actually willfully choosing an
ontology that is unnatural to their own situation, as persons having some
kind of aesthetic sense, so they're denying their own aesthetic appetite?

Bābājī: That's one way to look at it. Everyone wants love. And the
impersonalists have reached the conclusion that “Love is phony; love is
false. Let's just deny it; let's just get rid of it.” But love is based on being a
person. Because a person has desire for relationship with other persons. So
“Oh, then we have to get rid of being a person also.” You see, it's like
they're cutting off their nose to spite their face, as the expression goes. It's
like a kind of suicide, a kind of self-destructive thing. It's like, "Oh, I can't
have love in this material world? Then I'm not going to love anybody at
all. Nyaaah! I'm just going to become nothing! Hah! That’ll teach ya!" I
really think their motivation is a bit spiteful like that. I think they're bitter;
very, very bitter. And so they perform self-destructive activities as a way
to punish the other people who didn't love them the way they thought they
deserved to be loved. Well, guess what? Nobody in this material world is
going to love you the way you think that you deserve to be loved; because,
frankly, we're not capable of it. We're just fallible, limited human beings.
Tiny, very ignorant, selfish, foolish human beings. So human beings
cannot really give the kind of love that the soul wants and needs. Only
God can give that kind of love. So He remains in the background until we
approach Him:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante

[Bhagavad-gītā 4.11]

How many times have I quoted that verse? That He responds in kind to the
way we approach Him. So if we ignore Him, He just merges into the
background and you don't see Him at all. But if we approach Him with
love, He responds with love. And of course, His love is unlimited and
perfect. Not like the love of these human beings. So yes, we love our
fellow human beings. It's not that we don't. We love them to the best of
our ability. But we don't make false claims like, "I'm gonna love you
forever." But what we say is that “We will try to give you the best service

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by introducing you to this highest knowledge and this highest practice.
That if you pursue it, if you develop this in your own life, it will make you
very, very happy. But I'm not gonna make you happy. What use you make
of this bhakti is what will make you happy, because Kṛṣṇa will reciprocate
your service.” The impersonalists don't believe that. They've been cheated
by everyone else, and now they've lost all faith and they're disgusted by
the whole world, and they just want to end it all. "OK, I'll just become
zero or merge into nothingness or everythingness,” or whatever their
misconception is. It's very sad.

Question from Mukuteśvara: "Please accept my humble obeisances. If

one achieves one of the personal liberations at death, but does not attain
pure devotional service, are they then able to develop devotional service in
their liberated state?"

Bābājī: Why on Earth would you want to do that? It's far better to stay on
this planet ,in this world and develop pure devotional service. From the
very beginning we should have our aim as pure devotional service. Then
all the different kinds of liberation that are acceptable to a devotee will
manifest automatically without any separate endeavor. To attain some kind
of liberation—like sarṣtī, samīpya, salokya or sārūpya—before becoming
a pure devotee, means you would have to earn that liberation, and that
would be a huge undertaking that would last many lifetimes. Whereas you
can have pure bhakti now, simply by desiring it. The trick is that we don't
know how to desire pure devotional service; so that way we cheat
ourselves by desiring something inferior, like liberation. You wouldn't
want to accept liberation because it means that would divert so much time
and energy from pursuing pure bhakti, and the rewards of pure bhakti
automatically include all those other kinds of liberation.

So why would you want anything other than pure bhakti? Why would you
strive for anything other than pure bhakti once you know this? If you
didn't know this, then it might make sense to pursue one of these kinds of
liberation or more. But once you know that you automatically get these

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liberations by cultivating pure bhakti, then that's kind of it, you know.
That's all we really need. Is there more to the question? If you make a
false assumption and then you base a question on that false assumption,
the whole question is invalid.

Uddhava dāsa: At the end he asks, "If one is promoted to the Vaikuṇṭha
planets could they then develop the relationship."

Bābājī: No, because if you go to the Vaikuṇṭha planets, that means you're
eternally in the Vaikuṇṭha mood. The way you get to the Vaikuṇṭha planets
is by having that type of bhakti. And if you have that kind of bhakti, that is
your type of bhakti eternally. And of course it will be perfectly satisfying
to you, and you'll be perfectly happy there in Vaikuṇṭha. But you could
have something so much more than that, you could be in Goloka
Vṛndāvan and have an even higher type of bhakti with Kṛṣṇa. But you
can't develop that in Vaikuṇṭha, you can only develop that here. Once you
get liberation, that's it: that's eternal. You have had to develop that
particular flavor of relationship with the Lord to get that liberation. So
instead of developing an inferior flavor, why not develop the highest
flavor and then you get the highest liberation automatically?

Uddhava dāsa: So in his question he continues, "...or would the Lord

keep the aspiring devotee in the material world in a favorable family
because they desire the ocean rather than the river?"

Bābājī: Yes, generally the Lord doesn't even offer his devotees liberation.
If we desire, He'll actually give us whatever we desire. So if we desire
some kind of liberation then He'll give it to us. But we could have
something even better than that: pure devotional service. Pure devotional
service automatically includes all kinds of liberation. So why not just go
for the highest? Any other questions? That's it?

Nava-yauvana dāsa: In the material world, we find that usually we need

to have many different kinds of relationships to have like a balance, and
like, we have friendships, parenthood, servitorship, conjugal love, with

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different living entities and that, the whole all of them come together and
either create a lot of trouble or they handle nicely sometimes it’s like
somewhat balanced. In the spiritual world is there just one of these
relationships, or are there other relationships as well?

Bābājī: Our principal relationship is with the Lord, but we have other
relationships with His devotees. When a living entity attains the spiritual
world, someone becomes his mother, his father, someone becomes his
brothers and sisters, some other devotees become his friends, and then he
has his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the center and everything else is
around that. But certainly he has relationships with other devotees as well.
That's what we're training for, that's why we have saṅga. Saṅga means
association of devotees, and that's a way to practice having devotional
relationships. We have relationships that don't include karmīc
entanglement. All these relationships in the material world that you
mentioned include karmīc results. Every action gets an equal and opposite
reaction. Every time we have an activity in a relationship that's on the
material bodily platform, that means we have to stick around to accept the
karma. So it just pushes our liberation back, back, back until it’s not gonna
happen. But when we get out of this cycle of karma and birth and death,
we substitute relationships with other transcendentalists that are on the
spiritual platform where Kṛṣṇa is the center. No human being is the center;
we’re all servants of Kṛṣṇa. So we relate to each other as servants of Kṛṣṇa
rather than as our material identities. That does not create karma, that
doesn't include karma. So these devotional relationships are practice for
the spiritual world, where we have similar relationships with other
devotees in association with Kṛṣṇa and there's no karma.

Those relationships are also eternal. The devotees in the spiritual world,
especially, have the first fifty-five of the qualities of Kṛṣṇa. I was just
reading that this morning in the Western Ocean of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu. The first fifty-five qualities of Kṛṣṇa are shared by the devotees in
the spiritual world. So they also have these qualities of having an eternal
spiritual form and having ever-expanding blissful pastimes, and many

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 107
other qualities. So it's very nice, that's why it's called an ocean. The ocean
of nectar of bhakti-rasa. It's not just the puddle of nectar. Not just a glass
of nectar; it's an ocean of nectar. So we never run out wonderful
relationships to explore in the spiritual world; but they're all centered on
Kṛṣṇa. Just like our relationships here are all based on satisfying the
Deities and Śrīla Prabhupāda. Similarly, in the spiritual world, our
relationships are based on directly satisfying Kṛṣṇa, so it's very pleasing,
very nice.

Uddhava dāsa: "Does the sādhana-bhakti have any sweetness like

rāgānuga-bhakti ?"

Bābājī: Rāgānuga-bhakti is sādhana-bhakti. He's confused, the question

is confused. Sādhana-bhakti has two stages: vaidhī-bhakti, which means
devotional service according to the rules and regulations of the scriptures;
and rāgānuga-bhakti , which means spontaneous devotional service. The
dividing line between those two is called anartha-nivṛtti. Anartha-nivṛtti
means all of the material desires and activities are purified from the heart,
and there is no more desire for anything material. But that's still a part of
sādhana. Even bhāva-bhakti, even rati, until it becomes perfectly pure is
still a part of sādhana-bhakti. Not until someone reaches prema, are they
considered to be considered a perfect devotee. This is very, very, very
high. Usually the shift form bhāva to prema occurs in the next lifetime
when the devotee takes birth in a material universe where Kṛṣṇa is
appearing. And then by Kṛṣṇa's own personal association their bhāva
grows into prema. Then they go back to the spiritual world with Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda gave that explanation.

So sādhana-bhakti starts with following scriptural rules; then when one

becomes a pure devotee, it continues with attachment, and taste and so
many things, higher stages up to bhāva, or rati, or rāga: rāgātmikā-bhakti
is the bhakti that is displayed by the devotees in Goloka Vṛndāvan. The
eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa: the nitya-siddhas. Their rāgātmikā-bhakti, when
we follow that, it becomes rāgānuga-bhakti. Rāg-anuga. The rāga stands

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 108
for rāgātmikā. And rāgānuga means following those rāgātmikā-bhaktas
in the spiritual world. So we're following them not by identifying with
them or thinking, or imitating them, but by trying to enter into their mood,
trying to enter into a similar relationship with Kṛṣṇa, service relationship,
in the internal realm, in our siddha body, in our spiritual body. This is
bhāva-bhakti. When that bhāva-bhakti becomes ripe, becomes complete,
then we go to a different situation where we get to associate with Kṛṣṇa
directly. That's how bhakti develops. So yes, sādhana-bhakti is full of
nectar; it's full of nectar from the very beginning. And when one becomes
a pure devotee then all of special qualities of bhakti begin to manifest, like
a complete cessation of material miseries, tremendous auspiciousness,
transcendental knowledge being awakened in the heart automatically, and
so many other qualities that manifest automatically when one attains pure
devotional service.

Uttama-bhakti means pure bhakti without any mixture of any karma,

jñāna, liberation, fruitive desire, or yoga, mystic powers, or any other
process. So we should aspire for uttama-bhakti. Uttama-bhakti means pure
bhakti, pure devotional service, and we can have that even before we reach
the stage of rāgānuga-bhakti by our desire. The sole cause of
advancement in bhakti is our desire. If we desire pure bhakti, then we'll
get it. We have to have the intelligence to know that our greatest benefit is
to desire this pure bhakti, pure devotional service, and not think that “Oh,
if I get some mixture of devotional service then I'll enjoy,” or something
like that. No. That will just complicate things needlessly. Just stay in pure
devotional service, and then you'll get everything.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 109
 Chapter 4: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.5
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 29, 2009

We are studying Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and this is going to be our topic

for quite some time; going verse-by-verse, and discussing all of these
different points about pure bhakti, uttama-bhakti. Uttama-bhakti is a
special kind of bhakti. Uttama-bhakti means pure bhakti without any
mixture of anything else: no karma, no jñāna, no yoga, no other activities
which would distract us from the real purpose of bhakti, which is simply
to love Kṛṣṇa. There are so many ways to love Kṛṣṇa, and this Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu will discuss all of them. This is a huge, unlimited field;
that's why it's called Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Sindhu means ocean. You
can get lost in this ocean of bhakti, this ecstatic loving relationship with
Kṛṣṇa, and never come back. That's the whole point. Don't come back to
this nasty material world, stay in bhakti-rasa and you'll be saved.

mīmāṁsaka-baḍavāgneḥ kaṭhinām api kuṇṭhayann asau jihvām

sphuratu sanātana suciraṁ tava bhakti-rasāmṛtāmbhodhiḥ

“O Sanātana, may your ocean of bhakti-rasa remain for a long time,

restricting the harsh arguments of the proponents of karma and jñāna,
just as the ocean restricts the flame of the vaḍabā fire.” [Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.5]

Rūpa Gosvāmī here is addressing his guru, Sanātana Gosvāmī. And

apparently, the idea for this work was Sanātana Gosvāmī's. So, this
ontological analysis of bhakti-rasa was written by Sanātana Gosvāmī's
mercy. This Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is very, very special because it's
based on all the wonderful stories contained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam recounts the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And there are
many other scriptures which recount the same topics, but they don't do so
in an analytical way, they present it in a narrative way. But they don't
discuss the deep meaning of these pastimes. The deep meaning is rasa.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 110
Rasa means the emotional taste. Just like rasa, the same word can also
mean a flavor of a drink or something like that. If you go on the street here
in India, there will be someone with bottles of flavoring. And they will put
some in a glass and add water, and then you have a flavored drink. It's
like soda pop without the pop—without the carbonation—and when it's
done nicely this is very nice. I remember one time I went to Calcutta, and
it was very hot. We were buying things for the temple. And we went to a
shaved ice place, where they made these exquisite flavored drinks, using
essential oils of sandalwood, camphor, khus—oh khus is wonderful. If
you've never had it, you can't imagine how good something can taste. So
these good tastes, these natural tastes, make the drink very enjoyable. This
enjoyable taste is rasa. Similarly in a relationship, there is some emotional
taste. We all have different kinds of relationships in life; sometimes with
our parents, sometimes with our children, or with friends or with lovers or
with other people who we serve; for example, bosses or employees or like
that. These different relationships have different tastes; nobody can say
they're all alike. They're not the same. And our behavior is different too, in
different relationships. Things that we would say to a friend we would
never say to our parents, and so on. Similarly, in relationship with God,
there are many different tastes. And depending on the particular type of
relationship that we have with God, we will experience a particular taste.

So this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is the ocean of bhakti-rasa. There are

many, many tastes, many different flavors of relationship. It's actually
extremely complex, and it has to be that way because this is going to be
our engagement for eternity. So there has to be enough variety of tastes
that we can continue to explore and experience this ocean of tasteful
relationship with the Lord without ever becoming bored, tired, or running
out of different varieties of things to experience. So this is the ocean of
bhakti-rasa. Now the characteristics of this ocean, one of the
characteristics is that it restricts the harsh arguments of the karmīs and the
jñānīs. What does that mean? Well, just go down the street or open up a
web page anywhere and you'll see some advertisement: "Eat this, buy this,
smoke this, do this, go here, go there, watch this show, watch that, listen to

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 111
this, blah, blah, blah." Everyone's telling us, "You should enjoy this
material world." This is the essential flavor of karma. Karma means I do
some work. "Enjoy! It's a wonderful life. Isn't it great?" So actually they're
putting forward these very harsh arguments that, "You should serve this
material taste. You should give up this spiritual life. You should give up
this transcendental philosophy and you should become like us and enjoy
with us. Join the party!" And of course there's always a price of a ticket.
You have to buy something or you have to join something or do something
that limits your freedom. That's why these arguments are called harsh.

And then there are the jñānīs. The jñānīs are also arguing, "You should
believe this, you should think this. You should accept this argument and
you should accept this story why the world is the way it is, and then you
should base your activities on that. Join our church, join our religion, join
our political party," or whatever. So they're arguing like that. And their
ultimate argument is that you should accept this philosophy that
everything is nothing and the only meaning of existence is liberation—
impersonal liberation, just merge into oneness of everything. This is their
argument, their ultimate argument. So by accepting these arguments a
person always limits their freedom. It never expands their freedom; it
always limits their freedom. If you join this company then you can't work
for any other company. If you marry this girl, you can't marry any other
girl. If you accept this religion or that philosophy, then that restricts your
choices insofar as to what you're going to believe or what you're going to
do in life.

Ultimately, if you actually accept this nonsense idea that everything is

nothing and we will merge with everything at the end of this life, that
really restricts your choices, because in that philosophy there is no bhakti,
there is no God and there is no love of God. So actually the only thing
that's eternal in that philosophy is nothing, oneness. Oneness means
nothingness, because perception is based on contrast. The reason you can
see my hand in front of the wall is because my hand is a different color
than the wall. If my hand was exactly the same color as the wall, you

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 112
wouldn't see anything. So contrast has to be there to have perception.
Without perception there is no consciousness because there are no
impressions, no saṁskāras. So the jñānīs are actually arguing that you
should give up experience, you should give up perceptions, you should
give up consciousness, become unconscious and just merge into oneness
of everything and stay like that forever. This is the ultimate restriction:
you have to give up everything, you even have to give up existing. So
needless to say these are very harsh arguments, very nasty. They're
attacking our very nature, our very humanity, our very spirit. The karmīs
want us to become a slave of material enjoyment, and the jñānīs want us
to become a slave of some kind of fictional liberation which they cannot
show that anybody has ever attained, incidentally.

So if we accept these arguments—which are basically lies—and if we give

up our freedom to serve these lies, then we are defeated in our purpose of
life. What is the purpose of life? It's simply to enjoy. This is so natural,
this is so obvious. The thing is, when we restrict our choices of enjoyment
to simply materialism, and we don't consider the fact that we are a being
of pure consciousness—soul, ātmā—then we restrict our choice of
enjoyment simply to the tastes of this material world, which are limited.
They have a beginning and an end. They're imperfect; and so many other
problems are there. But when we accept that “Actually I am a spiritual
being. I'm a soul, I'm a pure conscious being, a pure conscious entity; I'm
eternal,” now I open myself to a whole range of choices of enjoyment
which are based on my spiritual existence, which means a relationship
with God. Because if I'm a spiritual being then what is my source? What is
my origin? It has to God; it can't be anything else. It's not possible for a
spiritual being to born from matter. It's not possible for a more intelligent
being to be born from a less intelligent being; rather, the other way around.
We see all the time that children are less intelligent than their parents.
Therefore the natural thing is to assume, or to conclude that if I exist and
I'm an intelligent being, then there must be a super-intelligent being that is
my source. That is God. So now, what is my relationship with God? This
is the subject of this book.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 113
Here’s the purport:

Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary on this verse is that he [meaning Rūpa

Gosvāmī] prays to the lotus feet of guru for the continued presence of
his scripture which will eliminate the criticisms of challengers. The
challengers, mīmāṁśaka, are of two types: those who deliberate on
karma, and those who deliberate on jñāna. Jihvām, referring to fire,
means a flame as well as a tongue. This flame or tongue is described as
belonging to the vaḍabā fire, vaḍabāgne-jihvām to distinguish it from
the well-known seven flames or tongues which are used to consume the
sacrifices. Just as the ocean always remains present to restrict the flame
of the vaḍabā fire, this work, the ocean of bhakti-rasa, should always
remain present to restrict the power of speaking, in other words the
tongues, of the mīmāṁśakas.

So the vaḍabā fire represents the fire of material existence:

saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam

"The spiritual master extinguishes the fire of this material existence."

[Śrī-Śrī Gurv-aṣṭaka]

Therefore it's distinguished from the fire of sacrifice. The fire of sacrifice
is when we offer our material existence to Kṛṣṇa, to God. But the other
fire that’s burning in this world is the fire of suffering, of saṁsāra,
repeated birth and death, and this bhakti process extinguishes that fire. So
here he's talking about how the ocean of bhakti-rasa restricts that fire of
material existence:

From taking the whole meaning of the verse it should be understood that
his desire is not just restriction but extreme restriction: complete
extinction of their criticisms. In the case of the ocean, restriction of the
fire occurs because of the ocean's natural possession of huge quantities
of water, which is one type of rasa or liquid. In the case of the present
work, the restriction of the criticism takes place because of the natural
sweetness (rasa) of the work.

Another meaning is that by the metaphor he is pointing out the

difference between this work—an ocean of rasa—and the regular ocean.
The vaḍabā fire is present permanently in the regular ocean. However,

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 114
 he is expecting that somehow or other the protests of the mīmāṁśakas
will be very transitory because of the presence of this work. With that in
mind, he makes his request that the work remain permanently. Thus the
meaning of the verse would be, "Though the ocean restricts the vaḍabā
fire but does not extinguish it, may this work somehow completely
extinguish the criticisms of the mīmāṁśakas."

By the way the mīmāṁśaka are the followers of the Mīmāṁśā, a class of
Vedic literatures dealing with logic and arguments. And of course, the
people who study this are very argumentative, they like to debate; they
like to use logic. They like to apply logic to everything. However, logic is
actually not a very good way to ascertain the conclusions of the Vedas.
Actually the last verse of this First Wave of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu states
that:

“Even if one has a little taste for this topic of bhakti, he can understand
it. He who tries to understand bhakti by dry logic cannot understand it,
because logic is insubstantial.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.45]

Logic is insubstantial. What does that mean? That:

"A person more skillful at logic can bring about a conclusion different
from what was carefully proven previously by another skillful logician."
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.46]

I can establish one argument, and then someone can come along who is a
better debater, a better logician, and they can establish the opposite
conclusion. We see this happening all the time. A person will have one
opinion, and then they'll listen to some arguments opposing their opinion,
and then they’ll change their mind and accept this other opinion. Someone
can be a member of one religion, and then they get converted and join
another religion. But in the case of bhakti, logical arguments are
inconclusive, because bhakti—just like anything that has taste—bhakti
depends a great deal on the person who is tasting.

I often give the example that I may like vanilla ice cream, and somebody
else may like chocolate ice cream. They are both flavors of ice cream, but
they look different, they taste different, and who can say which one is

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better than the other? It's a matter of taste. So similarly, bhakti is also a
matter of taste. Some people's taste in bhakti is for servitorship: "O God,
You're so great and I'm so small, all I can do is try to serve You with my
mind, words and actions." That's their mood. But then other people have a
friendly relationship with God, and their mood in relationship with God is,
"Come on, let's You and I play. Let's have engagement in pleasant
pastimes, like friends." And their mood is like of an equal. Then there are
even devotees whose mood is of a superior, that Kṛṣṇa is their son. So
Mother Yaśodā will say, "Kṛṣṇa come here! It's time for You to take Your
bath." Maybe Kṛṣṇa doesn't want to take His bath. Maybe He's out
playing, doing something. She'll grab Him by the ear and pull Him in.
“Come on!” Because she is in a superior position, and the Lord accepts her
in that position because of her love. And then there are the lovers of the
Lord, the gopīs and others who love the Lord in conjugal mood. And of
course this subject is way beyond any other spiritual path, and is known
only to the real insiders: the cognoscenti, the people who know the real
esoteric meaning of the scriptures.

So when we understand these different tastes or flavors, then we start to

get a taste for the subject of relationship with God itself. And once we do
that, then we can understand this bhakti-rasa, because bhakti is on its own
platform. It's completely transcendental. No other thing is the cause of
bhakti; only bhakti is the cause of bhakti. And the example given is that a
person who is attracted to bhakti in this life feels that attraction because
they had some contact with it in the previous life. Maybe they met some
devotees, or somehow they chanted the Holy Name of the Lord, or maybe
they studied some of the scriptures that talked about bhakti. So in this life
they have a taste for bhakti, and they can understand it. Others cannot. It
doesn't matter how many logical argument you make, "Chocolate is better
than vanilla." "No, I still like vanilla." You see? So a person who has a
particular taste for bhakti, they can never be dissuaded, they can never be
convinced that their taste for bhakti is false.

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Just like Prabhupāda used the example, if someone sits down at full plate
of prasādam and they take very nice prasādam offered to Kṛṣṇa, very
tasty, nicely cooked, served beautifully, and everything is first class, then
they're going to feel so satisfied. And no one can convince them that
they're not satisfied, that they should go out to some restaurant. They're
going to say, "No, no, I don’t want to. I'm full, I'm satisfied, I don't need to
go out." So similarly, someone who has tasted this bhakti, this relationship
with God, is going to be so satisfied by that taste that if somebody tries to
convince them with arguments, "Oh you should become a karmī, you
should become jñānī. You should go out and taste these different things
outside of bhakti." The bhakta is going to say, "No, no, no; I'm fully
satisfied by my taste of bhakti. I don't need that. I'm fully satisfied by my
taste for bhakti. I don't need any of these other things."

Because bhakti is its own cause, only bhakti can cause bhakti. And
similarly, the only result of bhakti is bhakti. Just like today, we got up—it's
Ekādaśī today. So we got up early in the morning and we were chanting
the Holy Name, and then we took prasādam. And we had very nice, very
simple prasādam, just vegetable soup and potatoes, and like that. And then
whole day we were doing different services around the āśrama: cleaning,
making everything very nice for Kṛṣṇa. And then in the evening we get
together with our friends and chant the Holy Name. So this is very
satisfying; and what's the result? It deepens our taste for bhakti. Our taste
for bhakti becomes even stronger, more established. So by this means,
bhakti begets bhakti. Bhakti does not give fruitive results, it does not give
speculative knowledge; it gives transcendental results. It gives spiritual
knowledge. It deepens our relationship with God. And although
sometimes Kṛṣṇa may give some material opulences to a devotee, He only
does so when He knows that the devotee will not be deviated from bhakti
by receiving those blessings. Kṛṣṇa is very kind.

Kṛṣṇa Himself exists completely on the platform of bhakti. He never goes

outside of His relationships with His devotees. That's what God does all
day. It's not like He's sitting up there on a cloud with a thunderbolt, "Let

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me see if I can get this one. Ha!" That's not God. That may be one of
God's servants. But God Himself is always on vacation. All He's doing is
enjoying with His devotees. And these pastimes are recounted in Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam especially, and many other scriptures, Padma Purāṇa, so
many other scriptures. So we should take shelter of this knowledge and of
these practices, and mold our life in such a way that we gradually reduce
our entanglement in karma and jñāna and increase our activities in bhakti.
Because bhakti is nothing but pure happiness; it's nothing but pure bliss.
And the more that we engage in bhakti the more of this bliss that we feel.
Everybody here can tell you that this is true. We all have this experience.
Just like the person who's eating a nice plate of prasādam. He
automatically feels full; nobody has to tell him, "OK, now you're full." He
knows, simply by tasting. So similarly, simply by tasting this bhakti
process, we know, "Oh, this is very sweet. This is very satisfying." And
the more we taste it, the more our appreciation for it grows.

So this is bhakti: the result of bhakti is more bhakti. Increasing taste, ever-
increasing, ever-growing. We made this point several times, that people
who are engaged in karma, they cannot remain continuously engaged in
karma. You see the people who are working, they go to the office, to the
factory, to their job; and then at the end of their day, they go home and
relax. Well, why don't they just stay in the office if it's so nice? Because
it's not really very nice. This taste is not something you can relish twenty-
four hours a day; you need a break. But bhakti is a taste that you can relish
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five
days a year for your whole life, and you never get tired of it. In fact, it just
becomes more and more and more tasteful the more you engage in it. So
this is the transcendental mystery of bhakti: that bhakti is not dependent
on the three modes of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance.
Although things like transcendental knowledge of the scriptures,
renunciation and performance of pious or religious activities are helpful to
approach bhakti, once we are actually on the platform of bhakti, we don't
need any of these other things. Because bhakti is its own source of
knowledge, bhakti is its own cause of renunciation, bhakti is its own

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generator of pious activities, and then we don't need anything outside of
bhakti to sustain our bhakti.

Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, a great devotee and ācārya in the line of the
devotees, says:

sandhyā-vandana bhadram astu bhavato bhoḥ snāna tubhyaṁ namo

bho devāḥ pitaraś ca tarpaṇa-vidhau nāhaṁ kṣamaḥ kṣamyatām
yatra kvāpi niṣadya yādava-kulottaṁsasya kaṁsa-dviṣaḥ
smāraṁ smāram aghaṁ harāmi tad alaṁ manye kim anyena me

"O my prayers three times a day, all glory to you. O bathing, I offer my
obeisances unto you. O demigods! O forefathers! Please excuse me for
my inability to offer you my respects. Now wherever I sit, I can
remember the great descendant of the Yadu dynasty [Kṛṣṇa], the enemy
of Kaṁsa, and thereby I can free myself from all sinful bondage. I think
this is sufficient for me."

So here's a person who is very learned, very cultured, extremely pure, very
religious, very civilized, and because of this taste of bhakti he’s saying,
"Oh, all this that I was doing previously, all this knowledge that I had, and
all of this religiosity, is just useless. Second class. All I want is to taste this
sweet name of Govinda, and that's the only thing I want to be engaged in
for the rest of my life. So I'm giving up this designation of brāhmaṇa or
whatever my material position is; I'm giving up this relationship of family,
religion, this country, political designation, all these different material
labels that in the past I accepted thinking that, ‘Oh, this is my self.’ No, no.
Because I have discovered that now really who is my self: my self is that
spiritual being who engages in constant, ever-increasing pastimes of love
with the Supreme Lord. That's my real being; that's my real nature. How
do I know it's real? Because it gives me continuous pleasure.”

I cannot engage in anything in this world continuously. Even sex life,

which is supposed to be the biggest pleasure in life. You cannot engage in
it continuously; only for a few moments, and then it's finished, it's gone; it
becomes distasteful. You wonder, “Why did I do that?” But when you

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taste this bhakti-rasa, it's ever increasing, ever-fresh, always tasteful, and
you can engage in it continuously, ahaituky apratihatā:

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati

“The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which

men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord.
Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to
completely satisfy the self.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6]

This is the standard of pure bhakti: ahaituky apratihatā, which means that
constant practice, constant engagement, without any motivation.
Motivation means that “I'm going to get something else out of this. By
chanting this mantra, I'm going to get money or I'm going to get fame,
strength or mystic powers or something like that.” No, we don't think like
that. We think, ahaituki: without any motivation. “I'm doing this just
because it tastes good. Just because it's wonderful, just because it's
beautiful.” This is love. And the mind is more attracted by love than
anything else. The problem in the material world is that we have chosen
the wrong objects of love. We have chosen to love persons and things that
are impermanent. And then when they go away or change, or they leave us
or reject us or whatever, then we're very disappointed; then we become
cynical, and then we say "Oh, love is just a myth."

No, it's not a myth. The fact that there is a false kind of love means that
somewhere there is a real love. Just like you can go to some shop and
they'll sell you some jewelry that looks like gold. But actually it's not gold
at all, it's just some cheap alloy. And you may say, "Oh, this is nonsense,
this is junk, I've been cheated again. So there is no real gold." But oh yes,
there is. That's why the imitation has any value at all: because there is real
gold, and by being deceived people think that it's the real thing. Similarly,
people become deceived about the love, the enjoyment, and the work of
the material world thinking “This is going to satisfy me.” And when they
don't, they feel cheated: "Oh, why didn't that work out?" Well, because the
material world is intrinsically disappointing. We want something that is

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permanent, eternal, changeless, ever-fresh, and always satisfying to the
soul. And the only thing like that is bhakti.

So you can try many, many other spiritual paths, you can try many
religions, you can go to this church and that temple and this synagogue,
and that mosque, and this teacher, something- ānanda Svāmī, and they'll
give you all kinds of mumbo-jumbo. But then finally, just by chance,
maybe you will try this bhakti. And if you do, you’ll see that the taste of
this bhakti is out of this world—literally, out of this world. So we invite
you, and Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu invites you, to taste this ocean of bhakti
and you'll never be disappointed.

Uddhava dāsa: Just a little technical question. The fire we were talking
about is the fire of material existence?

Bābājī: Let me read the footnote. There's a technical footnote explaining.

"Under the ocean, near the South Pole, a fire from the lower regions
emerges from a hole called ‘the mouth of the mare’, viḍabā. Aruva, born
in the Bhṛgu Dynasty, when about to be killed by the sons of Kartavīrya
produced a fire out of his wrath. This fire threatened the whole world.
The Bhargavas persuaded Aruva to cast it into the ocean, where it
remains concealed with the face of a horse."

Aren't you glad you asked? It must be some Purāṇa that we don't know,
that we don't have adequate translation of in the West. There are many
Vedic scriptures that have not properly translated. But what do we mean
‘properly’? That means by a self-realized soul who is situated in the
disciplic succession from Kṛṣṇa. And also the getup of the translation has
to show the original text. If it doesn't show the original text, you can be
sure that there's some cheating going on. The translator is giving his own
opinion. He's not giving the opinion of the Vedas but he's interpolating the
scripture to match his own ideas. In my experience, Śrīla Prabhupāda is
the only author of Vedic works, or translator of Vedic works, who provides
the original text. And this is very, very important. Because it means
transparency. If I want I can go get a Sanskrit dictionary and I can look up

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all the words, and I can do my translation and check his work—to make
sure that it's actually saying the same thing as the original work. But if you
look at books by these different svāmīs and yogīs and whatnot, they never
provide the original text. Maybe a little quotation here and there, that they
pick out of context, and then they twist it and do whatever they want to it
make it mean whatever they think it should mean.

We don't accept this. The Vedas have a standard philosophy, which is

summarized in the Vedānta-sūtra. The Vedānta-sūtra has four parts called
Adhyāyas. In the first Adhyāyas, the Vedic background philosophy is
explained. In the second Adhyāya, all the competing philosophies are
defeated. That includes Buddhism, Jainism, Voidism, and different kinds
of man-made religions like Śaktism, and Sahajīyāism, and so many others.
You'll find in those types of false religion, every type of religion and every
type of philosophy that exists outside of pure Vedānta. And then in the
Third Adhyāya, the author gives the spiritual path of bhakti. And finally in
the Fourth Adhyāya, he describes the results of practicing bhakti. So fully
half of Vedānta-sūtra is about bhakti directly, and the other half is the
preliminaries to bhakti—which is very interesting because if you look up
Vedānta, most of the writers on Vedānta come to the opposite conclusion,
that bhakti is not a big deal. Bhakti is just something that might help you
attain liberation. So they get it completely wrong. How is that possible?
Because they don't go back to the original text, and they don't take the
commentaries coming from the lineage of Kṛṣṇa. They take some other
opinion; some modern opinion, some recent speculation. This idea of
oneness and all this, this started with Buddha, Buddhism.

So Buddhism has given this voidism or nothingness, the idea that

everything is ultimately nothing. And then there are innumerable
variations on that same theme. It's very popular because if everything is
nothing, then it doesn't matter what we do, the end is always the same,
"All paths lead to the same place." They're very fond of saying this. "So
whatever we do doesn't matter. There's no standard of morality. There's no
Absolute Truth. Do whatever you like!" So people like to hear this very

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much, "Oh, I'm free, I can do whatever I want!" No you're not free, now it
means you're a slave of your senses; you're a slave of your mind. But
because they're given this teaching in very high-sounding words, "Oh now
this is ultimate freedom!" They accept that. It's just like if someone tells
you, "This is pure gold!" Then you say "Oh really!" "Yeah, buy it!" and
you buy it without even looking at it. So they're taking poison. This is
poison, the idea that everything is nothing. It will destroy your
intelligence; it will destroy your discrimination. You will not be able to tell
what is good or bad, what is right or wrong. If you accept this idea, your
intelligence is ruined. But they present it very nicely, "Oh, this is freedom!
See, you don't have to follow any rules, isn’t that great!" So people accept
it, and then they create their path to hellish existence by doing all
nonsense, following the senses. The senses will be very happy to engage
you in all kinds of nonsense, twenty-four hours a day, if you follow them.
Intelligence is required to say to the senses, “No, this is wrong, we're not
going to do this”; or “This is right, this is OK, because it's part of bhakti.”
We have to have discrimination; we have to have intelligence. That
intelligence comes from the Vedas. And if we pervert the conclusions of
the Vedas, then we ruin our intelligence because we cut ourselves off from
the original source.

So the original conclusion of the Vedas is bhakti, nothing but bhakti.

Vedānta-sūtra closes on that theme. And then the commentary on
Vedānta-sūtra—which is another great secret—the actual original
commentary by the original author of Vedānta is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And what is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam but the narration of so many stories
about the Lord and His devotees. And it supports the same conclusion as
Vedānta-sūtra. And our Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is the ontological analysis
of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, of the pastimes presented. So the whole Vedic
literature actually presents a single, unified philosophy, a single theory;
and if we accept that theory and then we act according to it, we get the
results.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 123
The yogīs and jñānīs and speculators are struggling to attain renunciation.
But the devotees attain renunciation without any struggle. In fact, we're
even enjoying. The yogīs are so dry, the jñānīs are even drier, because they
have to forcibly give up the objects of the senses. But the devotees take
those things which are in the mode of goodness, offer them to Kṛṣṇa and
then they enjoy Kṛṣṇa's remnants.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: As devotees many times we engage in preaching

and that involves descending into logical arguments to defeat atheistic
world views and like that, but that doesn't really even touch bhakti right?

Bābājī: Right. All we can do is motivate people to try bhakti. You know, I
always preach, “This is science. You want to talk about science? OK. This
is science, the science of consciousness. If you perform the experiment,
you will get the result. But you have to follow the instructions. Just like
you don't go in the chemistry lab and start mixing stuff together; you don't
know what the result is going to be. But if you follow the procedure, then
you'll get the result very reliably. So similarly, the instructions for bhakti
are given in the scriptures and if you follow them, you'll get the result.
And the results are given in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . First of all, you get
relief from material suffering, you get happiness, your whole life becomes
auspicious, you become indifferent to liberation, Kṛṣṇa is attracted and
this is very rare. These are the six main qualities of bhakti. But to
experience this you have to come onto the bhakti platform.”

This is another criticism that I have of my Godbrothers that, in the name

of preaching they have encouraged mixed devotional service. Mixed
devotional service means there's some bhakti, and then there are some
fruitive activities: raising money, building temples, printing books, doing
all these worldly activities. These are actually religious activities. They
come under the mode of goodness. And people get entangled in them,
thinking “This is bhakti,” but actually it's not. Actually they're still
thinking, "I am doing this for my benefit." And as long as you're thinking
like that it's not bhakti, it's fruitive activity. Because the nature of fruitive

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activity is that one performs activities for his future benefit. As long as
you're thinking “I'm going to do this and get some benefit,” that's not
bhakti, that's fruitive activity. It may be in the mode of goodness; it may be
pious; it may be in relation with Vedic knowledge. It may be all those
things, but it's not accepted as pure bhakti.

Pure bhakti begins when we develop the intention that we want to please
Kṛṣṇa. When we perform activities—and it could be the very same
activities—but when the motivation is not to please or benefit ourselves
but to please Kṛṣṇa, that's bhakti. And they have not made this distinction
very clear. Again, in the name of “preaching.” But the result is that the
whole path of bhakti then becomes subverted or compromised with
material activities. And nobody's saying anything. Instead they say, "Oh
yeah, as long as you keep working and give donations to the temple you
will advance in devotional service." But one day you're going to wake up
and realize, "Oh man, I've been wasting my time! I could have been
engaged in loving pastimes with the Lord directly." But nobody tells them
that, or shows them how to do it.

So they go along day after day, year after year, not knowing the difference
between mixed bhakti and pure bhakti; but it's only pure bhakti that gives
the astonishing results of bhāva and prema. That's our aim. Our aim is not
simply pious activities that lead to material benefits and promotion to
higher planets or ultimately liberation or anything other than pure bhakti.
All of that is selfishness. All of that is in the mode of goodness. It's
religion. No, we’re talking about something higher. We're talking about
śuddha-sattva. Śuddha-sattva means pure goodness. On that platform of
pure goodness is pure devotion, pure devotional service, pure bhakti. That
is real sāttva. And then we get sāttvikā-bhāva. We automatically feel so
many ecstatic symptoms in the body, we have to hold them back,
otherwise we won’t be able to do any service, and people will think we're
nutcases. But real bhakti means that we're not thinking of any benefit for
ourselves. And this is why the attitude of service is so important. If one

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becomes a servant, he should become a servant first of Kṛṣṇa, then of his
guru, then of the other devotees, then of all the people of the world.

So the devotee does the best service for everyone in the world simply by
propagating this devotional service. Now this phase change that we’re
going through in our devotional community right now—which has a lot of
people confused—is that we are going off the platform of mixed
devotional service, where it's OK to look at bhakti as a way to benefit
yourself. We've been preaching like that just to assemble a group of
devotees, because that's preaching. You have to do that if you're preaching,
because people can't understand anything else. They have to think, "Ah,
what's in it for me? What's in it for number one?" So somehow you engage
them in performing some kind of bhakti activities. And then they begin to
get a taste.

So now we’re saying, "OK, now you got some taste." Like that śloka that I
quoted above [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.45], a person who has some
taste for bhakti can appreciate bhakti-rasa. "So now, let's let go of this
mixed bhakti and simply engage in pure devotional service, with no
mixture of any other process of karma, yoga, or jñāna or whatever. That’s
out. Now only bhakti, pure bhakti.” And that means to think of Kṛṣṇa's
benefit, to think of Kṛṣṇa's happiness. That is the specific qualification of
the pure devotee. The pure devotee thinks, “How can I please Kṛṣṇa?”
And we trust Kṛṣṇa. Now here's where the self-benefit comes in. We trust
Kṛṣṇa, that Kṛṣṇa's character is so high, Kṛṣṇa is so pure and so loving,
Kṛṣṇa is so generous and kind, that if I dedicate my life to pleasing Him, I
don't have to worry about anything: Kṛṣṇa will take care. And it's a fact;
He does it. We're all experiencing that; that's why we're here. So now we
want to encourage the other people who are part of our community to
come onto this platform of pure bhakti. That's why we're studying Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu, and that's why we're doing so many things now, just to
establish this platform of pure bhakti. And any taste that you want, any
flavor of bhakti that you want, that's fine. You have complete freedom in
how you approach Kṛṣṇa. He doesn't mind. He will accept everyone.

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 ye yathā māṁ prapadyante [Bhagavad-gītā 4.11]

He says, that "However they approach Me, then I'll reciprocate." That's
His promise, and He makes good on that promise, we know.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: Just a comment. You mention sometimes that

people do things that they do just because they feel like it. You know, all
kinds of people: materialists, spiritualists, whatever. And even something
like this, someone who's engaged in bhakti is not swayed by any kind of
logical arguments or whatever, because he enjoys what he is doing and
nothing else really matters. I remember once I was talking with someone
and having some argument about evolution or some material science
nonsense. And finally the guy was frustrated and said, "And someday if
I'm able to like prove to you that your theory is not correct, would you
stop being a devotee?" And I thought about it and I was like, “Actually no.
I like it; it doesn't matter what you prove or whatever. Actually I like
doing this.”

Bābājī: Well what can prove? That if you like something and you get
pleasure from it, then how can anybody prove that it's wrong?

Nava-yauvana dāsa: It's completely subjective. You can't prove that I

don't feel what I feel.

Bābājī: And consciousness is completely subjective. That's the nature of

consciousness. That's why each individual has their own separate
consciousness. And nobody can know the contents of another person's
consciousness unless they reveal it. So this means that actually nobody can
present a convincing argument of why you should give up bhakti; on the
other hand, nobody can present a convincing argument of why you should
take up bhakti. You just have to try it. “Try it, you'll like it.” That's really
the only argument. And all these other philosophical, complex
entanglements and all that, we really have no taste for that. We don't like
this debating mood. We just want to please Kṛṣṇa, and if Kṛṣṇa is pleased
then we're pleased.

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Nava-yauvana dāsa: Even if you like spend time learning logic and how
to present arguments and all that, that's completely dry compared to us
having saṅkīrtana. It's something that we have to do as devotees to get
other people out of material existence. Right?

Bābājī: It's part of our compassionate nature. But you know, it's far better
to engage people directly in bhakti by hearing and chanting māha-mantra.

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

“Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form,

qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them,
serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship
with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord,
becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and
surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the
body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure
devotional service. ” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.23]

So if we give directly the Holy Name, this was actually the most
successful preaching program that we ever had in the West or in India
here, was to go out on the street and do real saṅkīrtan. Prabhupāda set this
up. He would have the devotees put down a nice oriental rug, and then one
devotee with the harmonium would lead, there would be tāṅpura, and
mṛdaṅga, kartāls, on one side there would be a food table, prasādam
table, and the other side there would be book table. This was a dynamite
program, and so many devotees were made that way in New York, in
California, in Canada, everywhere. This was the best program because it
directly gave people, without any argument, without any philosophy, the
sound of the Holy Name being chanted very nicely. And Prabhupāda even
taught them how to dance the svāmī step. We're learning how to dance
now, a little bit.

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Nava-yauvana dāsa: It's like a little piece of the spiritual world, right
there on the street.

Bābājī: It's a little play; it's a little street theater of Caitanya-līlā. This is
what we're working toward. We're working toward being able to present
Caitanya-līlā in a very attractive way, a very powerful way, that everyone
can appreciate. But anyway, I'm getting off the subject.

Uddhava dāsa: I don't know if this has ever happened. I’m sure [it’s] very
likely, if a devotee only focuses all his energy to serving his guru, is that
considered pure bhakti?

Bābājī: Oh, of course. Because what is a guru going to tell you? Chant the
Holy Name, take prasādam, serve the Deities, observe four regulative
principles, study scriptures. I mean, actually, actually guru-sevā is
everything. By guru-sevā we become advanced in devotional service. If
we make any offense to the guru that's always a cause of falldown. So,
guru-sevā is the most powerful method of advanced and also the most
powerful method of offense. So we should be very, very cautious about
serving guru nicely. But guru is not going to say “Serve me,” he is going
to say “Serve Kṛṣṇa in this way, in that way, in so many ways.” And, in
this way, automatically, all of our best purposes are served. Because all the
things that the guru instructs us to do are good for us and good for
everyone. This highest service is done automatically by serving guru,
because guru is representative of Kṛṣṇa.

Uddhava dāsa: Yes sometimes when we get University students, we

encourage everyone to render service. So I asked myself “What is better, if
we do some service to Bābājī, or do some service to Kṛṣṇa by setting up
an altar and like that?” and sometimes I don't know what to say. Usually I
end up saying “Do some service to Bābājī, and you’ll get a taste.”

Bābājī: Well, if they do service to guru, guru is going to tell them, "Set up
an altar at home, cook some nice prasādam, offer it to Kṛṣṇa, distribute it
to your friends." He will to tell them to do all these things. It's not that we

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want people, coming and giving us things or sending us money; we don't
need any of that. We want them to engage in Kṛṣṇa's service and then
Kṛṣṇa will take care of all these things automatically. This is why I keep
telling people who write me about their material problems to just chant Śrī
Viṣṇusahasranāma . Somebody was writing the other day, "Oh I had this
operation and it wasn't done properly and now my leg hurts and it's so
much trouble and I can't work and di di di di da, this and that—can I come
to Kumbakonam?" Your leg is still going to hurt when you come to
Kumbakonam, it's not going to change that. But, if you please Kṛṣṇa from
wherever you are, then automatically your attention will go away from the
body and you won't feel these physical problems. You won't be subject
this material suffering, because you'll be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
transcendental consciousness. And this body will become so insignificant
because Kṛṣṇa is so unlimited. So actually this is the solution to all
problems, but people want to get some benefit on the material platform, so
they don't recognize the benefits of bhakti, even though they're absolute
and transcendental. So this is their misfortune, what can I say?

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 Chapter 5: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.6-9
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 30, 2009

bhakti-rasasya prastutir akhila-jagaṅ-maṅgala-prasaṅgasya

ajñenāpi mayāsya kriyate suhṛdām pramodāya

“Though I am ignorant, I have undertaken this work concerning bhakti-

rasa related to Kṛṣṇa, who is auspicious for the whole world, for the joy
of my friends.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.6]

This is a very nice sentiment that he's expressing, and every devotee feels
this. Because when we encounter Kṛṣṇa, or anything related to Kṛṣṇa, this
is so high, so pure, and so beautiful that when we consider our own faults
and our own ignorance, then we feel very unqualified. This is a rasa called
dainya. Dainya means humility. And this is one of the chief features of the
śānta-rasa. Śānta-rasa means the neutral adoration in awe and reverence
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And so the platform of actual
religious life, actual spiritual life begins from this feeling of dainya that,
"O my dear Lord, You're so wonderful, You're so magnificent, You have
so many beautiful qualities, so many transcendental potencies, so many
wonderful pastimes, and so many great devotees, and I'm just nothing. I
really don't know anything, I just have this desire in my heart, somehow or
other, to advance in spiritual life." So he's saying, "Therefore, even though
I'm ignorant, I've taken up this work concerning bhakti-rasa to Kṛṣṇa for
the joy of my friends." In other words, "Even though I'm unqualified, even
though I'm a rascal, even though I'm fallen, I'm fool number one; still for
the pleasure of the other devotees I'm taking up this work." This should be
our attitude, that "I don't know anything, I'm just fallen and rascal in so
many ways; but to please my spiritual master and the other devotees, I'm
taking up this service even though I don't know how to do it, even though
I'm unqualified to do it." And of course the implication is there that
“Kṛṣṇa will somehow give His mercy and enable me to complete this
work, because I’m doing it for the pleasure of His devotees.”

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So we all feel like that. We've discussed so many times how I feel very
unqualified for this work. It was not my desire actually to do what we're
doing now. But to please Śrīla Prabhupāda, I had to take this up, because I
could see that nobody else was actually following his instructions.
Therefore, out of a desire to please Śrīla Prabhupāda, and actually any
devotees who are sincere, I took up this work, simply because nobody else
was doing it. Really that was the only reason. And that feeling has
motivated me for many years now; has motivated my service and my
preaching activities. So recently now that has changed a little bit, because
by Kṛṣṇa's grace now we have some devotees who are actually serious,
dedicated and ready to go into pure bhakti. This is what we've been aiming
at all this time. Very soon in the eleventh verse will come the definition of
pure bhakti, and of course we'll go into that very deeply, maybe for several
days just to make sure that everybody perfectly understands what pure
bhakti really is. Because this is the whole point; this is why we started our
own saṅga. This is why we developed our own line of preaching. This is
why we created a small organization dedicated to this Esoteric Teaching of
the Vedas. Because we could see that even though there are so many
devotees who are engaged in devotional service to some degree, that there
wasn't anyone who was engaged in pure bhakti. And mostly what they
were doing was mixed bhakti—bhakti mixed with something else—
usually fruitive activity. This is very common. Someone will join a group
or organization of bhakti simply because they want some benefits. Kṛṣṇa
says:

"Four kinds of people surrender unto Me: those in need of money, those
who want relief from distress, those who are curious, and (the rarest of
all) those who have knowledge of the Absolute Truth." [ Bhagavad-gītā
7.16]

Now those four kinds of men, He calls them pious. They're pious, but He
doesn't call them transcendental. They're not on the transcendental
platform because they're motivated by their own personal benefit. They
want something for themselves. They're engaging in devotional service
with the hope that they will get some relief from their distress, or they'll

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get some economic development, they'll get some knowledge that they
didn't have before, or because they know they have to do it as their duty.
So all of these motivations are less than the motivation required for pure
bhakti. The motivation for pure bhakti is simply that “I want to please
Kṛṣṇa. I want to love Kṛṣṇa. I want to give Kṛṣṇa pleasure.” That's all.
Pure bhakti does not have any relation to this material world. It does not
have any effect on this material body. It doesn't have any material benefit.
It doesn't give any blessings that you can take to the bank. Pure bhakti is
completely transcendental, completely spiritual. Therefore, when we talk
about pure bhakti, pure devotional service, we're saying—and we're really
serious about this—that we want our disciples and our students to rise to
this same standard.

Now notice when we talk about pure bhakti, we don't talk about a
quantity of bhakti. It's automatically assumed that a pure devotee is going
to be engaged twenty-four hours a day in bhakti and they're not going to
be doing anything else. Some devotees think, "Well, if I do more service
then I'll make more advancement. So if I'm engaged in six hours a day, if I
engage twelve hours a day then I'll make more advancement." But first
you have to consider the quality of your devotional service; not just the
quantity, but the quality. If someone is engaged in mixed devotional
service... let's say they are collecting money. That's their main service. So
they think, "Well, if I go out and I collect money twelve hours a day, that'll
be more service and I'll make more advancement." But actually it doesn't
work that way. We make advancement in devotional service not by the
quantity but by the quality of our service. There's that famous verse in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that:

"Even if a dog-eater chants the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa without offense one
time, he immediately becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices."
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.33.6]

And we'll discuss that verse deeply in this work; it’s coming up later on in
the First Wave. Because it is very important to understand that the quality
of devotional service is much more important than the quantity. You can

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chant a hundred rounds a day of offensive māha-mantra, and you will not
get the advancement that you get by chanting even one name of Kṛṣṇa
offenselessly. Because of course, to chant one name of Kṛṣṇa
offenselessly, the rest of your life has to be offenseless as well. But if
you're chanting with offense, or if you're doing service that's contaminated
by some desire for fruitive activity, mental speculation, mystical powers or
any kind of selfish desire whatsoever, then you will not get the same
benefit; you'll not get the same level of reciprocation from Kṛṣṇa as if you
chant or serve purely, with no selfish desire. People can say, "Well, I get
up early in the morning and I follow all these rules and then I'm engaged
according to the order of my spiritual master and he's in the paramparā
and so whatever he says, that should be pure devotional service, right?"
Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't. You have to look into your heart. This
is on the honor system; this is not something that we can judge externally.
We have to look into our hearts, each and every one of us and say, "Am I
doing this devotional service really for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa, or is it really
for my pleasure somehow or other? Am I expecting some material return
or reciprocation from Kṛṣṇa, or am I just doing this because I want to give
Kṛṣṇa pleasure, and there's no other reason for it?"

It all boils down to: how much do we trust Kṛṣṇa? Do we trust Kṛṣṇa that
He's going to reciprocate with us spontaneously in an inconceivable and
astonishing and wonderful way? Or do we want to make a deal with
Kṛṣṇa? "Kṛṣṇa, I'll tell you what, I'll chant sixteen rounds a day and then
You solve my material problems." See, that's making a deal with Kṛṣṇa;
and that's karma-yoga, that's not devotional service. That's activity in the
mode of goodness, it's not transcendental activity. Transcendental activity
means that we perform service for Kṛṣṇa out of a desire to please Kṛṣṇa
alone, and we don't expect any particular result from that service. We're
detached from the result because we understand that Kṛṣṇa is so
intelligent, and so resourceful and so insightful and so loving, and so
wonderful and kind, that He will arrange some benediction for us that's
beyond our ability to even imagine. Why should we ask trivial material
things from Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa can give anything. He can give something that's

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 134
beyond our ability to imagine; beyond our ability to understand.
Something that's so wonderful that we could never anticipate it, we could
never speculate it, we could never imagine it. He can give Himself. And if
Kṛṣṇa gives Himself, then who cares if we're in the material world or the
spiritual world, or in heaven, or hell or wherever we are, or what situation
were in? We will be in so much bliss that we won't have time to notice. So
the real reward that we get from loving Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa Himself. And that
really should be all that we desire. After all, if we get Kṛṣṇa we get
everything. So we should let go of these petty desires for material things,
or even spiritual things like liberation, and just trust Kṛṣṇa, that He is
going to reward our service in such a way that is so wonderful and
astonishing that we won't be able to even imagine it.

Look at the story of Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa. Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa was Kṛṣṇa's

class friend, so He was already a pure devotee, he was already an associate
of the Lord. But later on he had some problem with economics: he was
very, very poor. And so he went and visited Kṛṣṇa and offered Kṛṣṇa just a
couple of palms of chipped rice. Chipped rice is the lowest quality of rice.
It's not even considered offerable in many temples. So, somehow or other,
Sudāmā offered Kṛṣṇa this chipped rice and then he forgot to ask for a
benediction. He didn't ask for anything; he just said, "O Kṛṣṇa, thank you
for being so kind to me." Kṛṣṇa received him very nicely, and sat him on
His own bed, washed his feet and so many other things. And then Sudāmā
went home and when he got back to his place he said, "Well, what's going
on here?" There were all these heavenly buildings and beautiful people
dressed in wonderful garments and jewels and everything. His own wife
came out and she was so beautiful, she was in the spiritual body, he
couldn't even recognize her. She had to say "I'm your wife." And then they
embraced, and as soon as she embraced him he regained his spiritual body.
And then they lived in this wonderful opulence, but who knows where
they were: the material world, the spiritual world, it doesn't matter.
Because if we have Kṛṣṇa's association, if we have Kṛṣṇa's pure
devotional service, it doesn't matter what situation we're in. We'll be so
happy, we'll be so overwhelmed with bliss, because bhakti-yoga is pure

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concentrated bliss: pure bhakti. That's the nature of pure bhakti. That's
what it is. Pure bhakti is so wonderful that it attracts even Kṛṣṇa.

We'll go into all these qualities of pure bhakti as we study this book, but I
just want to summarize them so you understand the importance of pure
bhakti versus motivated bhakti: miśra-bhakti, mixed bhakti, or bhakti that
has some other goal other than satisfying Kṛṣṇa. That's certainly pious
activity, and it's in the mode of goodness, and it will lead to so many good
things. Whatever you desire you can get from bhakti; but the point here is
that whatever you can desire is going to be less than the ultimate benefit
attainable by bhakti, which is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Kṛṣṇa's body is made of pure
transcendental bliss. So if we get Kṛṣṇa then, who cares where we are?
Who cares who we are? It's explained that the devotees in Kṛṣṇa's
association, His direct companions, are filled with so much bliss they even
forget their own names, and where they are and what they're doing. They
just become completely overwhelmed, because Kṛṣṇa's body is pure
ecstasy. So this is our desire: we want Kṛṣṇa. We want Kṛṣṇa, and He is
attainable only by pure love.

So let me read the commentary. Jīva Gosvāmī is commenting on his

uncle's book, and he says:

"The meaning of this verse is 'I do not really have the power to bring
about conciliation between scholars who are favorable and unfavorable
to spiritual rasa.' "

In other words, “We don't want to get into debates with different scholars.
We don't want to try to prove that we're right and they're wrong, and get
involved in all this entanglement and debates and arguments, making
logical constructions from the scriptures and so on and so forth. Because
all this logic and argument is very insubstantial. You'll hear someone argue
a particular point and you'll say, "Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, that's
right." And then you'll take up that opinion. Then later on you'll hear
another logician, who may be better than the first one, and he'll argue an
opposing point and you'll go, "Huh, well you see, I never thought about it

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that way. I guess that's right!" And then you'll change your opinion. So
what use are all these opinions and logic and argument?

We talked about this last night, that bhakti is ultimately depending on

taste. And if we have a taste for bhakti, then we'll recognize the beauty of
bhakti, and if we don't have any taste for bhakti, it doesn't matter how
many logical arguments we make, we won't get it. It's something that you
have to ‘get,’ like a joke. Did you hear that one about the horse, walked
into a bar? [laughs] See, I don't even have to tell the rest of the joke,
everybody knows it already, you know? It's a standard joke, right? So they
get it; they have a sense of humor, so they get it. Somebody else without a
sense of humor might be listening to this, saying "Well, then what
happened?" But if you have to explain the joke, it loses its humor, its taste.
"Horse walking into a bar," that's funny all by itself, because it never
happens. So in the same way when we say that bhakti is about pure love of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead—if you get it, you go "Wow! That's
astonishing. That's great. That's terrific. I want to hear more." And if you
don't get it, you're like, [in a square announcer's voice] "Well, why would
anyone want to do that?" [to the square:] "That's OK, just go back to your
TV and forget this. This is not for you."

So if you can understand, if you can get the significance of pure love of
the Supreme Lord, then bhakti is for you. To the degree that this makes
sense to you, or to the degree that you have taste for it, then that is the
degree that you have had previous contact with bhakti, either a previous
life or this life or somehow or other, by mercy, by practice, or by taste.

This verse expresses the sentiment of humility, just as in verse two he

calls himself ignorant, ajña, out of humility; however, there's another
meaning of ajña, a positive meaning, which means, "With whom no
wise man can compare." In that case, the world āpi would function as an
expletive with no particular meaning. Ajñenāpi, in the second line,
beginning in the second line, ajñenāpi, ajña-ena-āpi, if you separate the
words.

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So in that case it means that Rūpa Gosvāmī, actually he's not ignorant,
actually he's a scholar beyond compare, no one can compare with him.
Why? Because he sees clearly to the essence of the Vedas, and he speaks
from that place. He speaks from the highest conclusion of the Esoteric
Teaching of the Vedas, which is pure love of Godhead without any
motivation, without any cessation. Because when we love God purely, it's
so ecstatic that we don't want to do anything else. We don't feel like doing
anything else. We don't have to do anything else. We don't have to break
our devotional service to do other things.

Now we had an incident the other day where somebody was saying, "Well,
I'm engaged in so many business affairs that I don't have time to chant
sixteen rounds of māha-mantra, so I'm chanting this other mantra that
takes less time." And you see, this is a problem. One should not chant a
mantra because it takes less time. You see how that is a completely mixed-
up kind of logic? Because the mantra, the very nature of a mantra is
beyond this material world, beyond time. It's eternal, it's part of the
spiritual world. So there should never be any consideration of time in the
chanting of a transcendental mantra.

Either the time of day, or the order or sequence of events that has to take
place, or the amount of time required to chant a specified number of
repetitions of the mantra—these should not be any consideration. If they
are, then we're placed in the absurd position of putting material limitations
on a transcendental process—which is absurd. The whole point of
chanting the mantra is to transcend material limitations. So if we then put
material limitations on the mantra, then that's a reductio ad absurdum
which nullifies the whole point of chanting the mantra.

Man means mind and tra means free or deliver, it comes from the word
trayate; trayate is a Sanskrit verb meaning to free or deliver. So mantra
means to free the mind. From what? From the qualities of material
existence. So if we then try to impose qualities of materialism on the
mantra, or the chanting or the practice of the mantra, or the meaning of

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the mantra, or anything having to do with it, that's absurd. That's a logical
contradiction. So this is materialistic thinking. We don't admit, or we don't
accept this kind of materialistic logic in devotional service. Devotional
service is completely transcendental. That means bhakti has no conditions
that apply to it.

For example, it's stated in the Padma Purāṇa—also in the Ādi Purāṇa—
that there is no qualification or limitation on who can practice bhakti. It's
not that one has to have a certain kind of birth, or a certain kind of body,
or a particular level of intelligence or any other material quality; anyone
and everyone can practice bhakti. For example, the first item of devotional
service is hearing; and anyone can hear, especially the kīrtana of the Holy
Name. Even a dog and cat, they can hear, and they actually make
advancement by that hearing. In the next life, in their human life, they get
an opportunity to meet with devotees and to practice devotional service.
So we can understand that this devotional service is so auspicious because
it has no material limitations. Even the type of body that we have is not a
consideration at all. Anyone and everyone, even animals can practice
bhakti by hearing. And any human can chant the Holy Name; anyone can
go “Hare Kṛṣṇa” or “Hare Rāma.” Rāma is a very common sound in many
different languages. So, we can understand that anyone who thinks the
mantra should be subject to some material conditions has misunderstood
the whole point. This is what inevitably happens when we try to mix a
lifestyle that contains both spiritual and material activities. Because
material activities are contentious and competitive by their very nature. As
soon as I try to do something in the material world, there's somebody
who'll oppose me, somebody who'll try to stop me. There'll be some
friction, there'll be some resistance. And as soon as I try to accomplish
anything in this world, there's going to be some competition. Somebody
else is going to try to do it better, faster, cheaper, or whatever.

So, material activities are competitive, and when we try to mix them
spiritual activities then there's going to be some competition or some
contention between our spiritual life and our material life. And usually this

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manifests in the form of time. Because trying to make a living by
performing fruitive activities is very time-consuming. It takes many hours
a day, many hours a week. But because we are conditioned by the idea that
we are the doer, we are the owner, we're the controller, we're the knower,
the enjoyer, and so many other things which are false—we think that "I
have to take care of myself; I have to make my living, otherwise I won't be
able to maintain my life." We don't understand that Kṛṣṇa is not a poor
man. And that Kṛṣṇa promises in the scriptures that He will maintain the
souls that are surrendered unto Him.

So if we trust Kṛṣṇa, if we really understand Kṛṣṇa and trust Him, then as

soon as we understand the importance of pure devotional service, we'll
give up all these material activities, and trust that Kṛṣṇa is going to
maintain us somehow or other. We don't know how; how He does it is
very mysterious. But somehow everything is coming because we are
engaged on this platform of pure devotional service. We're not doing any
material activities. For a while we thought we would have to raise money
by our own independent work, and we were trying stock investments and
so many other things. But as soon as we did that then Kṛṣṇa showed us,
actually no, He doesn't want us doing that. And so as soon as we gave it
up, and we stopped doing this investment, more money came to us then
we ever made in investments, just by preaching.

So if one becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, the Lord will certainly meet
His promise to maintain His devotees: those who are surrendered. Now if
you're not surrendered, if you're not following all the principles, or if
you're not fully hundred percent engaged in devotional service, then
there's no guarantee that Kṛṣṇa is going to maintain you. Because to the
degree that you want to act for your own benefit, then you're not engaged
in pure devotional service; you're not surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. It's just like as
if, let’s say you get married to somebody and they say "Well, six nights a
week I sleep with you, and then the other night I sleep with somebody
else." Are you going to accept that? You'd have to be a fool to accept that.
So similarly, if we are giving some part of our time to Kṛṣṇa, and then

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another part of our time we’re acting for our own benefit, in fruitive
material activities, then what is Kṛṣṇa going to think? "Oh this nonsense,
he's not really surrendered to Me. He's just pretending to be a devotee.
He's a very, very neophyte devotee. He doesn't even trust Me to take care
of him. I the Supreme Lord, the Creator of all the universes, and he thinks
I cannot maintain My own devotee. Ha!" Kṛṣṇa's just going to laugh. It’s
like, "Hey, let Me know when you get serious, OK?"

Then you're on your own; well, that's where you wanted to be, wasn't it?
So Kṛṣṇa gives you the result of your desire, and there you are on your
own, having to make your own way in the world. And that necessity of
making your own way is going to conflict with the time that you want to
invest in bhakti, and that's going to reduce your advancement, reduce your
consciousness, and so many other things. That's why it's so critical that we
propagate the understanding of pure devotional service. Uttama-bhakti:
pure bhakti, with no mixture of fruitive activities, or speculation, or mystic
powers, or any other thing, or any other desire. If I'm engaged in
devotional service and I have some other desire, "Oh I want this, I want
that, I want to do this, go here, whatever." Then we're cheating ourselves.

We're not cheating Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can't be cheated; He's the Supreme, He
knows everything that's going on. But we're cheating ourselves, because if
we have the opportunity to engage in pure devotional service—and anyone
hearing this has that opportunity, by our association—then if you still are
maintaining some other desire in your heart, you're simply cheating
yourself. You're simply delaying your engagement in pure devotional
service. Now why would anybody want to do that? I can't understand.
Maybe I have limited intelligence. That must be it. I can't understand why
anybody who has the opportunity to engage in activities of pure bliss
twenty-four hours a day, would want to do anything else! It's like the little
men in the black coats in that cartoon you know, "I don't want to be happy,
I want to be sad." Remember that? “Sunshine Makers?” Beats me.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 141
So now the next few verses, 7 through 10 talk about the structure of the
book, structure of bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. And I'm not going to read the
Sanskrit because it's not really that significant. Verse seven translation is:

"The divisions of the book: In this sweet ocean of bhakti-rasa offered to

the Lord, four sections, starting with the eastern section, will be
expounded one after another." [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.7]

There are four divisions: the Eastern, the Southern, the Western, and the
Northern. He calls them divisions, which I find rather dry. Even though
the word is there, vibhāga, or bhāgā, I like to call them oceans. Just like
we have the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Arabian Ocean, and so many other
oceans. So I call them the Eastern Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the Western
Ocean, and the Northern Ocean. So verse eight:

"The Eastern Ocean defines the different types of bhakti. This will be
discussed in four successive waves. [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.8]

Every ocean has waves. And it's a wonderful metaphor that Rūpa Gosvāmī
is using, because bhakti is just like an ocean of nectar. And in any great
ocean there's bound to be successive waves, one after another. So in the
Eastern Ocean there are four waves, or chapters. And in verse nine he
says:

"The first wave of the Eastern Ocean is concerned with bhakti in

general. The Second Wave describes sādhana-bhakti, the Third Wave
describes bhāva-bhakti, the Fourth Wave describes prema-bhakti." [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.9]

Let’s talk about that a little bit. Now, when he says bhakti, he means pure
bhakti. And actually the only section in which he discusses anything that
is outside of pure bhakti is in the Second Wave on sādhana-bhakti,
because sādhana-bhakti also includes the stage of mixed bhakti. And
basically all he is going to say about mixed bhakti is that it exists; and
some people—who knows why?—think that they have to do it. But our
actual focus, our actual interest is in pure bhakti only. Pure bhakti begins
in the second stage of sādhana-bhakti. Sādhana-bhakti is divided into two

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stages: the stage of vaidhī-bhakti, which means devotional service
according to the rules and regulations of the scriptures, and rāgānuga-
bhakti. Rāgānuga-bhakti means devotional service by the potency of
spontaneous love. Then the next stage is bhāva-bhakti; and in bhāva-
bhakti the ecstatic emotions begin to manifest. And in prema-bhakti these
emotions reach tremendous concentration and power, and that's the actual
stage of perfection.

So the First Wave of the Eastern Ocean describes pure bhakti in general,
the characteristics of pure bhakti. Then the Second Wave describes
sādhana-bhakti, which means practice. Practice means you're not perfect.
Every musician knows about practice. Actually anyone who has acquired
any kind of skill, whether it's sports, or mechanics, or any kind of
knowledge or anything, they know that you have to practice; if you don't
practice, then you can't reach the expert stage. So the three stages of
bhakti are: sādhana-bhakti, bhāva-bhakti, and prema-bhakti. And
sadhana-bhakti is divided into vaidhī-bhakti and rāgānuga-bhakti. We'll
explain all these terms very, very thoroughly. So don't get confused just by
hearing it. Then in the tenth verse, he opens the subject of the First Wave.
Up until now this has been like the introduction, like the, almost like the
invocation and then the table of contents. And finally in the tenth verse, he
describes the actual subject:

"In the First Wave or chapter, in order to describe clearly the superiority
of bhakti to other processes, the unique characteristics of uttama-bhakti
will be related as approved by the ācāryas." [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu 1.1.10]

I'm not going to go into this verse deeply now because I want to spend a
lot of time on the tenth and eleventh verses. The eleventh verse has a very
extensive purport. But we've talked about this: the actual subject of this
book is pure bhakti. He does mention the preliminary stage of bhakti
practice in the chapter on sādhana-bhakti, but he doesn't spend much time
on it, and he basically says that it is the introductory stage. When a person
first comes to bhakti, then in the beginning they have to follow the rules

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and regulations. But as soon as one gets a taste for bhakti, then the rules
and regulations become subservient to one's taste or desire to perform
bhakti. And this is known as rāgānuga, spontaneous attraction. Rāga
comes from the term rāgātmika. Rāga means "a very strong emotional
attachment." And ātmā, of course, is the soul. So rāgātmika means "a
person whose soul has a very strong emotional attachment to Kṛṣṇa." We
see this in the liberated souls, the eternal associates of the Lord, and His
companions and servitors who accompany Him when He appears on
different planets. And these are all described very elaborately in Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam. And many examples are given in this book, and you'll see so
many examples from different stories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; and of
course we're going to take the opportunity to relate some of those stories
so that you will hear the context in which the examples that are given
actually take place. But what I want to talk about tonight, is the fact that
the theme of the whole first chapter is how pure bhakti is superior to any
other practice. And of course we already talked about the basic principle
of that superiority is the fact that bhakti is completely transcendental. It
does not rely on any material situation, or qualities, or activities.

Then the question may come up, "Well, we have to perform the activities
of bhakti with our material bodily senses, so then how can you say that
bhakti is not dependent on any material conditions or activities, because
we have to use the body in order to perform these activities?" Because the
activities of bhakti can be performed just as easily with the spiritual body
as with the material body; in fact much easier, because the spiritual body
is naturally inclined towards bhakti. Whereas the material body is
conditioned by material nature, and we have to overcome that
conditioning before we're able to actually perform bhakti in the material
body. So, no, it's not dependent on the material body. The material body is
simply an instrument. If we happen to be identified with the material body,
then that's the tool that we use to do these activities of bhakti. But the
activities of bhakti can very easily be performed in the spiritual body as
well. So there is no material impediment, no material condition, no
material requirement or resources necessary to perform bhakti. Bhakti can

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be performed even in the mind by visualization. It doesn't require
anything. You could be totally paralyzed in the hospital, and you could
perform the activities of bhakti by your imagination only, and that's
perfectly valid. It has just the same effects as performing those activities
physically, or in the spiritual body; it doesn't matter. Whatever body,
whatever vehicle, whatever form of existence you have available to you,
you can engage that in bhakti. You could be in heaven, in hell, on Earth, in
the spiritual world, in the material world; it doesn't matter. You can
perform bhakti simply by desiring to. That's the great and wonderful
thing about bhakti, is that there's absolutely nothing that can stop anyone
from performing bhakti. Because everyone can speak, everyone can
hear, so everyone can chant and hear. And you might say, "Well, the
people around me don't like this idea of bhakti; so I have to do it only
when I'm alone." Well why are you associated with people who are against
bhakti? That's actually one of the principles of bhakti, that we give up the
association of people who are against bhakti, because they're demons. And
why should we live with demons? We don't want to live with demons. In
fact, there's even a śloka:

"It's better to live within a cage of fire, or embrace a snake or tiger, than
to keep association with materialistic people who are against the
chanting of the Holy Name, against the practice of bhakti, or engaged in
materialistic religion (worship of the demigods, and fruitive activities,
stuff like that). What to speak of sinful activities. One should not
associate with those kind of people." [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.2.111-112]

So this is one of the big stumbling blocks on the path of bhakti, is that in
the beginning, we tend to regard it as another material activity which is
subject to all the limitations and conditions of material life. But it's not.
Bhakti is completely unconditioned and unconditional; it's eternal, it's
spiritual, it’s transcendental. Just like Kṛṣṇa; you never find Kṛṣṇa being
limited by the modes of material nature. And similarly, you can never find
a situation where bhakti is limited either. Bhakti is of the same quality as
the Supreme Lord. So by associating with the activities of bhakti, one
associates with Kṛṣṇa directly. Because all these activities of bhakti have

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 145
the same quality as Kṛṣṇa, they're completely transcendental, completely
unconditioned.

So try to understand this platform of bhakti, how wonderful it is; how

special it is, how unique and rare it is. That is one of the qualities of
bhakti: pure bhakti is very, very rare. Even among thousands of people—
this is no exaggeration—even among thousands of people who know the
Absolute Truth of the Vedas, you might find one or two who are actually
practicing pure bhakti. So, even those people who are in a liberated
condition, due to their Vedic knowledge and so on like that, they may not
be practicing pure bhakti, probably not. Even though they may say, “Oh
I'm a devotee, and I've been chanting for so many years, and I'm doing this
and I'm doing that,” we generally find that there is some mixture of
material desires, they want to have a good name or a nice position, or they
want to be famous or powerful, or there's some politics involved or
something is going on that's not pure bhakti. So we have to be very careful
to know the symptoms of pure bhakti, and all these things will be
described in such tremendous detail in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , that
simply by following this series, by the association of hearing these topics,
you will also become situated on that platform. That's our aim, and that's
the purpose of this series.

Question from Gopal: "Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my humble

obeisances, Bābājī and the monks. Could you please give some more
examples of the quality of bhakti and how can one improve the quality?
How does one know that his quality of service is improving?"

Bābājī: Well, how do you know, when you eat a nice meal, that you're
full? Because you feel satisfied. Similarly, how do you know that your
quality of bhakti is improving? Well, how much do you love Kṛṣṇa? How
much of your life do you act simply for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa? That's your
bhakti quotient. So if you're spending ten percent of your time trying to
please Kṛṣṇa, then you're ten-percent bhakti. If you're spending hundred-
percent of your time trying to please Kṛṣṇa, then you're hundred-percent

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bhakti. We're aiming at hundred-percent. Anyone who is on that platform
is very advanced and they're going to a very, very nice place. Actually
they're already there; anyone who is fully, hundred-percent engaged in
pure bhakti. Now, you have to examine your own heart; you have to be
very honest with yourself: “Am I doing this devotional service because I
want something? Or am I doing this devotional service because I want to
please Kṛṣṇa?” What is your desire? You can't fool Kṛṣṇa. You can fool us
maybe, but you can't fool Him. So, Kṛṣṇa knows; so you also, you should
judge yourself by the degree to which you honestly desire to please Kṛṣṇa,
to give Kṛṣṇa your love. This is real bhakti. It's very easy actually, and
there are also different criteria mentioned in the scriptures, and we'll get to
those one-by-one, one. But first of all, one should be completely free from
material activities. That's the standard of pure bhakti. If you're still
engaged in material activities, then there's no question of being in pure
bhakti. So you have to inspect yourself, you have to be honest with
yourself. And say, “How much of my life, how much of my energy is
actually engaged in pleasing Kṛṣṇa?” And that's the degree of your
advancement in pure bhakti.

Uddhava dāsa: Another question from him, "Are there any ways to know
that Lord Kṛṣṇa is feeling pleased with our service? Any examples?"

Bābājī: Well again, if you're pleased, if you're satisfied, if you're happy, if

you're in bliss, if you're feeling detachment, if you're feeling peace, and
especially if you're feeling transcendental emotions, bhāva and the
symptoms of sattvika-bhāva, then you're certainly feeling bhakti and
Kṛṣṇa is certainly pleased. So all these things will be discussed in
tremendous detail in this series. But in brief, if Kṛṣṇa is really pleased,
then you will be experiencing ecstatic emotions, spiritual emotions, and
especially spiritual bliss, and you'll be experiencing sāttvika-bhāvas.
There are eight sāttvika-bhāvas: tears, choking of the voice, standing of
the hair, shaking of the body, fainting, changing of the complexion, and so
on. These sāttvika-bhāvas are intense experiences of ecstasy. And those
who are in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness feel all these things internally all the

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time, and sometimes when they're especially intense, they'll also manifest
outwardly in the body. So that's how you can know. It's similar to what we
were talking about before: If you eat a nice full meal then you'll be very
satisfied; nobody has to tell you. You don't have to ask anybody else, "Am
I satisfied?" Remember that joke? Two psychiatrists are walking down the
hall, and one says, "Good morning Doctor," and the second one says,
"Good morning Doctor, how am I?" and then the third, the other doctor
says "You're fine, how am I?" It's ridiculous, right? Because nobody needs
someone else to tell them how they are. Of course psychiatrists don't know
that, because they're too intelligent. But any normal person, they know if
they're happy or sad or satisfied or unsatisfied; we also know. So if our
spiritual desires are satisfied—if we're feeling bliss, if we're feeling
happiness—to the degree that we're feeling unhappy in any way, that
means we are imperfect in our spiritual practices. Because one who is
practicing bhakti-yoga very nicely is always in bliss, always happy.
Because that's what bhakti is: pure bliss. Concentrated, full-strength bliss.
So anyone who practices this bhakti-yoga even for a little while, they
know this, they feel this. So if you're feeling sufficient bliss, that means
you're happy, then you're well situated. But if you're still feeling like, "No,
actually, I want more," then you have to increase your standard of practice.
And again, it's not the quantity of practice, it's the quality of practice.
Every time we talk about degree of advancement in bhakti, we assume that
you're a hundred-percent engaged in devotional service without any other
activities. If that's not there, then you're not even in the ballpark. But
assuming that you are fully engaged twenty-four hours a day in bhakti-
yoga, then the quality of that practice becomes the determining factor. So,
any more questions?

Question from Gopal: "Hare Kṛṣṇa! How does one overcome the
material body conditioning so that the senses can be used for bhakti?"

Bābājī: Well, Śrīla Prabhupāda always gave the example of a cup of

coffee. You know coffee is nasty stuff, right? Very material. So you take
your cup of coffee, and you begin to pour milk into it; and then gradually

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the color becomes lighter. And then if you continue pouring milk, even the
cup of coffee overflows, but you continue pouring; after some time there
won't be any coffee left in the cup, it’ll be all milk. So similarly, in the
beginning, the mind is full of material impressions; this is the cup of
coffee. But then we begin to add spiritual impressions, by practice of
bhakti-yoga. This is the same as pouring milk into the cup. And then we
get to a stage where all we're doing is practicing bhakti-yoga, and that's
like pouring the milk even after the cup begins to overflow. And if we
keep doing this for a long enough time, then gradually all the impressions
in the mind will be cleansed, will be purified. And there will be nothing
but bhakti impressions in the mind. This takes some time, this takes a few
years. Because we're in this material world for many lifetimes, and the
mind is full of all kinds of material impressions. So we have to fill the
mind with so many impressions; that's why we chant again and again, and
again. That's why we read the verses over and over and over again, see?
That's why we do our service, like Deity worship, over and over and over
and over. To make as many impressions as possible of spiritual quality in
the mind; and just by flooding the mind with these spiritual impressions,
we gradually purify it, and we get rid of these material impressions and the
tendency to engage in material life. That's the way that this thing works.
We've discussed this in many earlier podcasts and darshans where we talk
about the nature of consciousness. So if you just look up on our site, any
of the podcasts that talk about consciousness, you'll get the background
where you can understand this very easily.

Question from Thomas: "Kṛṣṇa is known as the Supreme Controller; He

would then control our actions, how then can we have free will?"

Bābājī: He always gives us free will, and He never takes it away. Kṛṣṇa is
already the controller, but He loves each and every one of us so much that
He gives us our desires, even when they're opposed to Him. For example,
the people in this material world don't want to see God, they don't want to
be in relationship with God. So when they come to this material world,
Kṛṣṇa hides Himself; He doesn't show Himself outwardly. But He hides

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within the heart as Antaryāmī, or Supersoul. So, as Paramātmā, or
Supersoul, He guides the conditioned soul throughout every moment of
life. He beats our heart, he digests our food, He operates our minds and
senses, all according to our desires, even if our desire is against Kṛṣṇa's
instructions. Because once He grants us free will, He does not ever take it
back. We even have the ability to come to this material world and be
apparently separated from Him. Actually of course, we're never actually
separated from Him, even for a moment. The real truth is that Kṛṣṇa, God
is present everywhere and in everything and He knows everything that's
taking place; He knows our own minds and hearts better than we do. So
we can't fool Kṛṣṇa. We can even fool ourselves, but we can't fool Him.
He knows everything; He knows our past also. So Kṛṣṇa is observing
everything, and as soon as we desire to come to Him, then He makes that
possible. He facilitates our devotional service but still, even though we
completely surrender to Him, He never takes away our free will. He's the
Controller, yes. But He controls according to the desire of His devotees.
That's love; that's Kṛṣṇa's unconditional love for all His created creatures.
Just try to understand how elevated Kṛṣṇa's character is. That once He
grants this freedom, once He grants us life and consciousness, He never
withdraws it. Once He gives any of His gifts, He never takes them away.
We can misuse them and abuse them and go contrary to His desires; but
that's our own loss; we're cheating ourselves, because His desire is
actually the best thing for us. He loves us so much that He wants the best
for all of us, and we are so rascal that we don't want to follow His advice.
But we're only cheating ourselves. So, we always have free will. We're
never bereft of free will.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 150
 Chapter 6: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.10-11
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, October 31, 2009

tatrādau suṣṭhu vaiśiṣṭyam asyāḥ kathayituṁ sphuṭam

lakṣaṇaṁ kriyate bhakter uttamā yāḥ satāṁ matam

“In the First Wave or chapter, in order to describe clearly the superiority
of bhakti to other processes, the unique characteristics of uttama-bhakti
will be related as approved by the ācāryas.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu 1.1.10]

Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

“In the First Wave of the Eastern Ocean ( tatrā) the verse begins with the
word tatrā. First of all (ādau), the characteristics of uttama-bhakti, or
pure bhakti, will be dealt with, (kriyate).” Kriyate means action, or work.
“The whole of bhakti will not be discussed. The reason is given: “This is
in order to describe clearly the supreme position of bhakti.” When
bhakti is not pure, and is covered by other desires in the form of jñāna
and karma, its strength is not full. With such impure types of bhakti, the
characteristics appear only partially, thus mixed bhakti cannot be used
to show the superior nature of bhakti. This is understood from the
following verse, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad -guṇā
manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

"One who has unflinching devotion ( uttama-bhakti) unto the Supreme

Personality of Godhead must have all the good qualities of the demigods
and contrarily, one who is not a devotee of the Lord must be hovering
over the darkness of mental speculation and thus, must be engaged in
material impermanence." [ Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.18.12]

That puts it pretty clearly. Pure bhakti is the only spiritual path, the only
spiritual method that is purely spiritual. All other spiritual methods,
including mixed bhakti, are covered by some fault, or defect, in the form
of some material process. That could be karmic activity, fruitive activity,

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where one engages in work in order to attain some selfish benefit. Or it
could be jñāna, mental speculation, where one tries to juggle words and
concepts in order to attain some kind of liberation; or it could be yoga,
where one does different manipulations of the breath and the mind and so
on to attain mystic powers. Or it could just be that a person is so
conditioned by material nature that they cannot perform pure bhakti and
they keep getting sidetracked into material desires. That's the case with
most people who attempt the bhakti path; they suffer from hṛdāya-
daurbalyam, weakness of the heart. In other words, they cannot bring
themselves to make a hundred-percent, total commitment to bhakti.

So they do a little bhakti and then they do a little karma, they do a little
bhakti and then they do a little jñāna, they do a little bhakti and then they
do a little yoga. Their bhakti is covered by fruitive activities in the form of
Vedic rituals, in the form of big, big temple projects, and big societies and
assemblies, and all the politics and all the nonsense that goes on in them.
Their bhakti is covered by desires for sense gratification, all the way from
gross to subtle. From gross sex life and sense enjoyment all the way up to
subtle things like pride, jealously, the desire for position and prestige and
recognition and things like that. But this is not pure bhakti. This is going
to Kṛṣṇa and trying to make a deal: "Hey Kṛṣṇa, I'll worship you a little
bit, now give me my sense gratification." And the thing is, they attain their
sense gratification; or even if they want liberation, they attain liberation;
even if they want heavenly enjoyment in the heavenly planets, they get it;
but they don't get pure bhakti.

Pure bhakti is so powerful that even Kṛṣṇa becomes controlled by it. So

Kṛṣṇa does not give it very easily. He places many obstacles, many tests,
in the path of the aspiring devotee. And we've seen some of this in our
own saṅga in the last few months. Many tests—and many of the devotees,
many of the students couldn't pass these tests, so they fell down or they
fell away from the path. This is going on. It's very rare that someone can
attain pure bhakti, pure devotional service; but that's our standard. That's
why we study Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, because Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 152
on the platform of pure bhakti. Why? Because it's only by investigating
pure bhakti that we can clearly see the superiority of the bhakti path. The
pure bhakti path is the only spiritual method that is completely spiritual. It
has no material qualities at all. And because of this, even Kṛṣṇa is
attracted by it. It's completely pure and it springs from the spiritual
platform.

golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana

"This process of chanting the Holy Name of the Lord is coming directly
from the spiritual world." [Hari-Hari Biphale]

This process of chanting, this nāma-saṅkīrtana, was introduced by the

Supreme Lord Himself in the form of Lord Śrī Caitanya Māhaprabhu, the
incarnation of Kṛṣṇa as His own devotee. Therefore, it is immediately,
from the very beginning, totally spiritual. It's not coming from this
material world; it's coming from the spiritual world, from the Supreme
Person Himself. He Himself is showing us how to be His devotee.
Therefore we should receive this knowledge, this understanding of pure
devotional service with great attention, and very carefully put it into
practice in our own lives. And we shouldn't be concerned with these
material obstacles, like “I don't have any money,” or “I have some medical
condition,” or “I have so many sense desires, I can't control my senses,” or
“I have no time,” or any other material obstacle that you can imagine. All
these things are simply material impediments, but bhakti is completely
spiritual.

So if you really want to engage a hundred percent in the service in the

Lord, there's nothing stopping you. You could just sit, go inside, and
perform all kinds of bhakti practices within. If the material situation you're
in is not harmonious with bhakti, you can go somewhere else. You can get
out of that situation and go to another one. What's stopping you? What's
stopping you is only your self-imposed limitations, your self-imposed
material desires. These are called concoctions. They're concoctions
because they're not at all necessary. If you completely surrender to Kṛṣṇa

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and become His devotee, He has promised that He will protect you; He
promises this in several places in the scriptures. And Kṛṣṇa is good to His
word, He does not break His word, He does not break His promise to the
devotees; and we all experience that here, every day. So, what we're doing
is, we're following up on Kṛṣṇa's promise, and we're saying "OK, I'll make
a promise of my own: that I'm going to engage one -hundred-percent in
your service, and I'm not going to do anything else; and now it's up to You
to maintain me." Now this may mean that we go through a period where
we have to live very simply, very austerely, where we do not have the
level of sense gratification that the demons have trained us up to expect in
material life, but what's the value of that?

We have to somehow or other detach ourselves from this concocted need

for too much material pleasure. And the best way to do that is to
experience spiritual pleasure. Spiritual pleasure is there automatically
when we give Kṛṣṇa pleasure, because Kṛṣṇa is the root of our own
existence. So if we give Kṛṣṇa pleasure, then we'll automatically feel
pleasure. I don't know why, but this seems really hard for people to
understand. They think that they have to go on taking so much material
sense gratification, but actually this is the poison that is the cause of all
their suffering. Suffering is the result of sinful activities, and sinful
activities come in the form of sense gratification. Because of sense
gratification, we're willing to perform so many sinful activities, and then
the result is we have to suffer. So this chasing after sense gratification is
actually the cause of all our suffering. Just like, if a person goes to the
doctor and says, "You know Doc, I'm having trouble with my liver." "Oh
really, what's your lifestyle?" "Well, I drink a bottle of scotch everyday."
And the doctor's going to say, "Well, you have to stop that. You have to
stop drinking before you can expect your liver will get better. I can treat it,
but what's the use of treating it if you continue drinking?"

So, devotional service is the cure of the poison of material life. But if we
continue to engage in material sense gratification, then how can we expect
our devotional service to counteract it? How can we expect to be cured if

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we keep on taking the poison? See, this is the conflict between material
life and spiritual life. And in the beginning of devotional service, every
devotee gets to work through this conflict; and let me tell you from
personal experience, the best thing is not to try to sit on the fence. The best
thing is to just jump into devotional service with both feet and learn how
to swim. This is an ocean of bhakti; so it's very deep and you might feel
overwhelmed, but it's good. You cannot drown in this ocean, this ocean
will actually will give you perfect health, and spiritual life and everything
you've ever dreamed of. We want pure love; we want unending enjoyment.
That's the nature of the spirit soul, because Kṛṣṇa is like that. He also
wants pure love and He wants unending enjoyment too. So as His spiritual
sons and daughters, we also want the same thing. But we cannot get these
things in the material world, because everything in the material world is
temporary. Because of that it has to change, and when it changes, we lose
it; or it goes away, or they, the object of our affections rejects us or
whatever. In any case, this material enjoyment is not satisfying to the soul;
only spiritual enjoyment is.

So when we give that spiritual enjoyment to Kṛṣṇa, because He is at the

center of our being, we also get enjoyment. It's so simple. It doesn't
require faith, outside of enough faith to simply try the process. If you try
this process you'll see that it works; but you have to follow the process,
you have to follow the rules. We talked about this many times. It's like a
lab. You go in the lab and you mix the chemicals together according to the
procedure, and you get the result. If you don't follow the lab procedure,
then who knows? Maybe the thing will blow up in your face. So similarly,
one has to follow the rules and regulations of this devotional service, and
then you will certainly get the result. So, what are the rules? Basically this
is discussed in the eleventh verse. And this verse is very important so we
will spend, actually, several days on it.

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama

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 “The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions
directed towards Kṛṣṇa, His expansion forms or others related to Him,
with a pleasing attitude towards Kṛṣṇa. It should be devoid of desires
other than the desire to please the Lord, and unobstructed by impersonal
jñāna, the materialistic rituals of karma or other unfavorable acts.” [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

So now, in the commentary, Jīva Gosvāmī is going to give the meaning of

each of the words of this verse.

Anuśīlanam. Śrī Rūpa begins the book by describing the characteristics

of uttama-bhakti. Just as a verb is only understood through the sense of
its verbal root (dhātu), so the word anuśīlanam must be understood
through the sense of its verbal root. Śīl means to act, to practice, to
serve, to worship, and to meditate. Anu means continuous, or with
devotion. Words can usually be resolved into verbal roots after removing
the affixes. The senses of the roots are found in the Dhātu-patta of
Pāṇini. By studying the sense of the dhātu of a word, one can
understand the full scope of meaning in the derived word. Some roots
may have only one meaning and some may have several. Some of the
meanings may be active and some may be inactive. Śīl has two distinct
meanings. One is inactive. Samādhi or contemplation. The other
meaning is active. Upadhāraṇā: to hear attentively, to perceive, or to
cultivate.

Inactive, in this case, refers to a passive, passive action, or receiving

action.

So the significance of the verbal root śīl is twofold: pravṛttyātmikā,

expressing action: to worship, practice and serve; and nivṛttyātmikā,
expressing inaction: to be intensely absorbed. Thus anuśīlanam or
continuous service has an active form, ceṣṭā-rūpa: using the body, words
or mind, and an emotional form: bhāva-rūpa, consisting of affection,
prīti, and despair of the mind, viṣāda. However (there's a footnote on
that too) meditation using the mind with conscious intention would be
included in ceṣṭā-rūpa-anuśīlanam. (In other words, the anuśīlanam of
active form.)

But the emotional states in the mind, either temporary, as vyabhicārī-

bhāvas, such as viṣāda, or permanent sthāyi-bhāvas such as prīti-rati,
are bhāva-rūpa. This bhāva-rūpa-anuśīlanam takes place on attaining

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 bhāva and prema. Thus the activities of sādhana-bhakti are classified as
ceṣṭā-rūpa. At the level of bhāva and prema, ceṣṭā-rūpa-anuśīlanam
takes the form of anubhāvas. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's
commentary also mentions that the avoidance of sevā and nāma-
aparādhas, and other aṅgas mentioned in the section on sādhana-
bhakti, should be included in another class called abhāva-rūpa-
anuśīlanam.

In other words, these are activities of bhakti which are not accompanied
by ecstatic feelings of love. Normally in pure bhakti, it's very hard to
distinguish between the ceṣṭā-rūpa, or the active part of the service, and
the bhāva-rūpa, or the feelings derived from that activity. When we are
engaged in pure devotional service the two of them seem to merge into
one thing, one forgets one's physical existence, and the body becomes
spiritualized and one's siddha body, or spiritual body, and material body
actually act together. Like when we're in a roaring kirtana, very, very
sweet kīrtana and it's intense, the feelings that we have, which are bhāva-
rūpa, and the activity of chanting, which is ceṣṭā-rūpa-anuśīlanam,
become merged; we can't really, experientially, we can't tell the difference
between the two. The physical act of chanting seems to be the source, or
the embodiment of, the bliss derived from the process. But for purposes of
analysis, Rūpa Gosvāmī distinguishes the two of them because actually,
one, the ceṣṭā-rūpa part of anuśīlanam, or continuous service, is done by
the body and the bhāva-rūpa, or the ecstatic emotional part, is done by the
spiritual body. You follow?

Nava-yauvana dāsa: These two parts that he's split up for analysis, one is
the experiential aspect and one is the physical aspect of devotional service,
is it correct that the experiential, that the experience, the inner feeling can
also be had without the physical aspect of it?

Bābājī: Yes, but that is a much, much higher stage, see? When a person
reaches a stage of bhāva and prema, whether or not they're engaged in
external physical activity, they still feel these ecstatic emotions within. At
that point, the relationship, the service relationship has become completely
spiritualized. But in the beginning, especially in the stage of sādhana-

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bhakti, the anuśīlanam, the continuous devotional service is done mostly
with the body. And then as time goes on and the devotee advances, more
and more of the service is done internally in the spiritual body.

However, emotional states of sattva are included in ceṣṭā-rūpa-

anuśīlanam because both are expressed by action. Sattvas are intense
emotions which overcome the heart, but under the pressure of a limited
body, they spontaneously manifest bodily transformations called
sāttvika-bhavas. Even though the action is unconscious and the origin is
emotion, it is classed as a ceṣṭā-rūpa because of the consequent and
obvious active bodily element.

To understand this you need a little background on the sāttvika-bhāvas.

The sāttvika-bhāvas, as we've discussed previously in our series on Nectar
of Devotion, are the eight ecstatic symptoms such as: tears, choking of the
voice, shaking of the body, raising or standing of the hair on end, fainting,
rolling on the ground, becoming stunned. These are symptoms of the
external body in response to some internal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And
later on Rūpa Gosvāmī will explain that the mechanism of the sāttvika-
bhāvas is that the prāṇa becomes excited by the ecstatic emotions. And
then the prāṇa contacts one of the elements of the body. For example,
when the prāṇa contacts the water element, there is tears. When the prāṇa
contacts the air element, there's choking of the voice. When the prāṇa
contacts the ether element, space, then there's fainting, and so on. There's
actually quite an elaborate explanation of this in the chapter on sāttvika-
bhāva, which we'll get to as we go deeper into the work. So in other
words, because of the limitations of the material body, the material body
cannot take a whole lot of energy running through it. And if a lot of energy
comes through the material body from the spiritual platform, then the
material body begins to express these symptoms, depending on which way
the prāṇa is directed and which element of the body the prāṇa is in touch
with. And it may be in touch with multiple elements, in which case
multiple sāttvika-bhāvas will manifest at the same time. That's when
things get really interesting.

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So there's five or six different levels of sāttvika-bhāva depending on how
many elements and how intense and it's a very, very complicated, very
elaborate science. In the West we have no terminology to describe these
symptoms of ecstatic love, probably because given the limitations of
Western religion, people just don't experience it, except under very, very
rare circumstances; and then it's almost always misunderstood as some
kind of physical affliction. So in fact even Lord Caitanya, when He would
get some of these symptoms, such as shaking of the body and fainting, He
used to say, "Oh, I have epilepsy." And just explain it away so He wouldn't
have to explain "You see, there's Kṛṣṇa, and then..." because that would
get Him into the whole mood all over again. So He used to just explain it
away by saying, "Oh, I have epileptic seizures now and then." And then
they would give Him different medicines and He would say "Oh, thank
you." And of course it didn't change anything.

So even though the action of sāttvika-bhāvas is unconscious and the

origin is emotion, it is classified as a ceṣṭā-rūpa. Other emotions which
are not so intense and are not classified as sattvas, if they are similarly
eclipsed in favor of conscious actions are called anubhāvas.

In other words, anubhāva comes after contact with the Lord. First comes
the contact, the inspiration, the original feeling in the heart toward the
Lord, vibhāva. And then the anubhāva is a feeling or emotion that comes
after that, and which is expressed as different activities done according to
the will—such as dancing, singing, shouting, like shouting in praise of the
Lord; different kinds of services manifest in the body of the devotee, like
going to the temple, meeting other devotees, enjoying prasādam, giving so
much service to the Lord in the temple and so many things like that. These
are all anubhāvas, meaning after the original bhāva takes place. So those
are under the control of the will. But when the emotion becomes so strong
that it's no longer controllable, then the sāttvika-bhāvas manifest. Do you
understand the difference now?

So let's go back again and look at this word anuśīlanam. So śīlan, the
verbal root śīl means the action of service, to practice, to serve, to

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worship, to act and to meditate. All these things are śīl, or śīlanam. And
anu means continuous or with devotion. So, like in my name, dāsānudās.
Anu means continuously, continuously serving or with devotion. So that's
very nice. And in this case, anuśīlanam it means to serve, to act, to
practice, to worship, or to meditate with devotion or continuously. Both
are applicable, both meanings of the verbal root anu and all the meanings
of śīl are valid here, including the one of meditating or contemplating. So
that becomes the root, actually, of the conception of bhakti. Thus bhakti
means to serve, to practice, to act, or to meditate continuously with
devotion. That's the first thing. Continuously, without a break. Not that we
get tired of doing bhakti and then we go off and do something else. No;
that's not real bhakti. That's just the very, very, very most neophyte stage
of bhakti. Real bhakti starts as soon as we reach anuśīlanam, continuous
service without a break. Maybe I will change the mode of my service; like
sometimes we're chanting, sometimes we're discussing philosophy,
sometimes we're cooking prasādam, sometimes we're cleaning the temple,
sometimes we're discussing among ourselves, sometimes we're going out
and shopping, doing different activities, but all of these activities are
service. Even sleeping, because we have to take care of the body. The
body has to rest, it has to be healthy. So even our sleeping, in that sense, or
eating is taking care of the body for Kṛṣṇa. We're not taking care of the
body for our sense enjoyment. We're not taking care of the body for use in
our own service, but for use in Kṛṣṇa's service, you see? This attitude of
service, anuśīlanam, continuous service, devotional service without a
break; and not only continuous but also unmotivated. Unmotivated in the
sense of being for our selfish enjoyment. Ahaituky apratihatā [Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 1.2.6]. We want to serve continuously, without a break, and
we also want to serve without any selfish desire. The desire should only be
for Kṛṣṇa's benefit, not for our benefit, otherwise that's not pure bhakti,
that's mixed bhakti; bhakti mixed with fruitive activities.

The next word that Jīva Gosvāmī examines is kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ. First we

looked into anuśīlanam, and now we look into kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ, the whole
construction there in the second line of the verse.

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 With this consideration of ceṣṭā-rūpa, which means activities of the
body, and bhāva-rūpa, which means activities of the heart, both being
engaged in bhakti. Anuśīlanam means service for person related to Kṛṣṇa
or service for Kṛṣṇa directly. That is the meaning of kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ.
Because this definition also includes persons related to Kṛṣṇa as well as
Kṛṣṇa Himself, it avoids the fault of being too narrow. Thus, aṅgas of
bhakti such as taking shelter of the guru's lotus feet may be included in
bhakti, even in bhāva-rūpa-anuśīlanam.

In other words, the scope of bhakti is now being described. It's not only
anuśīlanam, it's kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ, service either to Kṛṣṇa directly or to
those who are related to Kṛṣṇa, such as Kṛṣṇa's devotees, Kṛṣṇa's family
members, Kṛṣṇa's cows, Kṛṣṇa's qualities, His philosophy, His way of life,
His instructions and so many other things. Anything that's related to Kṛṣṇa
can also be an object of devotional service.

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo

yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati

"The supreme occupation [ dharma] for all humanity is that by which

men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendental Lord.
Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to
completely satisfy the self." [ Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6]

That verse expresses the same thought as the verse currently under
discussion here. So, the aṅgas of bhakti are mentioned. Aṅga mean limb.
Bhakti has many limbs, many aṅgas. In fact, sixty-four aṅgas of bhakti are
given in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. And if we count the different bhāvas and
different types of emotions, and different states of ecstatic love and so on,
it becomes hundreds, hundreds of limbs of bhakti, and they're all offerable
either to Kṛṣṇa or to Kṛṣṇa's devotees, especially the pure devotees and the
gurus.

So, the aṅgas of bhakti, such as taking shelter of guru’s lotus feet, may be
included in bhakti, even in bhāva-rūpa-anuśīlanam. In other words, we
can also feel ecstatic emotions in relation to these aṅgas of bhakti. Why?

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Because they're of the same quality as Kṛṣṇa. They're all pure; they're all
transcendental.

Therefore, of course we have to watch out when it comes to things like

mixed devotional service, then we have to be a little careful. We should
not become emotionally attached, for example, to an organization.
Because religious organizations are mixed devotional service; they include
a material component by their very nature. They're not fully
transcendental. They contain some transcendental elements, but they're
also covered over by some material energy. So we have to be a little
cautious about developing devotional sentiments or attachments toward
those things. But as far as things which are completely spiritual and
eternal, like Kṛṣṇa's flute, Kṛṣṇa's land of Vṛndāvan, Kṛṣṇa's cows, Kṛṣṇa's
devotees, that's OK; we can form nice devotional relationships with them.
At the stage of bhāva, for example, sthāyi-bhāvas and vyabhicārī-bhāvas
may be expressed in relation to guru within this definition of bhakti. So in
other words, this definition of bhakti is not too narrow, it's not so focused
only on Kṛṣṇa but also to things are that are related to Kṛṣṇa; but it's not
too broad either, because it insists that the object of our service, our
anuśīlanam, must be purely spiritual.

But it does not actually include mixed bhakti. The definition of bhakti
given in this verse only accepts objects which are completely spiritual.
That means it rejects mixed bhakti as being part of pure bhakti, pure
devotional service. Devotional service is acceptable as pure bhakti only
when its object and methods are completely spiritual and eternal.

This service, or anuśīlanam, obtainable only by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and

His devotees, is a transformation of the Lord's svarūpa-śakti, and thus is
not material but spiritual. However, one should understand that that
though it is purely spiritual, it makes its appearance. It's not created; it's
eternal.

It's not being made or manufactured, but it simply appears, just like Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa is not born, nor does He die; but He appears in the material world
through His devotees, and then He again leaves this material world. Just

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like the sun rises at a certain point in the horizon and it sets at another
point on the horizon, and then apparently we can't see the sun. But that
doesn't mean the sun doesn't exist; the sun is always existing. It just
appears at a certain point and disappears at a certain point. So Kṛṣṇa and
His devotional service are also like that. Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service is
actually eternal; it simply appears at a certain place or point in time
according to our vision, but actually the service is eternal. So it makes its
appearance in the body, mind, and words by taking over the functions of
the body, mind, and words. This will be clarified later on, how
anuśīlanam, at the stage of bhāva, displays transformations of the
svārupa-śaktī.

Svarūpa means the eternal form. The eternal form of Kṛṣṇa is manifested
by the svarūpa-śakti. Svarūpa-śakti is the means by which Kṛṣṇa
manifests His eternal form, and the bhakti is also manifested by the same
potency. That means bhakti is an inseparable part of Kṛṣṇa's form. Bhakti
and Kṛṣṇa's form are basically one thing, they're manifested by the same
potency as Kṛṣṇa. So wherever Kṛṣṇa's form is present, bhakti is also
there. Kṛṣṇa is very beautiful, so wherever Kṛṣṇa appears, people are
going to admire His beauty; this is bhakti. And this bhakti, this admiration
of Kṛṣṇa's beauty and His form, and His many wonderful qualities, this
completely takes over the functions of the body, mind, and words; one
becomes fascinated. Just like if you have ever been in the presence of a
very beautiful or very wise or very intelligent or powerful person, then
there's no question about what is going to be the center of attention, and
the subject of any conversation or activities that go on. It's going to be this
very powerful, very beautiful, very wise, or very intelligent person.
Because the nature of a person who has extraordinary qualities is that they
tend to dominate the context around them, because of the attractive
features of their qualities. Kṛṣṇa has unlimited attractive qualities; so
Kṛṣṇa becomes the center of attention when His form manifests in any
way—either by the form of the Deity or by the description of the form.
For example, Rukmiṇī fell in love with Kṛṣṇa simply by hearing narrations
about Him. She had never met Him, never seen Him, but simply by

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hearing about Kṛṣṇa she became so attracted that she was ready to give up
everything to marry Him. Similarly, the devotees hear so many narrations
about Kṛṣṇa from śāstra, and because of these narrations, Kṛṣṇa's form
actually manifests within their hearts. And because Kṛṣṇa's form is there,
bhakti is also there. As soon as we begin to appreciate Kṛṣṇa's qualities, as
soon as we begin to serve Kṛṣṇa in any way, even by contemplation, that's
immediately bhakti. So Kṛṣṇa's form and bhakti are manifested by the
same spiritual potency, the svarūpa-śakti. This is a wonderful thought; this
is a very, very wonderful idea. It means that what we have done, actually,
by surrendering our lives and our time and energy to this bhakti process, is
that we have actually become part of the form of Kṛṣṇa.

One, one time a spiritual master was asked, "What is your identity in the
pastimes of Lord Caitanya?" And he went, "You're looking at it." This is
still the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. Why? Because Lord Caitanya gave
this process of bhakti, and we are engaged in that process of bhakti
following His descriptions, His instructions. So we are actually
participating in the pastimes of Caitanya Māhaprabhu. It's pretty awesome.
Even five hundred years later, but there's no consideration of time in
bhakti because Kṛṣṇa's svarūpa, just like our svarūpa, is also eternal. So
there's no consideration of time. These activities are beyond time. And
even if we go to the spiritual world and we stay there for millions and
millions and millions of years and then we come back to this world, we
will see Vṛndāvan will still be there, Māyāpur will still be there. All these
activities of devotional service are eternal. It may be a different yuga, it
may be a different creation even, doesn't matter. These activities of
devotional service will still be going on just like they are now. People will
still be studying Vedic scriptures, reading Sanskrit, chanting mantras,
doing Deity worship, the whole thing. The circumstances may change;
language may change, times may change, even the planet or who knows,
everything could change. And everything will change in this material
world, but the one thing that never changes is bhakti because it is part of
Kṛṣṇa's transcendental form. That's an astonishing thought, I just can't get
over that.

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This service, or anuśīlanam, obtainable only by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and
His devotees, is a transformation of the Lord's svarūpa-śaktī and thus is
not material but spiritual. However, one should understand that though it is
spiritual, it makes its appearance in the body, mind, and words by taking
over the functions of the body, mind, and words. In this verse, Kṛṣṇa also
indicates bhakti for other forms of God. Because Kṛṣṇa is svayam-
bhagavān—including all other forms including Nārāyana and Nṛsiṁha and
so on. Gradation of these forms will be considered later.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: I'm not sure if I heard you read correctly but in that,
did it say that when you're taking about bhakti, it can also be directed to
things related to Kṛṣṇa, there's also mention that sthāyi-bhāvas can be
directed towards the spiritual master?

Bābājī: Yes. I'll quote: "At the stage of bhāva, sthāyi-bhāvas and
vyabhicārī-bhāvas may be expressed in relation to guru within this
definition of bhakti."

Nava-yauvana dāsa: How would that work?

Bābājī: Well, everyone—no matter what bhāva you're in—everyone is a

servant. The relationship with the guru is one of servant, master and
servant. So, even if one's sthāyi-bhāva in relation to Kṛṣṇa is something
else, the sthāyi-bhāva of servitude may be manifested in relationship with
the guru at any time, at all times actually.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: In one of the earlier parts in Viśvanātha Cakravartī

Ṭhākura's commentary, on the difference between bhāva-rūpa and
abhāva-rūpa emotions, he mentions two things that he said do not produce
ecstatic emotions. He said sevā and nāma-aparādha, sevā, like sevā-
aparādha, or just sevā...

Bābājī: That was earlier, when he was talking about “When bhakti is not
pure, it's strength is not full, thus, mixed bhakti cannot be used to show the
supreme nature of bhakti.”

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Nava-yauvana dāsa: Yes. He mentions these two things.

Bābājī: Well sevā-aparādha is an offense performed in the performance

of one's service. For example, to disobey the order of the spiritual master,
or think that he's an ordinary human being. This is the third offense against
the Holy Name. So, if one minimizes the orders of the spiritual master,
even though he may think that he knows better, he may think that maybe
the spiritual master doesn't understand something, or whatever he may
think; he should still follow the order of the spiritual master, because to do
otherwise is an offense and this will kill the creeper of bhakti. The
spiritual master's order should be accepted simply because he is on the
transcendental platform, and he knows what will satisfy Kṛṣṇa. It may not
be, materially, a perfect understanding. From material point of view there
may be some flaw; but bhakti is not material, because bhakti is only pure
love for Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, Kṛṣṇa's devotees, Kṛṣṇa's
qualities, and so on. That way, if we have real bhāva for these things, then
we'll want to serve them nicely. So in the presence of aparādha, offenses,
then all of the wonderful qualities of bhakti disappear because it's not pure
bhakti, see? And the point that he's making here is that in the presence of
coverings, such as karma, jñāna, yoga and so forth, then the bhakti is not
pure, so its wonderful qualities don't manifest completely either. And we
know from studying the ten offenses against the Holy Name, that the Holy
Name is completely spiritual and fully potent, so as soon as anyone chants
the Holy Name of the Lord, all the benefits of chanting the Holy Name are
there; but in the presence of offenses, the person cannot receive those
benefits because they are not pure. If something is given to me but I don't
have the ability to receive it, then I can't accept it; I can't take it.

So in order to receive the benefits of bhakti, the real qualities of bhakti, we

ourselves have to be perfectly pure. And if we're not pure, we may even
perform this devotional service that has so many wonderful benefits and
qualities, but we won't be able to receive them; and they'll remain in
virtual form but they won't manifest. As soon as we become pure, they
will immediately manifest. So chanting the Holy Name, doing all different

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kinds of devotional service, are all very wonderful activities and they all
lead to spiritual emancipation and ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa; but because of
our offenses, we may not be able to realize those benefits until we take
care of those offenses and we purify ourselves properly. That's the point
he's trying to make here. And for the purpose of this particular discussion,
he's talking about the difference between pure bhakti and mixed bhakti in
terms of demonstrating the superiority of bhakti to all other paths. That
superiority is only there when the bhakti is completely pure. Otherwise,
because it becomes covered by these other qualities, these lower qualities
of karma, yoga, and jñāna, it appears to be like them. And this is how
people, for example, jñānīs can say, "Oh yes, we're doing bhakti. We go to
the temple and we offer incense and other things. So this is bhakti." No it's
not bhakti because the ultimate aim of their so-called devotional service is
to attain liberation. Because the motivation is impure, then the whole thing
becomes spoiled. Or take another very common example, where a person
will enter into bhakti and try to perform devotional service for some
material benefit: relief from some suffering, or economic development or
sense gratification or something. So, as soon as that bhakti becomes
covered over by these material qualities it's not pure anymore, and
therefore it does not demonstrate or does not manifest the exalted qualities
of pure devotional service.

Everyone wants this supreme attractive quality of bhakti. When we see it

in a pure devotee like Śrīla Prabhupāda, everyone's amazed. Everyone is
very much attracted and wants this for themselves, but at the same time
they're often unable to give up their attraction to all these material things
or subtle things like karma, jñāna and yoga. So because of this, their
bhakti does not manifest the supremely attractive qualities that are true of
pure bhakti. And in that case, it may look superficially like bhakti is pretty
much equal to other spiritual processes, or religious processes like karma
and jñāna. But that's only because the persons themselves are covering it
up with their impurities. When the person's... their motivation becomes
completely pure, that they just want to serve Kṛṣṇa, they just want to
please Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's devotees; then, in that case all the attractive

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 167
features of bhakti automatically manifest in them. It's not like they have to
try to manifest, you know? It's not like Śrīla Prabhupāda was sitting there
thinking, "OK now I'm going to attract everybody." Sometimes the parents
of the devotees would criticize Śrīla Prabhupāda, "Oh, you've hypnotized
my son." And one time he said, "Yes, it's something like that." But actually
it is that these beautiful qualities, these attractive qualities of Kṛṣṇa are
also manifest in bhakti; because again, bhakti is coming from the same
svarūpa-śakti that manifests Kṛṣṇa's wonderful form, which is very
attractive to everyone. So those qualities also manifest in the person who
is performing pure bhakti, pure devotional service. And people are
attracted, even though they can't even understand why they're being
attracted. They just know that “somehow or other this person has
something special, some attraction.” They can't even define what it is, but
we know what it is: pure devotional service. So, the standard of pure
devotional service is given in these verses. That's why we're spending so
much time, going deep into the meaning of these verses.

Uddhava dāsa: The, when we talk about pure bhakti, we talk from the
platform of anartha-nivṛtti and higher, correct? The understanding I have
so far is that there's three stages of this bhakti; and first stage is, more or
less, from anarta-nivṛtti before bhāva, and then bhāva is another stage,
and then prema is another stage.

Bābājī: Yes; pure bhakti has three stages: sādhana-bhakti—but only the
rāgānuga part of sādhana—and then bhāva and then prema.

Uddhava dāsa: When you mentioned about your own experience and
while going through all these stages I remember you said that bhāva and
prema, the end stages went very fast, or you went through them very
quickly, and I wonder if this makes it a whole category, this stage of
bhāva, it's a big category, why is there this difference?

Bābājī: Ah, because the degree of manifestation of bhakti's qualities is

different in that stage. In the stage of sādhana, the qualities are still
developing. And they develop actually quite slowly over maybe twenty-

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thirty years of practice. But then once bhāva is attained, it's maybe another
ten or twenty years, and then you're in prema. It’s comparatively much
quicker. Even though bhāva is more complex—because by this time the
devotee has gotten so much experience and confidence in their practice
that even though bhāva is very complex, they can advance through it very
quickly. They finally have the transcendental logic, the emotional logic,
that drives bhakti. They finally have that figured out. Usually by that time
they have realized their sthāyi-bhāva, and they basically know their role in
relation to the Lord, and so many things. And then at the conclusion of the
bhāva stage, Kṛṣṇa will manifest to the devotee and accept their service,
and that's the beginning of the prema stage. But even the prema stage
takes some time to manifest fully. It doesn't happen just instantly. All these
things take time because they're very, very complicated and subtle. And it
takes your mind and heart some time to process all of the emotional
implications of each level of realization. But there are definite boundaries
between them. Because even in the rāgānuga-sādhana-bhakti stage, you
are still driving by a map that is largely intellectual in nature; a mental
picture of what bhakti is according to your understanding. In the neophyte
stage, your mental picture is defective. You don't understand bhakti
properly, and that's why you make so many offenses. Then in the
rāgānuga stage you're past anartha-nivṛtti. Anartha-nivṛtti means all these
material things—karma, jñāna, yoga, sense gratification, offenses—all
these things finally go. And then, rāgānuga means "Now I get it. I get it. I
want to do this service from myself, but I still have this mental map of
how, how it all works." Once you attain bhāva, by that time it's not mental,
it's all in the heart. Everything has been internalized. All the śāstras, all
the complicated structure of bhāvas and everything, has all been
internalized, and one has realized a personal vocabulary of emotional
states that is satisfying both to the devotee and to Kṛṣṇa. And I would say
that's the main differentiation between rāgānuga-sādhana-bhakti stage
and the bhāva-bhakti stage. And then in the prema stage, this bhāva that
one discovers in the bhāva-bhakti stage becomes extremely condensed,
extremely potent, and one begins to operate on a while new level,

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completely trusting Kṛṣṇa. And then, somehow or other, everything is
going on, and there's a lot of bliss.

Uddhava dāsa: I've seen, in my experience so far and in all religious

organizations, that the anartha-nivṛtti stage is a huge brick wall. I see that
most people fear changing themselves because they think "I am like this,"
although they are not; it's just false ego, this idea that "I am so-and-so,"
and they can't renounce that. So we're basically going to attempt that all of
us here overcome this anartha-nvṛtti stage very soon.

Bābājī: Oh, I thought you were already past it. You're all pure devotees,
aren't you? What are you doing here if you're not pure devotees?

Uddhava dāsa: I don't know. I still see so many fears and like that.

Bābājī: Well some uncertainty is going to be there until the day that Kṛṣṇa
appears to you and blesses you and accepts your service. There's always
going to be some question, "Am I doing this right, is this, you know..."

Uddhava dāsa: Is it offensive?

Bābājī: Yeah. See, that's the way Kṛṣṇa is, He's very shy, He doesn't just
come out and, you know, give you a reading. He leaves it up to you. You
have develop the expertise to understand whether your service is pleasing
to Kṛṣṇa or not. And it's actually very simple: you just have to look within
your heart. The thing is, we're so used to using these mental models, and
we're so conditioned by this material existence that even in the case of
these devotional things, we don't have the trust in our own intuition to
look within our heart, and our heart will tell us everything we need to
know, once our heart is pure. So in the beginning you have to constantly
check your mental map, "Is my heart pure, is my heart pure? Am I going
off here? Is this actually material?" There's a lot of hesitation there, "Uh, is
this right, should I be doing this? Babaji!" If you're intelligent you'll ask
your guru. Then you will find eventually there's certain things that are
very reliable, and you'll begin to build on those things, and those things

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will become the core of your service. And then when those particular
kinds of service become just so second nature, so natural, so easy though
repetition over years, that becomes the foundation of your bhāva. So this
is why we're studying Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, so that we can understand
the structure of bhāva: vibhava, anubhāva, sāttvika-bhāva, vyabhicārī-
bhāva, sthāyi-bhāva—five kinds of bhāvas that go together to form rasa.
And rasa is what Kṛṣṇa enjoys, and what the soul enjoys. And when we
actually know how to make this mysterious rasa, then we can enjoy
unlimitedly, because we can give Kṛṣṇa pleasure eternally, and we have
the confidence that we know: we know we can do this, we know how to
do it. We're not going to fall down or make an offense. When we have that
confidence, then that's smooth sailing.

Uddhava dāsa: Today we had our dance class, and we were noticing how
much different the whole approach of any Western sport or activity versus
this dancing in South Indian style. And, well the first thing that you, watch
any of the YouTube videos, anyone that's watching the broadcast, if you
try to dance for an hour the routines that we're doing every day, then you'll
get to see how hard it is just to warm up; it's really a challenge. So that at
most, if you would dance in the West it would be more like "First enjoy,
and then get tired of enjoying," or something like that.

Bābājī: Bhoga-tyāga.

Uddhava dāsa: Yes, but in this approach first you basically challenge
your senses, your body, your mind, everything. Then the teacher today
mentioned today that the success of dancing is when one relishes the
dancing even though it might be very difficult, technically speaking or
externally speaking. But there's a very strong relish inside.

Bābājī: Rasa.

Uddhava dāsa: Rasa. So it's basically the same thing he's talking about,
that once you know this formula for rasa, even though externally it might

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be... in the body, it might be very tiring and like that, you relish the whole
thing and this becomes very beautiful and that’s the mastery.

Bābājī: Kṛṣṇa is the original dancer, the original dance teacher also. He
teaches the gopīs how to dance. And by teaching them how to dance, He
teaches them how to relish rasa, how to create this mystical drink with
five transcendental ingredients. So by Kṛṣṇa teaching the gopīs like that,
they also become expert in rasa, just like Him. And then they can teach
others, and so on. That's why, in general, the spiritual masters in our line
are considered to be either gopīs, or assistants to the gopīs: mañjarīs. And
they have this mood of, "Oh, this is all about making rasa, making lots of
rasa for Kṛṣṇa." Just like the gopīs, the image of the gopīs churning the
butter, well what does churning the butter mean? Churning the butter
means extracting the essence from the milk, right? So the very powerful
image there of the gopīs, by this churning process, they are extracting the
essence. Milk means religiosity. Milk is the symbol of religion, sometimes
called "liquid religion," because milk is completely pure. So by churning
the milk into butter, they're extracting the essence of that purity from the
milk. So in the same way, by mixing rasa, by this dancing process with
Kṛṣṇa—music and dancing, these are the two most important devotional
arts—that what they're doing is extracting the essence from all practices of
religion. Because all practices of religion are ultimately aimed at
developing love of God. This love of God is perfectly expressed in the
rasa dance. So the gopīs are the masters of the rasa dance, and then they
or their assistants can instruct the conditioned souls then how to engage in
this dance.

This is why in devotional service we see that there's so much repetition

and there’s also so much following involved, anuśīlanam. Anu also means
following. So anuśīlanam also means serving by following in the footsteps
of the previous ācāryas. Like the end of the last verse, verse ten was: "As
approved by the ācāryas." We don't make up our methods of devotional
service, we don't speculate anything; we follow in the approved process
shown by the ācāryas. That way there’s no guesswork, and we don't make

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 172
any mistakes either. Learning by hearing is the perfect way of learning.
Because if we hear from someone who's perfect and then we just do that,
then the whole thing is solved automatically. We don't have to go through
a bunch of painful mistakes. So that's the preferred way of learning, and
we should emulate the gopīs and try to take this process of religion and
churn out the essence, extract the real essence, which is love of Godhead,
and then put that into practice in our lives and everything will be
successful.

Uddhava dāsa: The funny aspect of this is it requires... to make butter, it

requires a lot of effort first, and then the enjoyment comes at the end.

Bābājī: Yes.

Uddhava dāsa: It's always the conclusion.

Bābājī: Right. Not only that, if you every churn butter, you mix it and mix
it and mix it and mix it and mix it and mix it and all of a sudden, [snaps
fingers] it happens in just a few seconds right at the end. But without
doing all the mixing first, it won't make butter. It requires a certain
concentrated effort. If you just like churn it very easy it won't become
butter; you have to churn it really hard for five minutes and then all of a
sudden, it becomes butter. It's very funny how the process works. It has
such a nice analog to the process of bhakti itself. Because it's like I said,
the final stages go very fast. In the first stages it seems like you're getting
nowhere: "Oh, I'm working so hard, I'm doing so much and nothing's
happening." But then, toward the end, it all starts moving very fast, and it
all comes together.

Uddhava dāsa: We see all these same things with dancing, and because
we're so used to other activities in devotional service, to take up the
dancing was very easy. And the teacher usually asked, "Is this boring? Is
this boring to you?" and like that. And we are like, "No, this is normal.
We're used to this. It was very easy." But someone in the West, they would

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 173
start practice dancing they wouldn't get it, and it would be very hard. They
wouldn't get any taste out of that.

Bābājī: To them it would just seem to be like useless fundamentals with

no point, or...

Uddhava dāsa: Yes, you would become boring. Although you would get
tired in the first ten minutes, it's still boring. That's one of the things that it
took me, this, this today I understood the principle, when we say, "Kṛṣṇa is
the most renounced of the whole existence, but at the same time He's the
Supreme Enjoyer," and those two concepts seem very conflicting, at least
in the beginning, but now I can understand.

Bābājī: Because His enjoyment..., Kṛṣṇa is willing to take a million years

to set up just the right conditions...

Uddhava dāsa: To churn.

Bābājī: ...for His enjoyment. He's willing to churn and churn and churn
until finally everything is just right and then choom! It comes together.
Then ah, He enjoys.

Question from Draviḍa-rāja dāsa: "Hare Kṛṣṇa. Please accept my

humble obeisances. Is singing Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma mixed devotional
service?"

Bābājī: It depends on why you're doing it. If you're chanting Śrī

Viṣṇusahasranāma for relief of some material problems, then it's mixed
devotional service. But certainly, it's better than going out and working for
some evil corporation. If you have material issues chant
Viṣṇusahasranāma , that is the cure. That's what it's for; it's a pious,
transcendental way for addressing material problems. If you cannot simply
surrender hundred-percent to Kṛṣṇa and engage in pure devotional service,
fine; then at least engage in mixed devotional service. Don't go falling
down completely into karma. But chant Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma and let
Kṛṣṇa fix everything, and then you'll be in a position to engage in pure

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 174
devotional service. We have this standard of pure devotional service, at
least for the devotees who are living here. And maybe the devotees who
are living outside can't meet that standard, but Kṛṣṇa has a famous
explanation in the twelfth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā that:

"Just think of Me always, become My devotee, offer your love to Me

and like that. And if you can't do that, follow the principles of bhakti-
yoga, vaidhī-bhakti. And if you can't do that, just work for Me and offer
the results to Me. And if you can't do that, then cultivate knowledge,
because that will bring you to the stage of perfection." [ Bhagavad-gītā
12.8-12]

And if you can't do that, He says, "Just try to be self-situated." Yeah, "Just
be cool. Sit down and shut up."

So we're trying to encourage everyone to attain this stage of pure

devotional service. But if you can't do that, that doesn't mean that you
should just give up; no. You take the next level down and do that, and if
you can't do that then take the next level down according to Kṛṣṇa's
instructions, and according to whatever stage of spiritual life you can
remain steady on. It's far better to be steady on a lower level of practice
than to try to jump up to a higher level of practice and then fall down.
Much better.

Question from Marino: "Hare Kṛṣṇa! Can you explain us how did you
decided to jump into this ocean of bhakti for us who are still holding on
fence?"

Bābājī: What can I say? Just do it; you just jump. It's like, we talk about
when you eat a nice meal, nobody has to tell you that you're satisfied,
nobody has to tell you how to eat either. "We'll you take the spoon and
then you put it in the food, and then you...” That's nonsense. If you're not
understanding these simple instructions, it's because you don't want to.
Admit it. Sitting on the fence is another way of saying "No, I'm not going
to do it." Like Yoda says, "There is no try: do or not do." Either you do it
or don't do it. Make up your mind. Be honest about it, don't say “Well I'm

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 175
trying,” or “Oh, in the future.” No, no: either do it or don't do it. Take
responsibility for it and take the consequences of your decision, whatever
they are. That's honest. But don't try to say, “Well, I, you know, I'm
working on it. I’m really, I’m trying. I'm thinking about it.” That's the
word I hate. “I'm thinking, let me think about it.” Come on! Either you
want to do it or you don't.

So we should become sincere, and we should try to eliminate this doubt

from our system, and find a level of devotional service that we're
comfortable with and we can remain steady on, and stick to that until you
work your way up out of it. We're not asking people to artificially try to
jump into a level of practice they can't sustain. That's very dangerous,
actually. Because you will commit offenses then you will fall down. Then
after that you'll be messed up, so we don't want people to get messed up,
we want people to become cured of their material disease. So the best way
is to take the slow, careful road, and steady. Just be steady. And own that;
take responsibility for it. Say "This is where I'm at." We'll respect that.
What we don't respect is people who are diplomatic and tricky. That
doesn't help anybody; so just be straightforward and say, "OK this is
where I'm at, this is what I can do, I can't do more than this right now, and
I just want to stay on this platform until I've developed a little more."
That's alright.

Question from Thiago: "Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my humble

obeisances. We see that many mixed bhaktas don't reach the pure state. Do
we avoid getting stuck by always desiring pure bhakti? Do people get
stuck because they don't work internally to change their consciousness to
just love and please Kṛṣṇa."

Bābājī: Yes, that's exactly it. The only qualification for pure bhakti is the
greed to have it. Greed means an unreasonable, strong desire: "I want this
pure bhakti. I don't know what it is; I don't know how to do it, but I know
that I want it." That's the first stage. "I want to please Kṛṣṇa. I want pure
bhakti. I don't know anything about it; I don't know how to get it, but

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 176
Kṛṣṇa, please somehow or other give it to me." And if you keep that up for
long enough, Kṛṣṇa will give it to you. He wants to give it to you; He
wants everyone to have it. That's the whole purpose of existence as far as
He's concerned. So, this is a very wonderful thing from Kṛṣṇa's
perspective, when a spirit soul who's been conditioned in the material
world says "OK Kṛṣṇa, I want pure bhakti."

Now it may take some time to get from wherever you are to pure bhakti,
but don't give up the desire. Keep that desire. That's why we're preaching
like this: we're preaching so that everyone will think, "Oh man, this pure
bhakti, this is the stuff, man, you know? I want that. That sounds good.
Give me some of that." And even though we're using all these high-
sounding words and complex technical Sanskrit explanations, and so on
and so forth, if you just hang in there you'll get it eventually. That's the
whole point. You'll get it, and by desiring it with pure intensity, Kṛṣṇa will
give it. He's just waiting for the day when His devotees realize, "Oh,
actually I'm wasting my time with this mixed devotional service, I should
want pure devotional service alone." Ah, then Kṛṣṇa goes "Yes!" Because
that is what satisfies Him, that's what pleases Him, so of course He's going
to give it; but first He's going to make sure that you're sincere. That’s the
way Kṛṣṇa operates. He's going to test you. He's going to dangle all kinds
of distractions in front of you, and see if you're really going to stay on the
path. So be ready for that. But the way to attain pure bhakti is simply to
desire it, and everything else will be revealed. Just hang in there, keep
watching these darshans. We're going to explain everything.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 177
 Chapter 7: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11
continued
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 1, 2009

We're going to continue to study the purport of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,

eleventh verse. Let's go over verse eleven again:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama

“The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions

directed towards Kṛṣṇa , His expansion forms or others related to Him ,
with a pleasing attitude toward Kṛṣṇa. It should be devoid of desires
other than the desire to please the Lord, and unobstructed by impersonal
jñāna, the materialistic rituals of karma or other unfavorable acts.” [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

So far in yesterday's darshan we have discussed in the purport for

anuśīlanam and kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ. We talked about how kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ
means service for Kṛṣṇa and persons related to Him , such as the devotees.
And anu also means devotional, or uninterrupted. So śīla means service
and śīlanam means to render service, anuśīlanam means to render service
uninterruptedly. So real bhakti, pure bhakti means to render service
uninterruptedly to Kṛṣṇa and/or His devotees. Anything related to Kṛṣṇa is
also of the same quality as Kṛṣṇa, and so our service must be directed
toward a transcendental object: either Kṛṣṇa or His devotees , Kṛṣṇa's
qualities, Kṛṣṇa's abode, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, His Names, His activities, His
philosophy and so on.

The next term that we're going to discuss is ānukūlyena. This is the
beginning of the second line of the verse:

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

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 The word ānukūlyena, meaning ‘with favorableness or friendliness’, is
the descriptive element of anuśīlanam, or continuous service.

So we've already discussed anuśīlanam, now we're going to discuss the

kind of service.

It is necessary in order to limit the definition of bhakti. The definition of

bhakti cannot be established with a disagreeable attitude towards Kṛṣṇa.
Disagreeable is prati-kūlyena, so the word ānukūlyena, in conjunction
with kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ, means behavior pleasing for Kṛṣṇa.

Not necessarily behavior that we consider pleasing , but that Kṛṣṇa

considers pleasing.

Prati-kūlya means the opposite: behavior disagreeable for Kṛṣṇa.

There are many things that we may think are very nice, but Kṛṣṇa doesn't
like. So we should be prepared to give those up and engage only in
ānukūlyena, activities that are pleasurable to Kṛṣṇa.

Because this word is in the instrumental case , ānukūlya, the nominative

case becomes ānukūlyena. It indicates that favorableness toward Kṛṣṇa
is a necessary qualifier for defining anuśīlanam, not as a secondary
element that can be assumed to exist in anuśīlanam, in which case need
not be mentioned separately.

In other words, we don't assume that anuśīlanam is automatically

favorable, we specify—make it very explicit—that this continuous service
must be favorable. Why? Because there are instances of people who
thought of Kṛṣṇa constantly —like Kaṁsa for example, thought of Kṛṣṇa
constantly but unfavorably. And so, his thinking of Kṛṣṇa constantly is not
accepted as devotional service, precisely because he was thinking
unfavorably or in a hostile mood towards Kṛṣṇa.

An objection may be stated as follows: when someone ways , “Prepare

the weapon-bearers for battle”, he means as well that the warriors should
also bring the weapons.

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That's implied in the statement, “Prepare the weapon-bearers for battle.”
Well, if the weapon-barer shows up for battle without their weapons then
what's the use of that?

Similarly, the word anuśīlanam, service to Kṛṣṇa, is sufficient to define

bhakti since ānukūlya is implied by the word anuśīlanam; it is not
necessary to mention it separately. “ Bhakti means actions directed to
Kṛṣṇa” is a sufficient definition .

That's the argument. Someone is raising a doubt now, “Why do you need
this word ānukūlyena?” The response is as follows:

When someone says, “Feed the weapon-bearers , he does not mean that
the weapons should also be brought to the dinner table.”

In other words, the conception of appropriateness: just because a person is

a weapon-bearer, a warrior, doesn't mean that he brings his weapons to
dinner. Because even though he may be a professional soldier, dinner is a
time when we're not thinking about fighting, we're thinking about
nourishing the body.

Thus, the mention of weapon-bearers does not imply that they bring
their weapons in all cases. Similarly, the word anuśīlanam if used alone,
may not include favorableness in all cases. Actions directed to Kṛṣṇa
with concentration are not always favorable.

And then he brings up in the commentary, the example of Kaṁsa:

Kaṁsa meditating constantly on Kṛṣṇa with the intention of killing Him ,

is thus rejected, although it is anuśīlanam of Kṛṣṇa. Thus the word
ānukūlyena must accompany anuśīlanam in the definition of bhakti
because it's necessary to add this particular limitation to the quality of
service to Kṛṣṇa.

It has to be favorable, with a favorable attitude. Ānukūlyena. No, we don't

accept prati-kūlyena as anuśīlanam, only ānukūlyena anuśīlanam.

There may be another objection: “We could just say, ‘perform bhakti
favorably’ without anuśīlanam,” for the word bhakti alone implies

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 constant service. For instance , when we say, "the king goes out
traveling," we also imply that he goes along with his retinue. Similarly ,
when we mention bhakti it includes service, and the idea of
exclusiveness towards Kṛṣṇa and also the idea of continuous
engagement and so on. That is true; however, by omitting the words
anuśīlanam, there will be no clear indication of the different shades of
meaning inherent in the root śīl.

Remember we discussed yesterday about the active and passive meanings

of śīl? Śīl, the verbal root śīl, which is the root of the verb anuśīlanam, can
mean either active service or it can mean contemplative service. It can
mean doing things that are favorable to Kṛṣṇa, or it can mean simply
contemplating Kṛṣṇa favorably.

And consequently, if we use the word in that way, there would be no

indication of the different modes of bhakti (which we discussed
yesterday), ceṣṭā-rupa and bhāva-rūpa.

Because in the beginning of bhakti, everything is based on activities

performed by the bodily senses according to the rules and regulations of
the scripture. However, in the advanced stages of bhakti, the external
activities become very much secondary to the internal mood: this
favorable mood of contemplation towards Kṛṣṇa. And when we have this
mood established, this is called bhāva. Bhāva-bhakti is a much higher
level of practice of bhakti than vaidhī-bhakti. Vaidhī-bhakti is generally
considered the introductory or neophyte stage of bhakti.

Therefore, in order to define bhakti completely, the prefix anu is added

to śīlanam, to indicate that the service should be continuous , anu.
Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ —continuous service or positive emotions
directed towards Kṛṣṇa , expansion forms, or others related to Him, with
a pleasing attitude towards Kṛṣṇa—is the essential characteristic ,
svarūpa lakṣana, of bhakti.

See, everything has its essential characteristics. But within those essential
characteristics, it has many variations, many different levels. So the
definition of bhakti given here is both inclusive and exclusive: it’s
inclusive in the sense that it leaves room for different levels or stages of

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practice of bhakti; but it’s exclusive in the sense that it denies that thinking
of Kṛṣṇa, for example, unfavorably could be accepted as bhakti. And it
also denies that interrupted service toward Kṛṣṇa could be accepted as
bhakti. So we see in many devotees, especially in the neophyte stage, that
their service is interrupted. It’s not continuous. They do serve Kṛṣṇa ; they
come to the temple and serve Kṛṣṇa for a little while, and then they go
outside and go home and they do all their material activities. So what kind
of service is that? Is that accepted as bhakti? Well, it's in the gray area.

Ānanda-vardhana dāsa: This is like a church. You go to the church

every Sunday, and then you go home and then you do your nonsense.

Bābājī: It's putting God into a box: “OK, we're gonna have God-time
now, for two hours on Sunday morning, and then the rest of the time we
don't think about God, we do whatever we like.” So God, and His service,
and thoughts about Him and positive relations with Him are put in some
kind of limitation. Time, space, or any limitation; whatever the limitation
might be. Let's say we're unable to or unwilling to give up certain
activities that are inimical towards bhakti, like sense gratification. That is
another way of limiting bhakti: “Well, I'll perform bhakti but I'll also do
these other activities that are actually against bhakti. And when I'm doing
those activities I don't think of Kṛṣṇa, I want Kṛṣṇa to go away so I can do
this nonsense.” That's also covered by this definition as activity that is
excluded from bhakti, because it's not done with a favorable attitude
towards Kṛṣṇa, it's done with the attitude of "Kṛṣṇa , please go away for a
while so I can do my nonsense." That's not pure bhakti. A person has to be
engaged in bhakti activities, activities that are favorable to Kṛṣṇa , twenty-
four hours a day, without deviation, to be accepted as a pure devotee.

Now, why is all this important? Because we want our association to be

with pure devotees. We do not want to be associated with mixed devotees.
This is one of the basic principles of bhakti, which will be discussed later
on in this chapter on sādhana-bhakti. One of the principles of sādhana-
bhakti is that we give up the association, especially of nondevotees, but we

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also give up the association of mixed devotees if we want the highest pure
bhakti, pure devotional service. How can we engage in pure devotional
service if we're associated with people who have accepted a lower
standard? It means that we will be influenced by them, and we will also
accept a lower standard. Or another way to put it is that by accepting their
association, we would accept the validity of that lower standard by
implication.

This is why we don't associate with big, big organizations and religious
groups. That's why we maintain a little distance from them. It's not that we
hate them or anything like that, we don't have anything against them, we
wish them well; but we don't want to associate with people who would
influence us to reduce our standard, or to compromise Rūpa Gosvāmī's
principles. This is very important, because it gives an insight into how we
are structuring our activities, how we're structuring our saṅga. We want to
encourage people to come to this platform of pure devotional service. So
to do that there are two things necessary: education and encouragement,
and also filtering. Because we don't want people to come into our saṅga
and stay with us if they are not ready to make a total commitment to pure
devotional service. That's very important; because like I said , we don't
want to accept the association of persons who are not going to perform
pure devotional service. If you want to do that, you can have your own
separate place, that's alright. But actually we want to encourage people to
completely surrender to Kṛṣṇa , because that's what Kṛṣṇa says in
Bhagavad-gītā:

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

"Give up all other forms of dharma and just surrender unto Me."
[Bhagavad-gītā 18.66]

Now you might say or someone might say, "Well, the Vedas give all kinds
of fruitive activities, karma-yoga and sacrifices with material benefits. In
fact, you yourself teach chanting Viṣṇusahasranāma if there's any material

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impediments in your life, so that's applying devotional principles in a
materialistic way, isn't it?" Well, no. If we were saying that, we would say,
"OK, if you're short of money then play the stock market , or go get a job
with a big corporation or something like that. Go back to back to school,
get an advanced degree or join the mafia or something, just to make
money." But we know that these things are actually against the principles
of devotional service, because they interrupt our devotional service and
make us perform service to someone else. But chanting
Viṣṇusahasranāma is directly devotional service, and it's directly given by
the Lord's representative Bhīṣmadeva, specifically for the needs of the
common people who have material issues, who have material needs that
need to be met, and they can be met by some arrangement of Kṛṣṇa.

That's the thing that everybody doesn't get. They think they have to meet
their material needs by making their own arrangement. They think that
they are the doer; they think that they are the controller, that they are
responsible. But actually Kṛṣṇa is the doer. And by chanting
Viṣṇusahasranāma as a solution to material problems, we recognize that
fact. So this can actually be part of anuśīlanam. That, in other words, “I
don't have to interrupt my devotional service to take care of my material
obligations.” Now it takes some time for this result to manifest , so if you
start chanting Viṣṇusahasranāma tonight, you may not get the result
tomorrow or next week or next month; it may take a couple of years.
Why? Because you have to burn up the karmic reactions that are causing
your material problems; and that may be very deeply embedded . So, it
may take some time, it may take a lot of service. It may take a year or two.
You have to be ready for that. You can't just change course overnight, turn
on a dime, and expect to get instant results. Why? Because we've spent so
long getting ourselves buried in this material energy that it's going to take
some time to dig ourselves out. It's just a matter of practical necessity. Our
minds are so full of so many material impressions ; we're going to have to
accumulate a lot of impressions of spiritual quality to counteract them. It’s
just common sense. But people expect spiritual methods to have instant

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results. And that means they don't understand how this is all working; that
it's all working according to consciousness.

So you should be ready— even if you can't accept it right away—at least
approach this level of kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ: ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ,
meaning uninterrupted, undeviated favorable service towards Kṛṣṇa with a
positive attitude towards Kṛṣṇa, ānukūlyena. And this is the actual
standard of pure devotional service. And we see a lot of devotees who go
to the temple in the morning, they do the whole morning program, and
then they go out and they work a job or they collect money on the streets.
Well this is fruitive activity. There's actually no need for it, and we're the
proof of that. We're not collecting money; we don't even ask people for
money, but somehow money comes. So money is necessary; yes, we
agree. That's the world that we live in; but do you think that Kṛṣṇa is
incapable of taking care of His devotees’ need for money? No. If you are
doing pure devotional service and you're preaching nicely , with
enthusiasm and purity... “Purity,” Prabhupāda used to say, "is the force."
You know, you want to know what they're taking about "The force is with
you?" That's purity: purity is the spiritual force. That's spiritual potency.
So if your devotional service is pure, if you are on this platform of pure
devotional service, Kṛṣṇa will maintain you, because you're totally
surrendered to Him.

The next term is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ , the first two words of the verse.
Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: to define the concept
of uttama...

So far we've been talking about the concept of bhakti, what is bhakti? Now
he's going to define uttama.

Two modifying phrases are added as secondary characteristics, tatāṣṭha-

lakṣana. One phrase is: anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ: “it should be devoid of
other desires.” And the other is jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: “it should not
be covered by jñāna, karma or other things.” The use of the word anyā,
“other,” in the phrase anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ , indicates that bhakti should
have only one desire: to serve the Lord. Bhakti is not devoid of desire,
but that desire must be concentrated on serving Kṛṣṇa.

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And no other desire. There are so many desires ; the world is full of
desires. The mind, especially, is full of desires: "I want this, I want that, I
wanna go here, I wanna do this or that," constantly. But that's what the
mind does. The mind scans the senses and picks up on whatever the senses
are agitated about at the moment, and then it cooks up a desire. So our
desires run the whole gamut of the mind’s and senses’ activities. From the
most gross desires, sense gratification and sex life, all the way up to the
most subtle desires for religious honor and spiritual recognition. Subtle
controllers, subtle enjoyer. These are the most subtle desires, because they
can easily masquerade as being spiritual. But they're not really spiritual at
all, because they are for self-benefit. Any desire, that we can say is for
self-benefit, is not accepted as bhakti. Now of course we have to eat, we
have to sleep, we have to have clothing, we have to have a roof over our
heads, these ordinary desires are not contrary to bhakti. Although in the
highest stage of bhakti, even these desires go away. Still, during the course
of our sādhana, we need some facility; and that's alright, we can desire
that, that's not against bhakti. But to desire self-benefit, in the form of
unnecessary facilities, "Let me have a beautiful marble temple, and let me
be the king of this temple, and engage everyone in devotional service
according to my direction!" You know, this kind of a desire is actually
material. It's subtle because it seems to be linked with Kṛṣṇa, but actually
it's separate from Kṛṣṇa because we don't want Kṛṣṇa to be the one
everyone's coming to see, we want them all to come and see us. This is
personal desire, this is selfish desire. And we see this kind of subtle desire
in a lot of devotees. They want to attain some position , some recognition,
some title, some designation, the chief Grand Poobah of such-and-such
group or temple.

We don't care for these designations. We don't want any particular title. We
don't want to be known as a famous preacher or a teacher or anything like
that. We just want to do our service for Kṛṣṇa; and so we do desire from
Kṛṣṇa the minimum, or necessary facilities for that. That's not against
devotional service. There will be quite a discussion later on in this book
about appropriate renunciation. One should practice renunciation of things

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which are not useful or necessary in Kṛṣṇa's service. And the nature of the
things that are necessary depends on our stage of advancement in bhakti.
In the beginning of bhakti we may require quite a bit of facility, but as we
advance more and more, the amount of external facility becomes less as
our internal realization grows. Finally when we fully realize Kṛṣṇa , we
don't need any external facility, because we have internalized the whole
process. But that's a very, very high stage. In the beginning we need some
kind of temple, some kind of association, some kind of books to study,
some kind of a definite process, definite rules; otherwise we get lost. We
need some kind of a map to follow, "This is the way you go to Kṛṣṇa."
And it has to be comprehensible.

So this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu gives the map, the whole map. Other

books beginning with Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, especially Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam and so forth, they also give maps; but the map is in pieces,
like a puzzle, and we have to put it together ourselves. But here , Rūpa
Gosvāmī has done all the work of putting the puzzle together, and what we
wind up with is a nice neat outline, step-by-step-by-step. It's very, very
well done. It's actually very impressive, what he has done. It's a
combination of a dictionary, a rule book, and a technical manual, or
something like that, like a software manual of how to go through this
process step-by-step. And as you go through the process , there all the
different indications are also given , how you know where you are in the
process. What stage you're at, and then what you need to do , what kind of
sādhana, what kind of devotional activities do you need to do to advance
to the next stage; what qualities you need to develop, what qualities you
need to renounce. Everything is there. It's the most wonderful book for the
practice of devotional service , and that's why we're studying it. So now
we'll look at the second line, jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam .

Jñāna, knowledge, in the second phrase, refers to the inquiry concerning

the impersonal Brahman, with no qualities. This should be rejected. But
inquiry concerning the worshipable form of the Lord should not be
rejected, for that knowledge is necessary in bhakti.

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So the question is, what is our aim? If our aim is impersonal liberation, or
if we want to study knowledge that has that aim, that's rejected in bhakti.
We specifically reject impersonal liberation because it means there's no
chance for performing bhakti. That bhakti is offered to the personal form
of the Lord is no accident. It's not just a random thing; it's because bhakti,
as we discussed yesterday, comes from the same spiritual potency by
which Kṛṣṇa manifests His form, the svarūpa-śakti. Svarūpa-śakti,
svarūpa means the spiritual form, the original form of the Lord; and
svarūpa-śakti, the same energy, also manifests bhakti. So bhakti and
Kṛṣṇa's form are not two things, they're one thing. As soon as we engage
in bhakti, especially pure bhakti, we actually have a direct connection with
Kṛṣṇa's form. And since Kṛṣṇa's form is made of concentrated bliss , as
soon as we have pure bhakti, then we have complete happiness as well.
We're not telling you all this because we want to control you, or we want
you to give money, or because we want you to come and join us. No. If
you want to do those things that's fine, but we don't really care. We want
you to be happy, like we are. So if you follow this advice and you engage
in pure bhakti, you will also be engaged in pure bliss.

I was just thinking about it as we were doing kīrtana this evening: how
these mantras have no negative connotation or meaning whatsoever. These
mantras are nothing but pure bliss; there's no other meaning to them. And
if you think there is some other meaning then you have some mistaken
idea. The only meaning of these mantras of God's pure Holy Name is just
pure ecstasy and bliss and happiness itself. Concentrated bliss. Not
ordinary bliss, but prema. Prema means concentrated, two-hundred proof
bliss. White lightning. So don't mistake this process for any other process.
It's not a way of organizing people politically, it's not a plot for world
domination. We're not trying to undo anybody else, or what they're trying
to do. It's all irrelevant to what we're really doing; because what we're
really doing is simply enjoying our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That's all. But
that's a really, really big thing. A really significant thing. Because when we
come into relationship with Kṛṣṇa, we also realize who we really are.
And that realization is so satisfying that we lose all desire for these

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material things. So why should we engage in material activities and the
concomitant suffering that's involved in them? We talked about that last
night, too: how every time we perform material activities, it means we're
signing up for another term of material existence. We're signing up for
additional suffering. Why do we want to do that? Why would anybody
that's in their right mind want to do that? No. What we want to do is get
free from material suffering, and you can do that directly by engaging in
pure devotional service.

The word karma in the verse refers to daily and periodic duties enjoined
in the smṛtis, not the actions of serving the Lord. For serving the Lord is
the very definition of anuśīlanam, or uninterrupted devotional service.

If you look in the Vedic scriptures you'll see there are so many directions
for performing different rituals on a daily basis or on a periodic basis ,
based on the Vedic calendar and so many other things. But in the
beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Nārada chastises Vyāsadeva for this.
He says "You have actually promoted Vedic knowledge on the basis of
offering material rewards for devotional service." He says "Verily this is
unreasonable and condemned." Condemned , he actually uses the word.
Why? Because it's kaitava-dharma, cheating religion. It's that “You do this
ritual or you do this charity or you do this kind of auspicious work, and
then you get some result, some material result that you can enjoy.” We'll
yes that's there; that's religion. Karma-kāṇḍa. Karma-kāṇḍa means the
path of karma, where you make a deal with God, "OK God, I'll do this
service and then I'll expect this result in return." But that's not love; that's
business. The same thing happens when you go to some rich person , "I'll
serve you in your company, and then I expect some salary or benefits in
return." So it's a very easy concept for our materially conditioned
consciousness to understand; but it's vastly inferior to the result given by
pure bhakti. Because to accept that result you have to sign up for another
term of material existence; and that involves birth, death, old age, disease,
material suffering of different kinds , karma.

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So this karma-kāṇḍa is only indirectly auspicious; bhakti is the only really
auspicious thing that's given the scriptures. It's just very difficult for most
people to understand it. Very difficult. Because they have some impurities
in their hearts, they prefer this kind of business deal with God. They don't
want to go into a relationship of pure love with God, because they don't
trust God. They themselves are untrustworthy, and so they conceive of
God as being the same way: having some selfish desire for Himself. But
how can He have any selfish desire? He already has everything. And
anything that He wants, should He want something, He simply has to
desire it and then it manifests automatically by the action of His potencies.
So God has no desire, He doesn't want anything from any of us. Nothing
that we have would actually please Him—except love. So what does God
from us? He wants our love. All these different offerings and rituals and
different processes that are not devotional service , that give some material
return, are not really satisfying to Kṛṣṇa; and they don't really engage
Kṛṣṇa. But pure love of devotional service not only attracts Kṛṣṇa and
engages Him, it actually controls Him; and we'll see as we get deeper into
this discussion how that is so.

So karma in the verse does not refer to the activities that we do with a
material body and senses to serve Kṛṣṇa. Those come under vaidhī-bhakti,
and they're kind of in a gray area in between karma, jñāna and bhakti. But
they're not against bhakti either, so we accept them provisionally in the
beginning, just like we accept jñāna, a little bit of knowledge, and a little
bit of vairāgya, renunciation, in the beginning of devotional service, as a
good thing because it helps to prepare people for pure devotional service.
First of all you have to give up your nonsense, then you can come and join
the devotee saṅga, pure devotional service. So a little knowledge , a little
renunciation is good in the beginning. But too much makes the heart hard.
Too much knowledge, too much renunciation, makes someone very brittle
and stiff; and to really appreciate this devotional service , one's heart must
be soft. We have to have a kind disposition, merciful disposition ,
compassionate; and compassion means that you feel another person's
suffering as your own. A hard-hearted person can't do that; they're only

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thinking of themselves. So to really love Kṛṣṇa , then we have to allow
Kṛṣṇa's beauty, Kṛṣṇa's good qualities, Kṛṣṇa's exalted character, Kṛṣṇa's
loving affectionate nature to melt our hearts. And when we do that, then
we can have a real relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise we're simply
pretending on an external level. I want say three or four things at once
because I have so much that I want to say about how wonderful this bhakti
is. So if we become open-hearted, soft-hearted, giving, naturally merciful,
these are the qualities that allow us to enter into the exalted platform of
pure bhakti.

So the word ādi in jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam, in the verse:

The word ādi refers to practices such as renuciation, yoga, sāṅhya

philosophy, these as well as impersonal jñāna and smṛti...

Just like we were talking about the different rituals of the scriptures, those
are in the smṛti; these are all impediments to bhakti, they're obstacles to
bhakti, and they have to be given up or let go before one can come to the
actual platform of pure bhakti.

Someone may propose that since the definition mentions

kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ, bhakti should also be defined using the word kṛṣṇa-
bhakti. In response to this, it may be said that the definition uses the
word bhakti rather than kṛṣṇa-bhakti, because in the devotional
scriptures, the word bhakti alone is commonly used, although it also may
be used to refer to bhakti for Viṣṇu or other expansions of the Lord.

This is shown in the next part of the purport. So far we have

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ , which exclusive bhakti without any competing
desires such as jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam , jñāna-karma-ādi, which means
‘other things like that,’ anāvṛtam, rejecting.

We define bhakti in this verse both positively and negatively. We define

bhakti as ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ, which means uninterrupted,
undeviated, unmotivated service favorable to Kṛṣṇa; and then the means is
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ: the desire for Kṛṣṇa's welfare, for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure.
And negatively we're defining it as jñāna-karma-ādi, all these things

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rejected, anāvṛtam, including desires for jñāna, karma, and so on. And we
can basically sum that up as any selfish desire. So we should desire to love
Kṛṣṇa. This is actually the active principle in devotional service. When
people ask me, "How do you advance in devotional service?" Well, you
just have to desire to love Kṛṣṇa. And if you ask me how to do that, man,
I can't tell you how to desire; you just do it. If your mind or your heart is
not under control enough to desire to love Kṛṣṇa, then doing all this other
stuff is not going to help you. And actually I've seen it many times in my
Godbrothers. They'll be practicing all these external rules and regulations
and rituals and activities, and going out and preaching and collecting and
doing all this stuff and making devotees , and opening temples, traveling
all over the world, working very hard and being very busy and industrious
—but all of it is for themselves.

So they never get to the point where they actually can give up these things:
karma, jñāna, and so on, because they still maintain some selfish desire.
They still maintain some wants and needs for themselves. They want some
honor, they want some respect, they want some position, they want some
designation, some title. So they're working very, very hard. They have that
same mood like you see in a middle manager at a corporation: wearing the
suit, coming in to work early, and getting ready for the the big meeting.
They have that same kind of industrious mood : busy, busy, busy. But do
they love Kṛṣṇa? No, not really. Do they want to love, do they desire to
love Kṛṣṇa? No, not really. Well, how can we say that? Because they
don't! They don't love Kṛṣṇa. So if they don't love Kṛṣṇa, they can't be
desiring to love Kṛṣṇa, that's the proof. Because if you desire to love
Kṛṣṇa, of course Kṛṣṇa is going to give you love of Kṛṣṇa. He may not
give it right away, it may take some time. But if you begin to cultivate this
desire until it becomes the most important thing in your life, then how is
Kṛṣṇa going to refuse it? Kṛṣṇa wants us to love Him. That's the whole
purpose of Vedic knowledge , the whole purpose of the material creation:
to simply give the conditioned souls a place to go where they can be
trained up in devotional service. So this is the actual conclusion of the
Vedas: one should love Kṛṣṇa and serve Kṛṣṇa without deviation in a

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positive way, with love. So it's amazing, sometimes, how close some
people can get to devotional service and still get it wrong. I'm constantly
amazed by this. To me it's so obvious.

Uddhava dāsa: It's a covering.

Bābājī: Yes. [doing the Jedi mind trick] "This is not the bhakti you are
looking for." They're under the whammy. Somebody's got them under the
whammy of some kind of māyā, some kind of reality-distortion field that ,
"Oh yeah, I'm a devotee, see how I put my tilaka on, totally straight and
neat. I use a little stamp, actually." [stamps forehead with right hand and
makes stamping sound] I've seen people do this. They have a little rubber
stamp in the shape of a tilaka mark, and then they mix up the tilaka in
their hand and put the rubber stamp and [stamps forehead with right hand
and makes stamping sound, laughs]. "So it's always perfect and neat." And
then [makes stamping gesture with right hand on two places of left
shoulder then left hand on two places of the right shoulder with a stamping
sound effect]. Come on people ; this is not a material corporation, you're
not putting on your uniform to go to work. This is something
transcendental; it's something a little mysterious. It's mystical. It's a
mystery. What is a mystery? Can anybody define mystery in the sense of
religious mystery or spiritual mystery? [to the devotees] Get the
dictionary.

Kānāi dāsa: Mystery: it's something that we don't know. But it's known.
So we don't know it yet. So we have to follow the clues, and follow down
the path and the mystery will become solved.

Bābājī: Well you're mixing up mystery like a murder mystery, whodunit.

No, look up the word mystery.

Uddhava dāsa: In terms of religion? It says, for example, "in Christian

theology, a religious belief based on a divine revelation , especially one
regarded as beyond human understanding."

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 193
Bābājī: Ah. [to Kānāi dāsa] You see how that's different?

Kānāi dāsa: Yes.

Bābājī: Yeah. So what is the divine revelation? The divine revelation is

when Kṛṣṇa reveals Himself. Only Kṛṣṇa can do that , nobody else can do
that; nobody else can do it. You can't make Him do it either. He does it in
His own sweet time; and He will put you through all kinds of tests to
purify you and make sure that you're sincere, before He'll actually reveal
His transcendental form. But again, remember, going back to this point,
which I think is a wonderful insight into the nature of bhakti: that Kṛṣṇa's
form and bhakti are manifested by the same śakti, the same energy. So if
you get bhakti right, you automatically get Kṛṣṇa's form. And the fact
that my Godbrothers have not gotten revelation of Kṛṣṇa's form means
they haven't got bhakti right. And I recall making this observation after I
was in the temple for two weeks. Because I could see, just from reading
one book, Śrīla Prabhupāda's Bhagavad-gītā As It Is—just from reading
that one book, I could see that the leaders were still maintaining some
personal desire. The chapters that did it were chapters 15 , 16, 17, and 18
on the three modes of material nature. A real spiritual leader has to be at
least in the mode of goodness, and I could see that these guys still had
some mode of passion. Read the definition of the mode of passion from
Bhagavad-gītā chapter 18. It’s something like, "The mode of passion is
characterized by unlimited desires and longings , intense activity, which is
basically motivated by self-benefit , and its final result is suffering."
Because the mode of passion, in order to function in that way, requires that
one maintain material desire. And whatever you get in response to your
material desire is never going to be perfect , it's never going to be eternal;
and it's gonna generate karma that creates suffering. So if you pursue
passion—and we've seen this in our Godbrothers , they pursued these
positions of big leadership and big responsibility—it has lead to nothing
but suffering, both for them and for the people under their charge, under
their care. I certainly suffered a great deal because of their
mismanagement and personal ambition. And we read almost every day in

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the devotee newsgroups how another one is falling down, and another one
is having mental breakdown, and another one is a retired sannyāsī, another
retired guru. Why are they getting worn down by their activities, if their
activities are pure bhakti? They should become exalted by means of their
activities; they should become purified, they should become happy. Not
only happy, ecstatic; peaceful , joyful, kind. Instead we see they're playing
a kind of hardball politics. Very, very intense politics with each other and
with the people under their charge, because they're not actually qualified
for the positions that they're in.

[to Uddhava] Just check chapter 18 and the Gītā and then look up mode of
passion in the translations.

Uddhava dāsa: Verse 24, chapter 18:

"But action performed with great effort by one seeking to gratify his
desires, and enacted from a sense of false ego, is called action in the
mode of passion." [Bhagavad-gītā 18.24]

Bābājī: Great effort. In order to satisfy the desires and perform from a
sense of false ego: “I'm the controller, I'm the enjoyer, I'm the temple
president, I'm the whatever,” you know? That's false ego. Real ego is “I'm
simply the servant of my spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. And I'm doing this
because it's my duty, and not because I'm getting anything out of it.” But I
can see that actually they were performing their activities because they
were trying to get something out of it. They wanted to enjoy the results of
their service, their bhakti-yoga. Well that's not bhakti-yoga, that's the mode
of passion; that's karma. At best it's karma-yoga. Because you can say
"Well, OK they have this tendency anyway, but somehow or other they're
engaging it in Kṛṣṇa's service." But it's very, very indirect and unless they
have an actual self-realized soul or at least someone in the mode of
goodness guiding them, they will fall down.

[to Uddhava] Because, now find the result of action in the mode of
passion. There's a verse, "The results of the mode of goodness."

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 195
Something like "The results of action in the mode of goodness is
happiness, the results of action in the mode of passion is suffering"

Uddhava dāsa: Chapter 14 verse 16:

"The result of pious action is pure and is said to be in the mode of

goodness. But action done in the mode of passion results in misery, and
action performed in the mode of ignorance results in foolishness."
[Bhagavad-gītā 14.16]

Bābājī: Are you reading the original version or the new version?

Uddhava dāsa: I think I'm reading the new version.

Bābājī: I think so too. Anyway, the point is, action in the three modes of
nature, especially in the mode of passion and ignorance, leads to suffering
and ignorance, foolishness. Madness actually. A person becomes mad
because they're striving for something for their own personal benefit, and
whatever result they get from their activities is never satisfying. After a
while, this is crazy-making. This is extremely frustrating, and people kind
of go mad after a while; they get a little crazy. That they've worked so hard
for so long and tried so many things, and nothing has worked. So they go a
little crazy. They start going between anxiousness and despair. Oscillating ,
bipolar. Because everything they're doing is maybe even giving them the
objects of their desires, but it's not really satisfying them deep inside. So
they have to put on an act, "Oh, yes yes, I'm enjoying so much. Oh yes,
this is great." But deep down inside, they're very unhappy. There's so
many instances, especially of young girls, who as soon as they get out of
high school they go into serious depression because the whole false world
of school and friends, is built on this idea that "Oh yes, we're enjoying so
much." And then as soon as school ends and all their friends go off to
college, their whole world falls apart. The whole false ego that they've
built up becomes useless. The whole identity that they've created for
themselves in their high school context goes away. And so they discover
"Oh, actually this was all false." And beneath the jovial exterior , there's
this kind of emptiness, that nobody knows who they really are or what

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 196
they really want or what they care about. Well, it's their own fault because
they were putting on this image of that “Yes, yes, I'm the great enjoyer, I'm
the most popular kid in school,” or whatever. And then all of a sudden
that, you know, they notice that "Oh, people aren't relating to me , they're
relating to my role." Well that's false ego: that you identify with the role
that you play instead of who you really are, see?

Now we're very clear about that. My external role may be a spiritual
teacher, guru or whatever. But who I really am is quite different: I'm just a
little boy who lives in the jungle with my Lion. I mean, try to understand ,
that's who I really am. And I’m just playing this role to give service and
pleasure to the devotees. That's all. It's just temporary; it'll be over soon,
enjoy it while it lasts: “The Bābājī show.” So we're very clear on this, that
this is just a temporary role, a temporary identity ; it's just a play. It's just
an act on a stage. "All the world's a stage, and all the people are actors
thereupon," as Shakespeare's Hamlet put it. So that's not a bad thing ; that's
just the way it is.

It's not even that we have to completely get rid of all false ego , but that
even our false ego has to be in relation to Kṛṣṇa. Our false ego even has to
be engaged positively in Kṛṣṇa's service, and the service to His devotees.
Then we have no cause of suffering. Because even when things don't work
out on the material level, "Hey it's not happening to me, it's just my false
ego." So there are no big problems, no big consequences in this material
world. Most of our suffering is self-created, due to a false expectations
based on false ego, false identity, because we think we are “THE big
mucka-muck of the Esoteric Teaching saṅga” or something like that. Then
we have all these expectations of how people are supposed to treat us and
how Kṛṣṇa is supposed to treat us and things that are supposed to happen
and blah, blah, blah—and if they don't come out just the way we want,
then "Oh it's a big problem!" But it's always going to be a big problem
because it's all just false ego , it's just a role.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 197
So try to understand, the conditions that we create in the esoteric school
are such that help us to approach Kṛṣṇa so that He can reveal the mystery
of actual existence, actual life. But all this that we see with our senses is
unreal. It's phony; it's false. It's just the set. It's just the set and we play this
role, we come out and dance and sing on the stage, and then we go off and
we are who we really are. The thing is, most people have no knowledge of
who they really are; no knowledge at all. So they're always caught by
surprise when the lights go out and the play is over, "Huh? What? You
mean I have to... what? But, but, but that's me!" No, it's not you. That's
just a role that you play temporarily in the world. So you have to adjust
your role to be in harmony with your real identity, your real self; and your
real self is you're an eternal devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Your real activity is to offer
continuous, unmotivated and positive service and love to Kṛṣṇa. And
when you do that, then everything comes into line, everything comes into
focus. It's all clear, there are no doubts anymore, no worries. And that's
really the bulk of our problems, the bulk of our suffering, you know?

Unless we can come up with a solution to this problem of identity and

desire, then there seems to be no end to suffering—and this is actually
much more debilitating, much more depressing, than the suffering itself.
There's always going to be pain in this world. Pain is required, but
suffering is optional. You know, like if I bump up against something and
cut my arm; it will hurt a little bit, but as long as I realize that "Oh, it will
heal in a few days and everything will be all right," then I'm not suffering.
But if I get all upset about it [makes a worried face] "Oh my arm! Ah!"
And I go make a big drama over it, then I create more suffering and
anxiety for myself and everyone around me. Most of our suffering is
simply play-acting around the necessary pain of winter and summer
seasons, of loss and gain, victory and defeat; all the things that happen
because of the constant churning of the qualities of material nature:
goodness, passion, and ignorance. These things are going to happen. Just
like, now it's becoming winter here in India, it's getting cool. So in the
morning sometimes the shower is a little bit brisk. That doesn't mean that
we don't take shower. No we still take bath, like usual; we just tolerate it

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because we realize "Oh, it's just temporary," and by February or March
then it'll be steaming hot again, and the shower will seem like a relief—
ahhh!—like when we first got here. So knowing that the suffering is only
temporary takes a huge load of anxiety off your mind. If you realize there's
actually an end to this: “It won’t be like this forever, there will be a time
when I go back to Kṛṣṇa and everything is bliss.” And that time , that
consciousness can be within reach; all you have to do is to completely
surrender and come to the platform of pure bhakti, uttama-bhakti; and
that's the subject of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . That's why this verse defines
uttama-bhakti so carefully: from every angle, from every direction. So I
will read it one more time:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

“The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions

directed towards Kṛṣṇa , His expansion forms or others related to Him ,
with a pleasing attitude towards Kṛṣṇa. It should be devoid of desires
other than the desire to please the Lord, and unobstructed by impersonal
jñāna, the materialistic rituals of karma or other unfavorable acts.” [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

Now, is that a lot clearer? That’s what we're talking about here. We're
talking about uttama-bhakti. And if you can attain this platform of uttama-
bhakti, then all suffering is finished. Pain may still be there, but there
won't be any more suffering. Try to run that through your computer and
get the conclusion. That's what this is about. And yes , it's a mystery; it's a
mystery because it cannot be understood through material logic or
ordinary religious activities , or philosophy, or anything material. You
simply have to experience it. That's what a mystery school is ; that's what
an esoteric school is. To be accepted in the esoteric school you have to
pass a certain test; and our test is four regulative principles and sixteen
rounds.

And the fifth regulative principle: truthfulness. So if you're sincere and if

you're willing to be a little austere, and have some interest in bhakti then

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 199
you can understand this. You can understand it; it's not beyond you at all
because you're a spirit soul, and it's in our nature to be in a transcendental
love relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That's who we really are. So how do you
discover this; how do you understand this? You have to practice this
method, this mystical method: chanting the Holy Name, and service and
so on. And by this mystical method, somehow or other—of course we've
explained the somehow-or-other part a million times—but somehow or
other Kṛṣṇa reveals Himself to you, and when that happens then that's it,
all suffering is over. So you can do this; and if you do it, you will find
everything we're saying is true. You have to perform the experiment to
find out. There's no other way. Because I can talk very logically about it,
and then somebody else can come along and talk very logically and
disprove it all; so where's that at? It means that the only actual proof is in
the personal experience of bhakti itself. Then you can know; otherwise
you can never really know whether this is true or not. So come and
experience and find out for yourself. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 200
 Chapter 8: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11-12
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 3, 2009

This kīrtana-rasa is pure bliss. It's pure bhakti. It has nothing to do with
the material world. It's totally on another level of reality; a transcendental
reality that doesn't touch this material world at all. It's entirely separate
from this material world; and when we engage in this kīrtana-rasa—and
you shouldn't just hear it, you should actually engage in it, participate in it
—then you find that you are actually taken out of material world, and you
go into this parallel dimension where everything is just beauty and wonder
and love; and there's nothing else. So Prabhupāda said "This kīrtana-rasa
is the safest place to be in the world." Like in 2012, if the earth's rotation
stops and the oceans come washing over continents or whatever, "Hey just
get out the instruments, Haribol!" Or whatever happens—it doesn't matter
what happens, that's the whole point. If we're in this nice kīrtana mood,
then we'll be safe no matter what happens.

We're going to be doing a lot more of this style of kīrtana, very elevated
and sweet. I've been waiting for this for so long, you can't imagine.
Everything up to now has just been the preparation, and this is the real
thing. So those of you who are joining us soon have a nice atmosphere to
look forward to. And of course we're going to keep studying Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu; that's become our guidebook to the transcendental
world. And last couple of days we were going through the eleventh verse:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

“The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions

directed towards Kṛṣṇa, His expansion forms or others related to Him,
with a pleasing attitude towards Kṛ ṣṇa. It should be devoid of desires
other than the desire to please the Lord, and unobstructed by impersonal
jñāna, the materialistic rituals of karma or other unfavorable acts.” [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

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Now there is an additional commentary on this verse by Viśvanātha
Cakravartī Ṭhākura, but it's so technical and the points that he makes are
so abstruse that I'm not sure what the value of them might be. I'll just read
it, and then if there are any questions, if it's too far out, then we'll just go
on to verse twelve; otherwise let's read what Viśvanātha Cakravartī
Ṭhākura has to say about verse eleven because it's a very important verse
in the Vaiṣṇava literature: the definition of pure bhakti. Our whole
program, our whole aim is pure bhakti, so we should know what it is from
the very beginning, so that we know what we're aiming for, what we're
trying to reach. So:

The active sense of the root śīl. (Remember we were talking about
anuśīlanam. Anuśīlanam means to serve without any interruption and
with devotion.) So the active sense of the root śīl is active cultivation
involving body, mind, and words. That's the pravṛtty-ātmikā. Pravṛtty-
ātmikā means 'the external or active sense of the word.' But there's
another sense of the word called nivṛtty-ātmikā. Nivṛtty-ātmikā means
‘that which has no action,’ or passive, or internal, or contemplative. The
inactive sense of the root śīl takes the form of cultivation which uses
emotions in the mind.

So bhakti is not just an external exercise of devotional service, but it's also
internal, with the heart: emotions. In Western ontology there's very little
information about emotions. But Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is like an
encyclopedia of emotions; there are thousands of emotions described in
this work, and it also gives a plan, or a root ontology of how emotions are
formed—transcendental emotions of course. We don't want to talk about
degenerate material emotions; we only want to talk about emotions in
relation with Kṛṣṇa, that's bhakti. So:

This cultivation uses the emotions of joy and sorrow in the mind.

Not only joy, also sorrow. And we'll see, by the end of the Southern
Ocean, how even emotions of sorrow can be used in service to the Lord;
and in fact, the bliss connected to those emotions is more powerful and
more tasty, and deeper and more satisfying than the emotions of so-called
joy. Actually all bhakti emotions are transcendental. We shouldn't bring

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 202
our material prejudices into the realm of bhakti, because they don't apply.
Just file that all away for now and try to understand this on a
transcendental platform. So:

It uses emotions of joy and also sorrow, prīti-viṣād-ātmikā.

So we had pravṛtty-ātmikā, active service; nivṛtty-ātmikā, contemplative

service; and now we have prīti-viṣād-ātmikā. Prīti means joy and viṣāda
means sorrow. Ātmikā means cultivation. Prīti-viṣād-ātmikā.

It also takes the form of the sthāyi-bhāva.

Sthāyi-bhāva means the principal emotion, or the principal mood of the

devotee in his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. The devotee's service relationship
with Kṛṣṇa can be in one of five principal moods: neutrality, servitorship,
friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. One of these five is the sthāyi-
bhāva of each and every devotee. So this cultivation of bhakti takes the
form of the sthāyi-bhāva on the levels of bhāva and prema. There's one
verse towards the end of this Eastern Ocean. This famous verse that we
quote over and over again:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-

saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā
tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt
tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ

athāsaktis tato bhāvas

tataḥ premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

"In the beginning one must have a prelimina ry desire for self-realization.
This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who
are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an
elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee
begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional
service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free
from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and
acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead,

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 203
 Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, which is matured in bhāva, or the preliminary stage of
transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called prema, the
highest perfectional stage of life." [ Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-
līlā 23.14-15]

So after anartha-nivṛtti, after all the material conceptions are removed

from the mind, then one can go forward into the higher stages of bhāva
and prema. In those stages:

The cultivation of bhakti takes the form of the sthāyi-bhāva on the levels
of bhāva and prema, which will be explained later. What is indicated by
the words seva-nāma-aparādham udbhavā karita is a negative form of
cultivation: abhāva-rūpa, avoidance to the offense to the Name and the
Deity.

Everything that we've explained so far is a positive means of cultivation,

but there's also a negative means of cultivation which involves avoiding
the offenses. This language is very technical and very difficult, but it
actually means something very simple: that we do these positive things
with the mind, body, words, our emotions—spiritual emotions—and we
also avoid certain things that are displeasing to Kṛṣṇa. The definition of
ānukūlya, as pleasing for Kṛṣṇa, in this verse,

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ: now he will talk about ānukūlyena

kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ for a while. We already talked about śīlanam. Śīlanam
means this service which is performed by both positive and negative
means, by both active and passive means, by external and internal means,
in fact, any means whatsoever. We offer these things to Kṛṣṇa and that's
our devotional service. But now he's saying:

The definition of ānukūlya as pleasing for Kṛṣṇa...

In the translation:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 204
m

"It should be devoid of desires other than the desire to please the Lord."
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

He's simply saying that specifying that the desires should be pleasing for
Kṛṣṇa is too limiting; it's both too extensive and too limiting.

For example, the action, anuśīlanam, for a demon attacking Kṛṣṇa, is the
rasa of fighting: yuddha-vīrya-rasa , derived from the utsāha-rati from
Kṛṣṇa's perspective. Utsāha means fighting. It is pleasing for Him since
He takes pleasure in fighting with them. Yuddha-vīra-rasa is expressed
in the following verse:

patiṁ prayāntaṁ subalasya putrī

pati-vratā cānujagāma sādhvī
himālayaṁ nyasta-daṇḍa-praharṣaṁ
manasvinām iva sat-samprahāraḥ

"The gentle and chaste Gāndhārī, who was the daughter of King
Subala of Kandahar [or Gāndhāra], followed her husband, seeing that
he was going to the Himālaya Mountains, which are the delight of
those who have accepted the staff of the renounced order like fighters
who have accepted a good lashing from the enemy." [ Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 1.13.30]

Again, an illustration of the definition being too limited, if ānukūlya,

means pleasing to Kṛṣṇa, is given. This verse is meant to illustrate
yuddha-vīra-rasa. Yuddha means fighting, vīra means heroism, and of
course rasa means emotional relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra was the father of Duryodhana, the enemy of Yudhiṣṭhira and

Arjuna. And of course he was defeated in the battle of Kurukṣetra. So
even though he was defeated, he kept his mood of heroism, vīra, and
instead of accepting the hospitality of Yudhiṣṭhira and his brothers, who
were actually his lifelong enemies, he took the renounced order and went
to the Himālayas and there left his body under spiritual discipline and
vows. So this indicates that he was still in the mood of vīra-rasa, yudha-
vīra, fighting and heroism. What does a person do when they're defeated
by the material energy? If they have any intelligence, they engage in

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spiritual life. They surrender to Kṛṣṇa: "OK Kṛṣṇa, I can't master Your
external material energy, so I'm gonna take the renounced order of life and
enter the discipline of spiritual life." Another example is given:

When Yaśodā left Kṛṣṇa and went to take the milk off the fire, Kṛṣṇa
was not pleased.

Thus, if we took this definition too strictly, Yaśodā's action would not be
accepted as devotional service. The following example is given:

sañjāta-kopaḥ sphuritāruṇādharaṁ
sandaśya dadbhir dadhi-mantha-bhājanam
bhittvā mṛṣāśrur dṛṣad-aśmanā raho
jaghāsa haiyaṅgavam antaraṁ gataḥ

"Being very angry and biting His reddish lips with His teeth, Kṛ ṣṇa, with
false tears in His eyes, broke the container of yogurt with a piece of
stone. Then He entered a room and began to eat the freshly churned
butter in a solitary place." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.9.6]

So Kṛṣṇa was not pleased. In fact, He threw a temper tantrum. But was
Yaśodā's action devotional service? Well, of course it was; because she
performed the action with the intention to give pleasure to Kṛṣṇa.

So in order to prevent the definition from being too extensive—the first

case, talking about Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī, would we accept that as
devotional service, their activities?

Even though it's part of the fighting that Kṛṣṇa enjoyed so much, Kṛṣṇa
has setup that whole situation so that He could fight and defeat the
enemies of Yudhiṣṭhira? Or is the definition too limiting, as in the second
case, where Yaśodā's devotional service would be excluded because Kṛṣṇa
didn't like what she did?

The definition of ānukūlyena should be explained as devoid of hostility

on the part of the performer. This would exclude the demons, since they
have hostility in the form of hatred for Kṛṣṇa. But this definition will
also not exclude Yaśodā because she does not have hostility towards
Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, let bhakti be defined in terms of ānukūlya, "a friendly

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 attitude directed to Kṛṣṇa." The word anuśīlanam, which is modified by
ānukūlya, is thus unnecessary because bhakti can be defined merely as a
favorable attitude to Kṛṣṇa.

Now this is considered an objection. See I told you this commentary was
subtle:

This objection is rejected since even a pot is devoid of hostility to Kṛṣṇa

and is therefore pleasing to Him. [to Devotees] What? But it cannot be
described as having bhakti. [laughs] Therefore, the world anuśīlanam is
also necessary.

In other words, anuśīlanam—meaning constant, devoted service to the

Lord—is necessary, not just ānukūlya. Ānukūlya means without any
hostility, without any bad attitude; but anuśīlanam means "and with
constant devoted service."

In order to define the highest bhakti, uttama-bhakti, two further

descriptive phrases are added. What type of anuśīlanam is this? It should
be devoid of desires for obtaining results other than bhakti.

smarantaḥ smārayantaś ca
mitho 'ghaugha-haraṁ harim
bhaktyā sañjātayā bhaktyā
bibhraty utpulakāṁ tanum

"The devotee who remembers and induces other to remember the

Lord, who takes away heaps of sin, develops symptoms like hairs
standing on end by bhakti which has sprung from bhakti." [Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 11.3.31]

Very nice verse. It's spoken by the seven great sages who came to visit
King Yudhiṣṭhira. In other words, bhakti has no other cause than bhakti.
It's on the transcendental platform. Don't think that "Because I went to this
website, because I read this book, because I did this, or I did that or gave
money or something or other, therefore I got some bhakti, some taste for
bhakti." No, no: if you have some taste for bhakti, it has come only from
bhakti itself. The taste of pure bhakti is proper to pure bhakti alone. And
these other attitudes, or other actions or other cultivations, they may

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support and help the entrance into bhakti, but once you're on the actual
platform of bhakti, bhakti alone is sufficient to support itself. So anyway:

Bhakti which aims at achieving bhakti, is proper. And bhakti which aims
at achieving other goals is improper. In the verse, the phrase
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ has been used. This means "devoid of other
desires which are as deep-rooted as one’s nature." In death-threatening
situations, a devotee may say, "O Lord, please save me. Save me—your
devotee—now from this danger." Because it is a sudden, temporary,
desire, it is not harmful to his bhakti. That is because this desire arises
beyond his control, opposite to his devotional nature.

The desire is not his nature, see? He's not purposely cultivating this desire:
"O Kṛṣṇa, save me. O Kṛṣṇa, please give me something to eat. O Kṛṣṇa,
please take care of my rent this month." He's not cultivating these kind of
desires. In fact, the devotee should cultivate this mood of desirelessness
where: "Kṛṣṇa, I'm just doing this devotional service to gain a deeper
realization of bhakti. Now, You can take care of me, or not, as You wish."
But trusting that Kṛṣṇa is going to take care. Trusting that Kṛṣṇa’s
unlimited resources and power can easily take care of His devotees. So we
should trust Kṛṣṇa, and simply do our devotional service for the purpose
of increasing our devotional service. The cause of bhakti is bhakti. The
aim of bhakti is also bhakti. Both cause and result are nothing but bhakti.
Don't try to get anything else out of bhakti. Don't try to improve your
material situation through bhakti; it won’t work. It will backfire, because
you will wind up performing offenses when, at some point, you have to
choose between bhakti and your material desires. I've seen this happen
hundreds, if not thousands of times with my Godbrothers, that they were
entering into bhakti with some material desire—let's say a desire for fame
or power or wealth, or some kind of designation or position. And then in
the heat of the moment, when it came right down to it, and they had to
choose between their desire for themselves and the desire to please Kṛṣṇa,
they chose themselves. And then they lost their taste for bhakti and
gradually fell down. I've seen this happen so many times; don't make this
mistake. That's why we're concentrating on this philosophy of pure bhakti,
and we will make this our permanent platform; and if somebody can

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appreciate it, if someone has a taste for it, they can come and join us on
this pure bhakti platform. Otherwise we specifically reject mixed
devotional service. If you want to practice mixed devotional service at
home, that's alright; but not when you come in our association, because in
our association we practice only pure devotional service. This is a very
important point: don't try to mix material activities and bhakti. They don't
mix. They don't mix, and sooner or later they will cause problems in your
devotional service. So:

How is anuśīlanam further described? The verse states specifically that:

"it is not covered by jñāna or karma or other items."

jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11 ]

Jñāna means inquiry about the undifferentiated Brahman, not inquiry

about the worshipable Lord; but knowledge of the Lord is necessary for
bhakti.

Does that mean that we don't study the scriptures? No, it means we study
the scriptures with the aim of getting knowledge about the Lord. This
refers to our intention, our aim. We should not study the scriptures just for
the sake of learning, knowledge, or speculation, philosophical speculation,
or to have a fresh supply of quotations we can use to beat somebody down
in an argument. There are all kinds of reasons for studying the scriptures,
but the only valid one in the course of bhakti is to learn more about Kṛṣṇa,
the object of bhakti.

And karma refers to the daily and periodic duties enjoined by the smṛti
scriptures—not to services, not to services, devotional services offered
to the Lord, for devotional activities are anuśīlanam.

And karma, by definition, is not anuśīlanam because it's neither constant

nor devoted. We discussed last time how people who are engaged in
material activities of karma can do them for a while, then they have to
leave them aside and go do something else. They can't perform continuous
karma activities. And neither are they doing those activities out of
devotion or pure love. No, they're doing it to benefit themselves. So in

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both instances, these karma activities do not fit the definition of
anuśīlanam. So:

But devotional activities are anuśīlanam. The word ādi, in jñāna-

karmādy-anāvṛtam, which means jñāna, karma, and other things. The
word ādi indicates engaging in sacrifices, renunciation, yoga, sāṅkhya
philosophy, and other such items. These items should not cover
anuśīlanam. (By cover, in this case, means obscure.) The word śūnya,
devoid, is not used in the second descriptive phrase as it was in the first,
namely anyābhilāṣā-śūnyaṁ . The intention of using anāvṛtam instead of
śūnyam is to forbid only those types of jñāna and karma which conceal
bhakti...

So there is a type of karma-yoga, which is described in Bhagavad-gītā,

third and especially the fifth chapter, where one offers the result of his
work to the Lord, and that is not obscuring bhakti, that's a necessary
preliminary for bhakti; in fact, it's one of the best ways to enter into
bhakti, by being a congregational member of an assembly of pure
devotees, and offering the results of one's work for the benefit of the pure
devotees for their preaching and other activities. And this will actually
remove all the karmic results of your past previous karmic activities, and
purify you to the extent where you can also come to the platform of pure
bhakti. And we also mentioned about studying the scriptures, jñāna.
Jñāna, when used for learning about the Lord through the bhakti
scriptures, is the proper use of jñāna. So:

The intention of using anāvṛtam is for forbidding the types of karma

which conceal bhakti. Performing nitya-karmas, daily duties, with faith,
out of fear of sin if one does not perform them, under the authority of
Vedic rules, is a covering on bhakti.

Because instead of performing these pious activities out of love for Kṛṣṇa,
one is doing it out of fear: "Oh if I mess up, if I don't do my duties, then
I’ll be punished." "If I don't follow all these rules and regulations and
some, I'll go to hell." "And I won't get the reward of going to heavenly
planets or whatever." So one is performing these material religious
activities out of desire and fear. That's not love; but bhakti is simply love.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 210
 These kind of activities are a covering on bhakti. As well, performing
them with faith that they will produce bhakti in the future is also a
covering on bhakti.

In other words, "Now I'm doing this karmic ritual, inviting the Māyāvādī
brāhmaṇas to my house and they're doing all these prayers, so in the
future I may enter bhakti." No, no, no. Remember, the cause of bhakti is
bhakti, the result of bhakti is bhakti. So if you want bhakti, do bhakti.
Don't do these other rituals or other practices, or stand on your head, some
TM or some other thing. No, no. I mean, if you absolutely must deal with
some difficult material situation we already have a method for that: the
Viṣṇusahasranāma . Please chant Viṣṇusahasranāma, and this will help
your material situation and at the same time establish you in bhakti.

A great devotee is not excluded from pure bhakti by performing śraddha

to the pitās, if it is done without faith in their absolute nature just to
teach the common people.

In other words, there may be certain—in the West it's hardly there, but in
India, for example—this business of offering śraddha to the soul of the
departed relative is very common, very widespread. And one is considered
to be very offensive and irreverent if you don't do it. And similarly there
are many duties, for example, that must be performed by kings or priests
or other members of Vedic society at certain times of the year and so on,
otherwise they would be considered fallen. So a devotee—even though he
doesn't really believe in those activities—should do them just to instruct
the people in general to perform pious activities. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-
gītā:

"The wise do not unsettle the minds of the ignorant, even though their
duties are inferior." [Bhagavad-gītā 3.29]

So, in other words, we shouldn't go walking down the street saying "Well,
I'm a devotee, I can do anything I want," violating all the principles of
society; no, that's not a very nice attitude. A devotee should always have a
positive attitude towards other spiritual and religious practices. We don't

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want to go around telling everybody that they're wrong, and they don't
know what they're taking about and getting into useless arguments,
because there's a reason why those people are stuck in those practices. The
reason has to do with their previous activities and the karma resulting
from them. So we have to accept the laws of the Lord that limit the
activities of people with karmic reactions. It's just like the reason we don't
get involved in politics. Yes, there's a lot of things we could say about the
current political situation and the different leaders; but those leaders are
put there by the Lord in response to the karmic situation of the people in
general. And our experience is that, even though these things are going on,
somehow or other they don't touch us. We're like exempt from that group
karma, we've checked out. As Kṛṣṇa says:

"The devotee is not affected by the usual course of activities."

[Bhagavad-gītā 12.16]

And we've experienced that to be true. We are not following the normal
course of activities and therefore we're not affected by those typical rules.

"Devotees are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food
which is offered to Kṛṣṇa in sacrifice." [ Bhagavad-gītā 3.13]

And their other activities also release them from so many restrictions and
other things that souls who are not engaged in bhakti have to follow. But
that doesn't meant that we should say to everybody, "Oh, you have to just
drop everything and become a devotee." They can't do it. It's not going to
happen. Because the Lord does not violate His own laws, His own
principles. He won’t take somebody out of their karmic situation unless
they desire it. They themselves have to desire bhakti. We can give them
nice impressions of bhakti, that's the best thing we can do for them.
Because then in the future they'll be able to rise above their karmic
situation by the results of bhakti, huh? The cause of bhakti is bhakti. The
result of bhakti is bhakti. So by having a good feeling toward the devotees,
people will gain more advancement than if we try to get down in the

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trenches and argue our philosophy and all that. So the best presentation is
simple and very positive.

yathā śrī-nārada-pañcarātre
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate

"Thus, the Nārada-pañcarātra says: 'Bhakti is defined as service to the

Lord using the senses. It should be done with the intention of pleasing
the Lord, free from other desires, and unobstructed by other processes.'"
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.12]

This verse is very frequently quoted by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Jīva Gosvāmī's

commentary:

In this verse, tat-paratvena, meaning “with devotion to Him, taking Him

as the highest object” is the equivalent of ānukūlyena in the previous
verse.

Ānukūlyena means pleasing for Kṛṣṇa or with a positive attitude toward

Kṛṣṇa.

Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ , “devoid of all conditions” is equivalent to

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ, devoid of all other different processes. Sevanaṁ
is the equivalent of anuśīlanam. Nirmalam, without blemish, is the
equivalent to jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam . So these two verses are exactly
equivalent. The superior nature of this bhakti, uttamatvam, is understood
by its very nature and thus, not stated in words.

Nārada, of course, is one of the great authorities, the mahājanas, the great
bhakti authorities in the universe. There are twelve of them and Nārada,
his engagement is traveling everywhere. He has this transcendental vīṇā,
similar to our tānpura, and simply by playing this and chanting the name
of the Lord, he can travel anywhere. He's like a transcendental spaceman,
and he's a very far-out character: he's always ecstatic, he's always
chanting, and he's always engaged and involved in the Lord's pastimes.
He's sort of like Mercury, the messenger of the gods. He travels here and
there and gives different messages to different people to facilitate the
Lord's pastimes. He's very cool. So he is giving his definition of bhakti in

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Nārada-pancaratra . Pañcarātra is a guide to spiritual activities.
Pañcāratika-vidhi, means the knowledge by which one worships the Lord
with the five senses, pañca. Pañca-āratika, like ārati. And we see in the
ārati ceremony, also, that all the senses are there, all the objects of the
senses, rather, are offered to the Lord. Nice scents, a lamp (a light), and
water, a flower, fan, everything is there; and before the ārati ceremony, it’s
customary to offer food. So everything is there: earth, fire, water, air. And
we offer the Lord's energies back to Him in the ārati ceremony, and then
these five senses or sense objects are offered to the Lord in the process of
bhakti, see? So he says here:

Bhakti is defined as service to the Lord using the senses.

So we offer the senses and the sense objects back to their source, which is
Kṛṣṇa. Just like when you worship the Ganges river; you go in the river,
and then you take the water from the river and offer it back into the river
itself. So in the same way we take the different energies and elements
coming from Kṛṣṇa and we offer them back to Kṛṣṇa, and we also offer
our personal bodily senses back to Kṛṣṇa in the form of devotional
activities: smelling the incense of the Lord, hearing the Lord's Name,
chanting, thinking about Kṛṣṇa, and then doing all kind of active service
around the temple. And we will get into detailed descriptions of all the
different modes of devotional service to the Lord. That's one thing that this
book, Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is all about. In the beginning it talks
about all the practical arrangements that we need to serve the Lord very
nicely, and then gradually it goes to higher and higher and higher levels,
talking about the different emotional states and so on, which are actually
the majority of the service. Like Jesus says,

"When you go to the temple to make an offering, first clear all of your
accounts. Forgive everybody, like don't go to the temple with any anger
towards anybody, with any outstanding debts in your heart, emotional
debts. Resolve everything and go into the temple completely available to
the Lord."

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Don't be thinking about what happened yesterday or what you're planning
to do tomorrow, but just be here now! Remember that book? Actually he
has a point there; and the point is that most of the time, most of us go
around desiring things for the future and lamenting about the past. And we
swing back and forth, the mind goes back and forth between hope and
desire, and despair and lamentation, and what kind of nonsense is this?
You don't want to approach the Supreme Lord, who's the source of
everything, and loves you unconditionally and can give you anything you
want, while grumbling and muttering to yourself about all these things;
this is really nonsense. Your heart should be clean, your mind should be
pure. Your attention should be focused on the moment. You're approaching
God, after all. And whenever you chant the Holy Name, the same thing:
you should be very clean, very pure, focused, not rushed, not at all under
stress, or angry or upset. In fact, there's a nice śloka that says:

"How can the Lord appear in a heart which is contaminated by lust,

anger, greed, or lamentation?" [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.115]

How can He appear? The Lord doesn't go anyplace that's not pure. So how
is the Lord going to appear in your heart if your heart is not pure? This is
the first prerequisite for bhakti, the heart must be pure:

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ

"Clean the mirror of the heart with the Holy Name." [ Śrī Caitanya-
caritāmṛta Antya-līlā 20.12]

So in one sense, the process for cleaning the heart is chanting; but in
another sense, in order to chant without offenses, we have to clean the
heart somewhat first. We should approach the Lord with a clean heart, a
pure mind. This is very, very important. Otherwise our attention will be all
over the universe, and we're certainly going to make an offense. And if we
do that, then the result of our chanting is going to be delayed. Because
remember, the result of bhakti is only bhakti. Don't chant to get out of
some material situation or get into some material situation, or for any
other reason other than you want to improve your bhakti, you want to

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increase your devotion. Now it's an interesting fact that increasing
devotion doesn't necessarily mean that we do more service. But what it
means is that the service we do is of a higher quality; it's purer, it's without
offense. We'll go over all the offenses that you can commit in devotional
service and how to avoid them as part of this series. But the most
important thing is that you are present and available for Kṛṣṇa. You want
to engage with Kṛṣṇa, you want to meet Kṛṣṇa; so don't be distracted
thinking of all these other things. Just be there with Kṛṣṇa, hang out with
the Holy Name, and gradually Kṛṣṇa will reveal Himself through the
transcendental sound vibration.

Uddhava dāsa: We have a question in regards to what we're doing right

now, the technical part of studying scriptures. Technically speaking, would
this be considered also bhakti, or is this like an overview of what bhakti is
so that we can engage later on?

Bābājī: Oh no, this study itself is bhakti. These scriptures don't have any
application except in bhakti. They don't have any karma-kāṇḍa rituals,
they don't have any jñāna-kāṇḍa philosophical speculation—they preach
against that, in fact. There's going to be a whole long section with many,
many, many, many quotations, for example, why the devotees aren't
interested in liberation. So what to speak of ordinary fruitive activities;
devotees don't even care about liberation! Studying this specifically, the
bhakti scriptures—Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , the Caitanya-
caritāmṛta, and even Vedanta-Sutra and to certain extent Mahābhārata,
Rāmāyaṇa, Caitanya-bhāgavata and anything written by the Six
Gosvamīs of Vrindavan—these are all considered bhakti-śāstra or rasa-
śastra, because they aim at reestablishing our original ecstatic
transcendental relationship with the Lord. But in Mahābhārata there's a
little bit of contamination of karma-kāṇḍa, a little bit of aiming for the
heavenly planets and stuff like that. So it's mixed devotional service, but
these other scriptures that I just named give pure devotional service; and if
we study them, there's no other result other than engaging in devotional
service. So that's the test. If by studying this book, is the result only

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bhakti? Then, yes, it's a bhakti scripture. In Viṣṇusahasranāma, even
though it gives some material benefits, the ultimate result is bhakti. And of
course, Viṣṇusahasranāma is also a part of Mahābhārata, it comes from
Mahābhārata, so one would expect that. But, for example, Śrī
Nṛsiṁhasahasranāma has no material benefit; all its benefits are pure
bhakti; it's not recommended for people who want anything from this
world, but rather who want protection from the material energy so they
can get on with their devotional service, see? So processes like the
Nārāyana-kavaca, the meditations before serving the Lord, where you do
ācamana and bhūtā-śuddhi and all those things, those are considered
bhakti, even though people who perform material karma rituals also use
those practices; we're using them specifically to perform bhakti service, so
therefore, they're transcendental.

Uddhava dāsa: I've seen another phenomenon that’s kind of strange, that
some authors of these books, these bhakti books, translators of the Six
Gosvāmī, after all that work, they're still in this religion mood and power
and all that stuff, so it's kind of difficult to understand why they fall into
that; and do you see any reflection, for example, in this particular case of
being too dry?

Bābājī: Yes, I do. As I was typing in the verses I noticed the influence of
too much scholarship, too much jñāna, is that some of the verses came out
very, very dry. And some of his translations differ significantly from Śrīla
Prabhupāda's in spots, and so I tried to correct those, although I don't
really have time to make detailed study of it, we'll try to correct those as
we go through the book. I think it's because of his association. Uddhava is
talking about the translator of this edition of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu ,
who's my Godbrother, Bhanu Svamī. And he's the head of the temple up in
Chennai. And just to give you an idea of his attitude, I wrote him saying
that, "This is a very nice contribution to the bhakti literature, and that I
have also done a commentary on Vedānta-sūtra, so I can really appreciate
the amount of work that goes into it," like that. And so he wrote back with
one word, "Haribol!" [scratches head with right hand] Well, it seems a bit

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brusque, to put it nicely. Rude, actually. So this kind of attitude is very
political attitude, "Oh, I'm president of a bigger temple than you are." We
don't appreciate this very much. Certainly if I was contacted by someone
who had attempted to write books about bhakti, even if they were
imperfect or whatever, at least I would encourage them for trying. We
want to see more people writing books on bhakti, but he was replying as if
I was a competitor; as if I didn't deserve the time of day, and the implied
judgment is not too palatable.

So what we want to see, of course, in people who write bhakti literature is

that they also are in bhakti mood, that's the best thing. But, sometimes we
have to accept translations from people who are in a more scholarly mood,
more jñāna mood, and then we have to apply some corrective
interpretation to bring them into the proper mood. And this mood is
described here, that none of these other processes of karma or jñāna or
yoga, or any of these things will cover the pure bhakti. And he has allowed
his taste for jñāna to cover the meaning or the mood of pure bhakti in
many cases. So we're going to have to correct for that as we go through
the translations. But that's alright, we have plenty of time, we're only
doing one or two or three a day, so it's not like we're trying to read this
thing like a novel. We want to study it scrutinizingly, get back to the
original Sanskrit and the original intention of Rūpa Gosvāmī. That way
we'll be safe; we'll be in bhakti land, on the bhakti platform.

Uddhava dāsa: Another question that I have is, is there any limit to how
scrutinizingly we can study? I was just reading in the Caitanya-
caritāmṛta, where Lord Caitanya explained what you have said, that every
verse is a whole ocean, and every word is like, is basically never-ending
scrutinizingly.

Bābājī: There's no limit. You can go down to the meaning of every letter
of every word.

Uddhava dāsa: That seems to me, like practically speaking, there must be
a limit or something in terms of time and...

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Bābājī: Well the human life is maximum one hundred years long, so we
do want to get through the book to find out how it ends. I know how it
ends, but I don't want to spoil it for you. So we want to take it at a pace
that's not too fast and not too slow. When it's needed, we can go down to a
very, very detailed level and look at all the word roots and stuff like that.
There's certain very important verses—this eleventh verse in particular—
the reason why they're scrutinizing it so deeply is because it's a very, very
important verse, a pivotally important verse, because it's what
distinguishes our particular lineage from all the other lineages that accept
mixed devotional service. A lineage that claims to be descended from a
certain teacher, but actually does not follow that teacher's philosophy is
called an apasampradāya. Just like sampradāya is a lineage that's properly
situated; a lineage that claims to follow Lord Caitanya, but actually doesn't
follow His principles or His teaching is called an apasampradāya. And in
one of the commentaries on Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur
describes thirteen apasampradāyas of Lord Caitanya: Bāulas, Āulas,
Kārta-bhājyas, Gaurāṅga-nāgarīs, and so many others. They all have a
particular name and particular philosophy. So there are many groups of so-
called devotees who don't actually follow the philosophy of Lord
Caitanya,. They get hung up on vaidhī-bhakti, or mixed devotional
service, or jñāna, or karma, or something other than pure bhakti. There's
even a group that claims to teach pure bhakti, they claim that they're
teaching rāgānuga-bhakti, but what they do is they make up all these
rules about how you're supposed to feel! "When you're offering the
prasādam, when you take the spoon you're supposed to feel this way, and
then when you take this other thing then you're supposed to feel that way,
and when you take the plate and put it on the altar you're supposed to say
this mantra, and that mantra, and this other mantra." There's more rules
than even regular vaidhī-bhakti! So what's spontaneous about that?

Uddhava dāsa: Spontaneous rasābhāsa we call it.

Bābājī: Exactly. So, that's not a very good quality. These are called
apasampradāyas. Apasampradāyas are very dangerous because it's like a

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mislabeled product. You go to the store and you buy a bottle that says
“olive oil” but actually inside is motor oil. And if you try use it as olive oil
it'll be a disaster. So there are so many groups that are saying "Oh, we
teach bhakti, and we're following Lord Caitanya!" But they don't actually
follow Lord Caitanya. They give some different conclusion or some
different process. If you want to know what Lord Caitanya taught, look at
His life. What did He do? Yes, He went through a period of intense Vedic
study where he learned so many scriptures and defeated so many scholars,
but then, as soon as He came to the bhakti platform, His practice was pure
spontaneous bhakti based on this chanting of the Holy Name, saṅkīrtana.
And He had all these wonderful artists who helped Him in his chanting
pastimes. It's not at all like the typical temple where there are like people
banging on the drums, “Haribol!” So we want to create a standard that's
actually descended from the original mood of Lord Caitanya. This fine
artistic sense of beauty and rasa which is coming from spontaneous love
of Kṛṣṇa, spontaneous attraction based on Kṛṣṇa's exalted qualities; so
we'll also spend quite a bit of time going over Kṛṣṇa's qualities. His sixty-
four qualities are defined in so much detail in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , I
mean, every one is given and then several examples from śāstra.

So we'll go into all these things, and study all of them at least to the level
of the verse, and sometimes to the individual words in the verse. For
certain verses it may be justifiable to go and like look up all the synonyms,
we'll have the unabridged Sanskrit dictionary here very soon, so we’ll be
able to look up the word roots in the dictionary.

Uddhava dāsa: At least we're trying, you know? Trying to get to this
level of artistic expression, even if we can't get there, but the intention.

Bābājī: Actually, to us our music, seems very nice, but to people who
actually know Indian classical music, what we're doing is very, very, very
simplistic; almost boring. But to us it's nice and sweet. And similarly the
dancing. I don't know if you any of you have been watched the dancing
videos we've been posting but, from the point of view of a professional

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dancer, we're just hopeless. But if you see the way other devotees are
approaching this, they're not trying to achieve any standard whatsoever. At
least we're accepting the standards, whatever standards are there, and
we've also ordered the Bhārata Nāṭya-śāstra so we can go back to the
source of many of these Vedic principles of dance, music, drama and so
forth.

So anyway, we're will do this research and try to understand the original
principles of rasa that the devotional service is based on. And even if we
fail, it's like Prabhupāda said, "Shooting the rhinoceros." If you attempt to
go hunting the rhinoceros, the rhinoceros is the most difficult animal to
hunt. You have to shoot exactly in the right place and it's very difficult,
and if you miss; uh-oh, well, bye. But if someone tries to hunt the
rhinoceros and they fail, then people will say "Well, at least they tried! It's
the most difficult thing, so if they fail well it's understandable." But if we
actually succeed, or even partially succeed, it'll be very wonderful. So far I
like what's happening; I'm feeling very good tonight. Tonight's kīrtana was
really up. It was floating, we got off, we got off the ground. It was very,
very wonderful, and it's just the beginning. I've ordered three more flutes.
So I hope that everybody continues to stay with us and go through this
great śāstra, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu .

Question from Chandramohan: "Please accept my humble praṇams."

The question is: "How an ordinary person can understand all these
scriptures whether it has done by a devotee or if it's done from an
apasampradāya person, and if he follows the wrong one, what happens to
his bhakti if he follows the apasampradāya?"

Bābājī: Well, how can it be the wrong one? Any of Śrīla Prabhupāda's
books or any of the books of the Six Gosvāmīs are authorized. Any of the
rasa-śāstras, certainly, are authorized. And unless someone did really a
terrible job of translation you would be able to get at least something. And
we always have Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-
caritāmṛta to go back to, see?

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 221
If I'm going through a translation by a scholar and he's not very
devotional, how do I know where he's off? Well, I go back to Śrīla
Prabhupāda's original books. I use those as my standard. And if anything
conflicts with Prabhupāda's original work, then it's wrong. And so what I
do in that situation, now I know the original scripture isn't wrong; so I dig
deeper, I get out the dictionary, I start looking up the words and I'll
retranslate it, or rewrite it, so that it is harmonious with Prabhupāda's
word. We can't be lazy. We can't expect someone to drop a prepackaged
solution in our lap and say "OK, that's it." No. We have to take the
responsibility for doing the research ourselves. We have to know the
conclusion of our sampradāya. We have to see when somebody is off, and
we have to know how to dig deep enough to find the actual truth; how to
extract that truth from the original texts. That's why I tell everybody, “You
have to learn Sanskrit.” If you don't, you will get cheated sooner or later.
Somebody with a big title after their name or a big position in some
organization will give you a line of nonsense, and if you don't have the
ability to go to the original source and see where they're off, then you may
accept the wrong instruction. And I can't do anything to protect you from
that, except to tell you, “You have to be able to think for yourself.” You
have to be able to go to the original authorities and extract the meaning by
the same process of scholarship that any good devotee scholar uses to
translate those scriptures. It's hard work, yes. It takes a lot of thought, and
a lot of experience as well. And you will go up wrong alleys sometimes.
But you can always tell because if you start to go up a wrong path, your
bhakti will lose its taste.

If you start to lose your taste for bhakti, you know you have to take
corrective action immediately. You have to find out what's wrong and fix
it. It could be something as simple as not taking care of your health. Or it
could be reading too many books, without having understood the
terminology in the basic books, like Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Not that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is basic; Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is very
elevated. But in all cases there's usually some simple remedy, and it
always goes back to careful study of the original sources. The knowledge

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we have is perfect; it comes from the perfect person, Bhagavān. And if
there has been some error in handing this knowledge down to us, then we
should take the responsibility for correcting it. Nobody will help us with
this; it's up to us. So we have to have the tools, we have to have the
abilities and the intentions also, the willingness to do the work to get the
correct teaching, then that will help us very much. That's why I encourage
all my devotees, all my students to accept only books that contain the
original text. Don't read books that don't have the original text, because
there's no way you can verify whether the translation is accurate.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 223
 Chapter 9: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.13-16
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 5, 2009

This song, Lālasāmayī Prārthanā, is very nice. Lālasāmayī means

longing. So he says:

'gaurāṅga' bolite habe pulaka -śarīra

'hari hari' bolite nayane ba' be nīra

"When will that opportune moment come, when there will be shivering
of my body as soon as I chant Lord Gaurāṅga's Name?" [ Lālasāmayī
Prārthanā 1]

Actually pulaka doesn't mean shivering; pulaka means goosebumps.

And after the shivering, while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, when will there be
tears pouring down from my eyes?" [ Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 1]

Now, we know that he's not just talking about some devotee, sometime,
somewhere, some unreachable unimaginable stage of devotional service;
he's talking about every devotee, every time they chant Gourāṅga's Name
or they chant Hari's Name. That every time we chant, we should be getting
ecstatic symptoms, sāttvika-bhāva. Sāttvika-bhāva are one of the five
ingredients of rasa; we know from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. If we're not
getting ecstatic symptoms, or feeling bliss while chanting, it means we're
not chanting with sufficient intensity, we're not chanting with total
attention. We have our attention divided among different things. So:

"When will that moment come when there'll be shivering or goosebumps

as soon as I chant Lord Gaurāṅga? And while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa,
when there be tears pouring down from my eyes?" [ Lālasāmayī
Prārthanā 1]

āra kabe nitāi-cānder koruṇā hoibe

saṁsāra-bāsanā mora kabe tuccha ha'be

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 "When will that day come when Lord Nityānanda's causeless mercy is
bestowed upon me, so that my desire for material enjoyment becomes
very insignificant?" [Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 2]

Yes, we're waiting for that day.

viṣaya chāriyā kabe śuddha ha'be mana

kabe hāma herabo śrī-bṛndābana

"When my mind is completely purified, being freed from material

anxieties and desires, then I shall be able to understand Vṛndāvan and
the conjugal love of Rādha and Kṛṣṇa, and then my spiritual life will be
successful." [Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 3]

So actually while chanting, while in kīrtana and like that, we should be

able to realize this state, where our mind is completely free from all
material anxieties and thoughts, and we're just completely absorbed in the
Holy Name. The Holy Name is so beautiful; it's so wonderful and ecstatic.
It has no material energy attached to it whatsoever, so we shouldn't be
thinking anything material while chanting.

rūpa-raghunātha-pade hoibe ākuti

kabe hāma bujhabo se jugala-pīriti

"When will I be very much eager to study the books left by the Six
Gosvāmīs?" [Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 4]

Meaning Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrīla Jīva

Gosvāmī, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha Dāsa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī
—the Six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvan.

kabe hāma bujhabo se jugala-pīriti

"One has to learn of the conjugal loving affairs of Rādhā -Kṛṣṇa through
the teachings of these Six Gosvamīs." [ Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 4]

Actually that's a fact; you can't learn the secrets of the conjugal love
affairs of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in any other way. We can read about them in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but it's stated in Caitanya-caritāmṛta that:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 225
 "When Kṛṣṇa came, the storehouse of love of God, He brought the
storehouse of love of God with Him, but it remained locked. And it
wasn't until Lord Caitanya came that He opened this storehouse, and
began to distribute its contents freely." [ Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā
7.20-21]

But he's distributing through His disciples : the Six Gosvāmīs. So we

should come to know these Six Gosvāmīs and their works. And that's why
we're studying Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

rūpa-raghunātha-pade rahu mora āśa

prārthanā koroye sadā narottama -dāsa

"Narottama dāsa always wishes to understand this conjugal love under

the direction of the Six Gosvāmīs." [ Lālasāmayī Prārthanā 5]

So that's the meaning of this wonderful song. These songs don't describe
some unattainable far-off state. They simply describe pure devotional
service, the normal condition of the spirit soul. And if one is not in the
normal condition, then he needs to take some medicine. And the medicine
is described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: the medicine is regulated
devotional service. Regulated devotional service is the beginning , and then
once one has recovered a little bit, then he can take the next stage of the
medicine, which is spontaneous devotional service, and then bhāva and
then prema. Prema is actually health; bhāva means almost healthy, almost
done, gives you release from the hospital , you can recover at home the rest
of the way. And then Prema means the healthy condition, normal
condition.

śrī-bhāgavatasya tṛtīya -skandhe ca [3.29.12-14]

ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame
sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-sārūpyaikatvam apy uta
dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti vinā mat-sevanaṁ janāḥ
sa eva bhakti-yogākhya ātyantika udāhṛtaḥ

This is also stated in the Third Canto [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.12-14]:

“These are the characteristics of transcendental loving service to
Puruṣottama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: it is without other
desires, and it is not contaminated by karma or jñāna. In this type of

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 226
 bhakti, My devotees do not accept sālokya, sārṣṭi, sārūpya, sāmipya or
oneness with Me—even if I offer these liberations—in preference to
serving Me. This is called bhakti-yoga, and is declared as the highest
object of human pursuit.” [ Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.13-15]

Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

In this verse, the word ahaituky (without cause) means anyābhilāṣitā-

śūnyaṁ.

Remember anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ from verse eleven? Let’s read that again:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

“The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions

directed towards Kṛṣṇa , His expansion forms or others related to Him ,
with a pleasing attitude towards Kṛṣṇa. It should be devoid of desires
other than the desire to please the Lord, and unobstructed by impersonal
jñāna, the materialistic rituals of karma or other unfavorable acts.” [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

So he's saying:

In this verse (that we just read), the word ahaituky, which means
‘without cause,’ means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ. And the word avyavahitā,
‘not separated,’ means jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: without any covering
of jñāna, karma, or other different paths. The bhakti mentioned here is
bhāva-rūpa-bhakti. This is because the previous lines of the
Bhāgavatam just before this verse, describe that one's desires flow to the
Lord like the Gaṅgā.

This describes the stage of bhāva-rūpa. Bhāva-rūpa-bhakti is all downhill.

When you get to bhāva-bhakti, you don't have to make an effort. Sādhana-
bhakti is all uphill: pushing, pushing, pushing. But when you get to the
stage of bhāva, that's the peak and then from then, it's all downhill. Just
like the Ganges flows into the ocean; the river automatically flows down
into the ocean. Similarly, the devotee’s heart flows naturally toward the
Lord in that state. So:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 227
 Its nature is being free from other desires, ahaituky, is illustrated with
the rejection of sālokya, and so on, in the verse. He says:

"My devotees do not accept sālokya, sārṣṭi, sārūpya, sāmipya or

oneness with Me." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.12-14]

These are the five kinds of liberation. The devotees don't accept these
kinds of liberation because the prefer service. They want service; they
don't want these other things.

The word yasyām, ‘in which type of bhakti,’ should be understood to

precede the statement of verse thirteen so that it's connected with the
previous sentence. And the word atyantika means the highest object of
human pursuit.

So this verse, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.11, is spoken by Lord Kapiladeva.

The Lord appeared in His form of Kapila as the son Devahuti, and He
gave the original theistic sāṅkhya philosophy. And in this sāṅkhya
philosophy, the ultimate aim is devotional service. Because even in the
course of discussing sāṅkhya, He's giving instructions on bhakti. And
these instructions are substantially identical to the standard of bhakti given
by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. It has to be pure; without any mixture of karma,
jñāna, or any other path.

Almost everyone who begins the process of devotional service is trying to

use it to solve their problem; they're trying to use it to meet their own
needs. But that's not the actual purpose of devotional service; the actual
purpose of devotional service is simply to please Kṛṣṇa. And when we
please Kṛṣṇa, all our own needs and problems are automatically solved.
That's the magic of devotional service. You don't even have to think about
it.

"The manifestation of unadulterated devotional service is exhibited

when one's mind is at once attracted to hearing the transcendental Name
and qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is residing in
everyone's heart." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.11]

So this is the same thing as the song is saying:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 228
 ‘gaurāṅga’ bolite habe pulaka-śarīra
‘hari hari’ bolite nayane ba’ be nīra

"As soon as I hear this chanting of the Lord's Name, I will become
ecstatic. I'm attracted, like iron filings to a magnet. I cannot stop my mind
from running towards this beautiful Personality of Godhead situated in the
core of my own heart." Actually most people are going outside, through
the senses, to the material world and they're trying to meet their various
needs and desires. They don't realize that the actual aim, or the actual
object, is inside, within their own heart: the Lord is there in the core of the
soul, and if we find Him, then all our problems, all our issues, all our
desires, everything is solved.

So our mind should be attracted, because He is the actual source of

everything that we seek when we try to solve our problems or satisfy our
desires. If you just think for a minute about any desire that you can have,
it’s actually for the Lord's energy. So the source of that thing, whatever
you're looking for, is right there in your own heart. So why should you go
outside? Ultimately, everybody wants love, everybody wants pleasure—
transcendental pleasure, not material pleasure—because material pleasure
is always flawed. There's always some error in it, always some mistake,
always some cheating. Material pleasure never gives the real satisfaction
that we're looking for, only transcendental pleasure. Because
transcendental pleasure is based on unconditional love. The Lord has
unconditional love for each and every one of us: eternal, beginningless,
endless, perfect, unlimited, unconditional love. You're not going to get that
quality of love from anybody else. And He has been with us since time
immemorial. Without time, without beginning, and time without end.

But what are we doing? We're running away, trying to go out through the
senses into this hostile world that is completely different from our natural
quality as spirit souls. And so of course we're not feeling satisfaction. Of
course we're feeling different kinds of pain and suffering. Of course we're
not satisfied. So what do most people do? Well, usually they try harder:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 229
"Oh, I must have done something wrong. I'll try again, and again, and
again and again." They keep going out through the senses, out through the
senses, all the different senses. And they keep experiencing the same thing
over and over and over again. Well there's a saying, in America, that: "If
all you do is what you did, what you'll get is what you got." In other
words, if you keep doing the same thing, you’re going to keep getting the
same result. So why don't you try something different for a change?
Instead of going outside to try to satisfy your desires, go inside. Go and try
to search out the Lord within your own heart. And go looking with love
and affection, because He says:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante

"I respond to them in whatever way they approach Me." [ Bhagavad-gītā

4.11]

So if we approach Him with love and affection, He will respond. Right

now He's being cool; He's hiding. Why? Because we asked Him to: "O
Lord, let me go to the material world where I don't have to see You, I don't
have to serve You, um, I don't have to serve God, I don't have to think
about love of God, I don't want to see God, I don't want to be reminded of
God, let me just enjoy my senses and enjoy God's energy without God."
That's most people's idea of heaven, isn't it? To have unrestricted material
enjoyment; enjoying God's energy, but without the personal presence of
God.

So actually that sounds more like hell to me. Because every time you
enjoy God's energy without offering it to God, you're stealing. If you don't
have the permission, if you come to our house and you try to enjoy it
without our permission, you're a thief and we can punish you, call the
police and have you hauled off. So, naturally this is called karma: Every
time we try to do something nonsense, then we have some karmic
reaction. So karma is there; why? Because every time we try to enjoy the
Lord's energy without the Lord's permission we're stealing! It's so simple.
God is real. God is not a fairy tale. You wonder why everything in this

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world is so messed up? It's because everyone is a thief and a rascal, a
rogue. So how can rogues and thieves and rascals be happy? How they be
enjoying when every time they do anything they're stealing? They're
stealing because they're not engaged in the service of the Lord. So all we
have to do is use the Lord's energy in His service.

We have an obligation, actually, to use the Lord's energy for His service.
That's what it's for. He emanated this creation, He made this world for His
enjoyment, not for our enjoyment. It's for His purposes, not for our
purposes. So when we use it properly, it doesn't matter whether we're in
the material world or in the spiritual world, because we are using God's
energy for God's service; and that's the real definition of happiness, that's
the real meaning of heaven, that's the real meaning of enjoyment: when we
use God's energy in God's service, to please God. Because we discover
very quickly when we try to do this, that when God is pleased, we are
pleased; when God is happy, we are happy. When we follow God's
instructions, then the result is very, very nice. Why? Because we're not
being thieves; we're using God's energy with His permission.

So everything that we do, everything that we make, everything that we

offer and give away should be done as a sacrifice to Kṛṣṇa. That's what He
says right in the third chapter of Bhagavad-gītā [3.9]. So if we follow this
instruction, then everything goes very nicely. We're experiencing this
ourselves. Everything is going very nicely, somehow or other, simply
because we are spending our time and energy, spending our resources on
trying to please Kṛṣṇa. Actually they're not our resources, they're Kṛṣṇa's
resources; it's not our energy, it's Kṛṣṇa's energy. And when we engage
Kṛṣṇa's energy in Kṛṣṇa's service, guess what happens? Everything goes
very nicely. You think that maybe Kṛṣṇa is the Controller or something
like that? Is it possible? No, it must be a coincidence. I mean even though
the astrology is so terrible and the whole world financial situation and
political situation is in a tailspin and it's all melting down and falling apart,
we're doing fine.

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So I wish people would see this, and say "Oh; well, I can do what they're
doing." But somehow or other, they can't. Somehow or other it's like
there’s this mysterious force preventing them from offering things to the
Lord or doing devotional service or understanding this philosophy
properly. I've had many, many chances to see this, being engaged in
preaching work, and it always amazes me. It always surprises me and
blows my mind a little bit, when I see how otherwise intelligent people,
who have a lot of knowledge about other things, can't seem to get it right.
They can't seem to understand this philosophy properly, and they can't
seem to implement it properly. They always wind up mixing some of their
own personal desires in with their activities for devotional service.

Now, the soul naturally desires to be happy. So we're always going to have
personal desires. But we have to find a way to engage our personal desires
in the service of the Lord. I'll give you an example. I'm very fond of
music, always have been. So there was never any doubt in my mind, from
even a very young age, that I would grow up and be a musician. And sure
enough, I did become a musician, but it wasn't very satisfying because the
materialistic music business is so corrupt. If anyone has any experience in
the music business—well I suppose every other business is like that too—
it's just corrupt and nasty, and competitive and dishonest, and it's horrible.
So I was very disappointed, because I saw in music something perfect,
something beautiful, something beyond this ordinary mundane world. In
other words, I saw some reflection of God in music. So I decided “I'm
gonna use my musical skills and talents for pleasing Kṛṣṇa,” and that has
worked out very nicely.

When I was trying to make music on my own, or for my own enjoyment,

then there was always some obstacle, there was always some problem. But
now it's very easy and it's very nice. And there's no problem, everything is
working very nicely; there's no suffering, no agents calling me in the
middle of the night, you know, all this crazy stuff that happens in the
music business. So in this way, a source of suffering has been turned into a
source of happiness. How? By engaging it in devotional service. And I

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could give lots more examples, but you should be able to figure out this
principle. It's actually very simple. The problem is, and the reason why
people can't implement this is—not that it's terribly complicated or
difficult—but their hearts are not clean. They have some desire to cheat
Kṛṣṇa. Some desire—there's, you know, you meet people like this, or at
least I met various people like this in my various travels around the world.
I call them rascals.

They're people who enjoy cheating others. Did you see that film? Paul
McCartney and some other people did a film called “Time Bandits.” When
you get a chance to see it, there's this one character who's the chief time
bandit. Basically they're a bunch of dwarfs that have been working for
God, helping Him create stuff, and they they discovered a map of time and
they're using this map of time to go back in time and steal things. So they
steal all this stuff, like Napoleon's hat, you know, all kinds of crazy stuff.
So at one point they decide to go back in time to Sherwood Forest and
meet Robin Hood, and steal Robin Hood's loot. So they go back, and they
get caught in a trap. There's all these booby traps in the woods around
Robin Hood's hideout. So they get caught in this net and the guy, the chief
rascal time bandit is hanging upside down in this net; and then these other
rascals, Robin Hood's men, they come out and meet them and they say:
"Oh Robin Hood's men! You guys are thieves aren't you?" And Robin
Hood's men go: "Yeah, yeah, we're thieves, ha, ha, ha, ha!" And so the guy
is hanging upside down in the net—it's a very funny scene—he goes
"Yeah, so are we! Ha, ha, ha!" And there's a certain kind of recognition
that happens: "Oh you're a thief." "Yeah, I'm a thief too." "You're a rascal
too! Ha, ha, ha! Isn't that great? Come on, let's party!"

And you see people like this all the time. I've met many people like this,
because I hung out in the music scene and other weird scenes. And you
meet a lot of people like this, people who put out this vibe of, "Ha, ha, ha,
ha, I'm a rascal." And if you match it, then oh, you're buddies: "Yeah,
come on, let's go cheat somebody, ha ha ha." But if you have a different
vibe, if you have a vibe of ethics, there's a certain mood that's called

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‘ethics presence.’ It means, in other words, that you have some principles;
you have some integrity. You believe in following the rules. You don't
have this feeling of enjoying cheating; in fact, you're against it. You
believe in truthfulness; you believe in honoring your agreements. The first
thing about a rascal is that they use all kinds of false promises to lull their
victims into complacency and then rip them off.

So māyā actually means false promises; post-dated checks, that: "I

promise you're gonna get this tomorrow if you do this today," and it
usually doesn't turn out to be anything like that. So this māyā, or illusion,
is the fundamental premise of this material world, this rascaldom: "Oh yes
Kṛṣṇa, I'll serve you later; right now I want this. Let me take this. I'll serve
you tomorrow, OK?" This is māyā. We are being a rascal; we are being a
thief when we do like that; and because of that we have to suffer, when we
put our own needs first. When we put Kṛṣṇa's service first, in the course of
that service we may use Kṛṣṇa's resources to satisfy whatever little needs
we have; and that's OK, because basically we're working for Kṛṣṇa. We all
have to eat, we all have to sleep, we all need a roof over our heads, we all
need clothes, so many little things that we need. But these are not very
difficult desires to satisfy, because if we're engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service,
we're doing so much great welfare work for the benefit of the whole
world, so what's the problem with us having our little few personal things
that we need? Because we need those things to continue that service, so
Kṛṣṇa has no problem giving that.

So, in other words, whether we're in the material world, or in the spiritual
world, or we're in the heavenly planets, or the earthly planets, or the lower
planets, or wherever we find ourselves, everything around us, including
our own body and everything, are Kṛṣṇa's energy. If we simply engage
Kṛṣṇa's energy in Kṛṣṇa's service, we're going to be happy. It doesn't
matter where we are. It's not like if we go somewhere else, or take a
different name, or change our hairstyle, or our dress that that's gonna make
us happy, NO! What's will make us happy is if Kṛṣṇa is happy. If Kṛṣṇa is
pleased, we will automatically be pleased. So the devotee, especially the

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pure devotee, one who is following this standard, his engagement is a
hundred-percent in Kṛṣṇa's service, constantly.

ahaituky apratihatā

"The devotee's engagement in devotional service is causeless and

uninterrupted." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.6]

So if we're serving Kṛṣṇa as our primary engagement in life, if our

relationship with Kṛṣṇa is our primary relationship in life, and our whole
purpose in living is to please Kṛṣṇa, it doesn't matter where we are. It
doesn't matter what kind of body we have. It doesn't matter. Why? We'll be
happy. And if we're happy, then we don't want to change. If you feel like:
"Oh I have to go somewhere else, I have to do something else, I have to
change this, I have to change that," then it means you're not happy. If
you're restless, it means you're not satisfied. You have desires: "I want
this, I want that, I wanna go here, I wanna do that, I wanna change this,
change that," this is a sign of dissatisfaction. So you see this in material
life—this week the certain kind of fashions will be in, and then next week
or next month a different fashion will be in. They have to change that,
throw out the old clothes, get all new clothes, you know? This year the
Azores are the place to go for vacation, and then next year it'll be the
Swiss Alps or something else.

So people are always trying to do something else. They're in bhoga-tyāga.

They're working all week at some job, some business or whatever, and
then on the weekend they have to go somewhere else and do something
else. Maybe they go home and just rest, or maybe they take off and go to
the mountains, or the beach, or the forest or the desert, or somewhere,
anywhere, but where they normally stay. Why? It means they're not
happy! They're not satisfied and they need this break, they need this
vacation or holiday. This is called bhoga-tyāga. If our material activities
were actually satisfying, we wouldn't want to change them. But material
activities change all the time. The main thing about material activities is
that they're always changing. This week's number one hit song will be off

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the charts next week, and somebody else's hit song is going to be on top.
Always changing, changing, changing, nothing stays the same for very
long. Material relationships are the same way: "I love you, I hate you."
Always changing. Just like some of our students, they come and then they
go, we don't know where they go, why they leave, or what happens to
them; just one day they're gone. It means what? They were unhappy, they
were unsatisfied. Why? Well probably because they weren't following this
practice properly. They weren't following the rules and regulations, or they
missed some detail of the philosophy that led them to make offenses, or
they didn't ever understand the philosophy in the first place, or they had
misunderstood terms—somehow or other they weren't following the
process. And because of that, they fell down.

So it takes a very rare type of person to actually go all the way through
this process to the very highest stage. It doesn't have to be that way.
Actually everybody has the ability to perform pure devotional service; it's
just that very few people have the desire to. And the desire is the whole
thing. In fact there's a very nice verse in Śrī Padyāvalī that I posted on the
front page of our site and it says that:

"When one worships Kṛṣṇa without any desire for any other process or
result, then Kṛṣṇa awakens beautiful transcendental bliss within his
heart." [Śrī Padyāvalī, 13]

So why would you desire to go anywhere else or do anything else? If

you're feeling transcendental bliss within your heart, why would you want
to change anything? You would be content with simply staying and doing
what you're doing. And if Kṛṣṇa wants you to do something else or go
somewhere else, He'll let you know. So this process of devotional service
has this quality, that one feels so satisfied, one feels so complete, so happy,
that he doesn't even want liberation. Even if he has the chance, even if
Kṛṣṇa personally comes to him and says, "Here, you can come to My
spiritual world and be with Me." "Oh well that's OK, if You want me to,
but I'm OK here too." We don't really even want it; we just want service.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 236
We don't want liberation, we don't want mystic powers, we don't want any
of these other things.

sālokyetyādi-padyastha-bhaktotkarṣa-ṇirūpaṇam
bhakter viśuddhatā-vyaktyā lakṣaṇe paryavasyati

“The description of the excellence of the devotee in the above verse

amounts to describing the characteristics of bhakti by revealing its
purity.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.16]

The word amounts in that verse is a simple way of saying equals. It

amounts to; it has the same meaning as; it's equivalent to. Viśvanātha
Cakravartī Ṭhākura's commentary:

How can a description of the excellence of devotees in the verse starting

sālokya, above, be used to indicate bhakti? That verse is placed in the
middle of the two other verses, thirteen and fifteen, and cannot be
removed from that context because it describes the glories of the
devotees, it is not suitable for the topic.

This is the objection, that: “How can description of the excellence of the
devotees be used to describe the qualities of bhakti?” So the verse that we
just read, verse sixteen of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, answers this objection:

Because pure bhakti, without other desires, exists in that devotee, that
devotee does not accept sālokya and other goals.

Like what we were just talking about a minute ago: devotional service is
so satisfying, it's so blissful, it's so happy, that we don't need any other
process. It provides all our needs. We don't need to go on vacation; we
don't need to take a break. We like doing this twenty-four hours a day.

Therefore, the description of the glories of the devotee in the verse

amounts to describing bhakti because the devotee reveals the purity of
that bhakti.

Let me read that verse again:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 237
 "These are the characteristics of transcendental loving service to
Puruṣottama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: it is without other
desires, and it is not contaminated by karma or jñāna." [Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 3.29.12-14]

Now then here's the verse they're talking about:

"In this type of bhakti, My devotees do not accept sālokya, sarṣṭi,

sārūpa, samīpya or oneness with Me, even if I offer these liberations, in
preference to serving Me." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.12-14]

You understand? That describes the glories of pure bhakti. "In this type of
bhakti," He says. What type of bhakti is that?

"Without other desires and not contaminated by karma or jñāna."

[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.12-14]

He's not talking about mixed bhakti here, he's talking only about pure
bhakti, pure devotional service. There is a tremendous qualitative
difference in the effect of pure bhakti versus mixed bhakti. Bhakti is not a
material thing. "If I have ten dollars, and then I get more money that's
generally considered better. Now if I have a hundred dollars, and I get a
thousand dollars, that's even better. And if I get a million dollars that's
super, I can retire." That's how people think: “The more I get of it the
better.” But mixed devotional service and pure devotional service are not
like that. It doesn't matter how much mixed devotional service you pile up.
It doesn't matter how many hours or days or years of mixed devotional
service you acquire or, log on your record; you're still on the level of
mixed devotional service, and the results that you get will still be the same
as the mixed devotional service provides.

You can never get the results of pure devotional service by performing any
amount of mixed devotional service. That process will only yield that
result and no other. But on the other hand, if you're engaged in pure
devotional service, even a small amount of pure devotional service yields
a far better result, a qualitatively different result than any amount of mixed
devotional service. Progress in devotional service happens not by the

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amount of devotional service we perform, but by the quality of the
devotional service that we perform. That is because devotional service is
not a material thing; devotional service is completely transcendental, just
like Kṛṣṇa. So it's not about the quantity, but the quality. Otherwise, how
could a tiny living entity like us satisfy Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the unlimited Creator, Controller, Maintainer, Destroyer of all
the worlds? How is it possible that any one of us can satisfy Him? Any
amount, no matter how much service we do, is infinitesimal compared to
Him.

So it's not the amount of service that we do, it's the quality of service that
we do. It's not the amount of consciousness. When people talk about
‘consciousness expansion’ this is actually a misnomer, because expansion
implies that you get more consciousness, somehow or other. But actually
the amount of consciousness that we have is fixed. But what would
determine the difference in our experience is not the amount of
consciousness, but the quality of consciousness that we have. This is what
people don't understand. They don't understand because they try to treat
consciousness with the same logic that they use for ordinary material
objects. But it's not a material object; it can't be thought of as a material
object, or we will come to wrong conclusions. I don't know how many
times we've been over this point. It's just like there are certain people who
style themselves as devotees, and because they've been thinking
themselves to be a devotee for a long time, they think they know
everything about it, and they've seen everything and they've done
everything, been everywhere, know everybody, and so on like that. But
what they don't seem to understand, is that bhakti is not a material thing.
Otherwise why would they think, how could they think "Oh now I know
everything about devotional service"?

Because devotional service is like Kṛṣṇa; it's unlimited and ever-

expanding, so if the total compass or world of devotional service is
understood one moment, in the next moment it expands. And so it can't
ever be understood completely, even by Kṛṣṇa. Even Kṛṣṇa is always

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surprised by the newer and newer arrangements His devotees make for His
pleasure. And if you say something like, "Oh well, devotional service can't
include X." Name any arbitrary thing: flying in a plane. "Devotional
service cannot include flying in planes." Well, the next thing you know
Śrīla Prabhupāda gets on a plane, and he travels all over the world
preaching and spreads the Holy Name everywhere by flying in a plane. So
flying in a plane all of a sudden becomes included in devotional service.
How? By the arrangement of the devotees in their ever-expanding, ever-
increasing efforts to please the Lord, you see? So devotional service can
never be limited, it can never be static, it can never be stereotyped; it's
always dynamic, it’s always expanding, it's always growing, it's always
increasing. Otherwise it wouldn't be relishable for Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa is eternal. Kṛṣṇa Himself is ever-expanding and ever-fresh. What

does ever-fresh mean? Always something new! Never the same old thing,
over and over again. I've been to some temples where they're doing the
evening ārati tune or something like that. And they've done it that way
every day since the last thirty years, and now they're old men and they're
like: "kiba jaya, jaya gauracander." And you just wonder, like “How they
can keep doing it the same way?” I was in one temple where at the
maṅgalārati ceremony in the morning, the same devotees who have been
in this temple since it was opened, thirty or forty years ago, are standing
on the same squares on the temple's marble floor. The same checkerboard
tile square that they have standing on for thirty years, chanting the same
hymn, with the same mispronunciations, and the same out-of-tune kīrtana
that they did thirty years ago when they first joined the temple! How is
this possible?! Kṛṣṇa must be bored to tears, He must be like, "If they sing
that one more time, I'm out of here, man! I'm gonna go dance with
Rādhārāṇī somewhere."

If Kṛṣṇa is always new and always fresh, and if His devotional service is
ever-expanding and dynamic, then how can it remain always the same?
How can it be reduced to some ritual that's always the same? Devotional
service is not like classical music, where you have a score and you just

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have to follow the same part over and over and over again. No. Devotional
service is more like jazz. In jazz, maybe you start from the score, but then
once you get it, it's never the same. It's always expanding, it's always new,
it's always fresh. I remember one time we had this discussion group on
rāgānuga-bhakti . At that time I was running the group, there were over
like six-hundred devotees. It was bigger than our group today, and it was
very popular and very controversial. But after running this group for 2-3
years I got really fed up with it, because the same devotees were asking
the same questions, coming up with the same objections, and the same
reasons why “nobody could attain rāgānuga-bhakti,” these same
arguments that they had been engaging in since the group began, years
before that. And I was getting so bored with it, so then I started talking
about my relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Freaked them out. Blew them away, freaked them out completely. Still, to
this day—I mean, this was six or seven years ago—still to this day, these
devotees will not speak to me. They know I'm here. They know where our
site is, but they never come, they never visit, they never write, they never
call. Why? They got freaked out so bad when they experienced an actual
example of spontaneous devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. Because it's like:
"You can't do that! You can't think that. You can't love Kṛṣṇa that way!"
Well, too bad; I do, and somehow or other it's working so, what can you
say? "Oh, it's not in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books." Are Śrīla Prabhupāda's
books infinite and unlimited? Are any books infinite and unlimited? No.
They can describe a limited number of classes of phenomena that we can
use to understand a particular subject, but no book is going to be able to
expand dynamically to cover every possible instance, or every possible
variation or permutation on a particular subject, especially as dynamic a
subject as devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. The scriptures are simply unable to
describe all the possibilities. And even if they could, the next minute
somebody would come up with a new possibility and the same condition
would obtain.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 241
So the argument that "Well you can't do that, because it's not in some book
somewhere," does really not apply to devotional service. It applies to
material processes maybe, but not to these spiritual processes. They have
to be unlimited by definition, otherwise an eternal spirit soul would run
out of new possibilities, and we'd find our selves doing the same old thing
over and over and over again. That would be horrible. That would be like
some kind of definition of hell: "You have to do the same thing over and
over again for eternity." That's horrible: death by boredom. It would be
horrible. So if we don't want to experience that ourselves, why would we
subject Kṛṣṇa to that kind of experience?

But that's what people do when they get stuck in this ‘rules and
regulations’ and ‘by the book’ and ‘it's gotta be this way and it can't be any
other way.’ They lose their creativity, they lose their freshness, they lose
their juice, because they don't have a real deep understanding of the
subject; it's not coming from their heart. They’re on the mental platform,
and that is always going to limit them to the platform of vaidhī-bhakti,
rules and regulations; because that's finite, that's understandable, it fits in a
box; and it has to be that way for neophytes. But when we're talking about
real devotional service, that means it has to be dynamic, it has to be
flexible, it has to be ever-expanding, creative, exciting, interesting, far out,
astonishing even to Kṛṣṇa. And actually if we look deep enough we find in
the scriptures every kind of relationship or, just going through this Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu like I have in the last few weeks, there's so much there;
and as we get deeper into it you'll see the possibilities of devotional
service from Kṛṣṇa are really unlimited. And whatever desire you may
have to experience a certain kind of happiness, or certain kind of
relationship, that's possible with Kṛṣṇa.

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante [Bhagavad-gītā 4.11]

He doesn't say "I will reciprocate however they approach me except for
this, this, and that, because it's not mentioned in the scriptures." He doesn't
say that. He says:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 242
 ye yathā māṁ prapadyante

"Unconditionally, I reciprocate however they approach Me." [Bhagavad-

gītā 4.11]

So He's not threatened by our approach to love Him. He's the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, you know? We can't blow His mind. Although He
likes it when we try.

Anyway, this is devotional service. Devotional service is really, really

cool. And it's hard to get across to people how cool it is, because they
don't have the conceptual background to understand what the heck we're
talking about. It's a very technical subject, because it is on a transcendental
platform and it deals with pure consciousness. And people generally don't
understand consciousness, so it's very sad. But we do our best, and a few
people are getting it, so I guess we must be doing something right.

Oh, the devotees were so shocked. I started talking a little bit about my
relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And they were so shocked, a lot of them still
haven't gotten over it. They probably never will either, at least in this
lifetime. But you know, you have to go there sooner or later. You think
Kṛṣṇa will be pleased if we offer Him the same old standard? I know I'm
bored when I hear fifties jazz. It's the same old thing, the same old chords,
the same old rhythms, the same old ideas just recycled again and again and
again,. And even when I hear more modern stuff it actually get's worse,
because the players are bored now too. Not only the listeners, also the
players. And then you hear Miles Davis and he's off in some weird space,
thirteen dimensions out there. And his stuff sounds weird but, it's not
boring. He's certainly into it. So the same thing can be said of devotional
service. In the beginning, yes, you have to stick to the authorized path. But
at some point when you get it, then you have to make up your own, you
have to approach Kṛṣṇa freshly from your own realization in your heart,
from your real desires, huh? Otherwise it's not sincere, it's not real. So
that's the higher stage.

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Uddhava dāsa: I have a question that in our practice of vaidhī-bhakti, my
experience is that when I sing a nice song and music and play some
instrument and like that, it's very easy for me to get into a more intense
mood or more focused devotional experience than comparing it to
chanting japa, for example, which usually takes more effort and the sitting
position, and so much more, I find it more difficult. And so is this because
I'm not focusing properly on japa? I should experience the same intensity
in either?

Bābājī: Yes. Everything that is there in your devotional songs and music
is also there in japa, you just haven't found the way to access it. The music
is easy because you have to bring your creativity. You have to use your
creativity, you have to use your expression, it has to come from your heart;
or it's not gonna be good, musically speaking. Now if you can find a way
to exercise those same qualities in chanting japa then you got it.

Uddhava dāsa: That's the thing I don't get, because I can sing in different
intervals and it's the timing but pretty much...

Bābājī: No, you're missing the point. I've given you this hint several
times. That the Gosvāmīs, when they would chant japa, would keep a pile
of verses in front of them, and this is how Padyāvalī was written. That
they had collections of verses that they found especially nectarean to relish
during japa. And so they would keep this pile of verses in front of them
when they were chanting, and they would take one at a time and relish it
while chanting. What does relish mean?

Uddhava dāsa: To taste.

Bābājī: Yes, to taste, to enjoy. To enjoy the taste of that verse. They would
pick verses, they would select verses that nourish their mood. Sañcārī-
bhāva. Sañcārī-bhāva means 'that which nourishes the principal mood of
the devotee.' So if a devotee's mood, let's say, is conjugal love, they would
pick verses describing conjugal love that nourish that mood, and then they
would relish these verses while chanting.

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Uddhava dāsa: Isn't that more like remembering?

Bābājī: Yes, smaraṇam.

Uddhava dāsa: I have no experience.

Bābājī: So you have to try it.

Uddhava dāsa: Well, what can I remember if there's no experiences?

Bābājī: You remember somebody else's experiences.

Uddhava dāsa: Yeah, pastimes and like that.

Bābājī: That's right. Relish some verses. Let them guide you. Find the
mood that appeals to you, pick out those verses, and then relish them
while chanting. Develop a taste for those verses. What am I talking about?
What does taste mean? Aesthetics. Like when you hear music that is really
cool. Why do you think it's cool? Because you have a taste for it. It
matches your taste; so in japa we are developing our relationship with
Kṛṣṇa in the most intimate way, so what is that taste? What is that
emotional taste that turns you on, that attracts you to Kṛṣṇa? So relish that
while you're chanting.

Uddhava dāsa: I've tried that, and it usually leads to speculation. It's like
licking the bottle and all that stuff, so it's like, esoteric.

Bābājī: I'm trying to explain it as simply as I can.

Uddhava dāsa: Yeah I know, I know.

Bābājī: Yeah. It's just like, what attracts you to Kṛṣṇa? What qualities of
Kṛṣṇa do you enjoy?

Uddhava dāsa: Yeah. I think there's a sense of cheating by doing that.

Bābājī: What?

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 245
Uddhava dāsa: It's like then why shouldn't I just read? This idea...

Bābājī: No, no, no, no it's a different thing.

Uddhava dāsa: That's the thing I don't get.

Bābājī: It's not mental. It's in the heart.

Uddhava dāsa: That's the thing I don't get.

Bābājī: It's in the heart. There’s something you've blocked in this

emotional taste.

Uddhava dāsa: Yeah, well I get it with the songs. I mean it's not so...

Bābājī: You can do it through music, so why can't you do it in chanting

also?

Uddhava dāsa: Yeah that's the thing I don't get.

Bābājī: Yeah.

Uddhava dāsa: I'll think about it.

Bābājī: It's like a joke; either you get it or you don't. If you get it through
music, well then cultivate your taste through music. Prabhupāda does.
Listen to Prabhupāda chant japa. It's so, it's very tuneful. He stays in one
rāga through his whole japa. Sing the tune that's in your heart.

Uddhava dāsa: It's from Thiago: "Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my humble
obeisances. So as long as the intention is to please Kṛṣṇa we won't be
causing any offense?"

Bābājī: The intention to please to Kṛṣṇa in what? Externally the devotee

follows the principles and rules of vaidhī-bhakti but internally, in his
siddha form, in his spiritual body, the devotee develops a personal
relationship with the Lord. And then he gradually increases this mood, this

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 246
taste, this flavor of whatever attractive features he finds most relishable in
the Lord’s qualities. There are sixty-four qualities discussed in Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu; we'll go into this in great detail. So whichever of these
qualities the devotees finds most relishable, these are called the vibhāva or
the attractive cause of devotional service. So he can relish those qualities
by his service activities.

It seems to me like I'm speaking and the devotees are not getting it. I don't
know how I can explain it any other way. It's like there's a blank spot or a
blind spot in your consciousness itself, and it has to do with the heart and
with things like taste. The question is, what kind of relationship do you
want to have with Kṛṣṇa? Now don't ask me, ‘How can I know what kind
of relationship I want with Kṛṣṇa?’

That question is not a valid question, because it infers that there's some
outside authority that can tell you what kind of taste you want. How do
you know when you go in the ice cream store, what flavor you want to
order? Maybe you have to try a few, but after a while you get a favorite,
and then after you know your favorite, every time you go into the store
you order that flavor. So it's simple: you read the śāstra, you read Kṛṣṇa's
pastimes, and you see all these different relationships that devotees have
with Kṛṣṇa, then the ones that appeal to you, you start to cultivate that
taste in your own heart.

Uddhava dāsa: This is the state, the stage of ruci?

Bābājī: Yes, taste! At the same that you're externally following the normal
principles and lifestyle of a devotee, internally you're thinking of Kṛṣṇa
with a particular taste. Everybody does it anyway. It's just that in the
beginning, they're unconscious of it. And I'm saying you should be
conscious of it. That's all. And you're looking at me like, "Me? Taste?
What taste, boss?" You're in denial about your own feeling towards Kṛṣṇa.

Uddhava dāsa: Yeah, of course, because I don't know. I have no

knowledge of who I am, or what's my eternal service.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 247
Bābājī: Well, at least that's honest. But for me it's inconceivable; from the
minute I walked in the temple, I knew my taste for Kṛṣṇa was conjugal
love. There was absolutely no doubt. No doubt in my mind whatsoever
from the first day I walked in the temple. I put on dhoti and it was like
"Yeah." Absolutely no doubt; so, it's very hard for me to understand how
somebody could be engaged in devotional service for any length of time
and not know how they want to love Kṛṣṇa. That's just like the people
who—I don't want to mention any names—who can't hear svaras. I could
hear svaras when I was three years old, so for me it's inconceivable not to
be able to hear svaras. Inconceivable. I can't even imagine it; it's outside
of my experience. So for me it's very hard to deal with this topic, because I
can't remember not knowing my taste for relationship with Kṛṣṇa. From
the moment that I realized that it was actually a possibility to have that
flavor of love toward Kṛṣṇa, that was it: "Oh yeah!" Immediate
recognition.

So for me it is very difficult to understand, having been exposed to the

whole spectrum of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in devotional service, how one would
not be able to understand how to recognize his own taste. It's like going in
to Baskin Robbins and trying every single flavor, you know, they have the
little spoon you take a little sample, "Well let me try this one, let me try
this one, and that one." All fifty-seven flavors. And they go "Hm, lime-
tangerine-praline-cream-whatever." So at least you should be able to
identify which one is your favorite within the five sthāyi-bhāvas.

Uddhava dāsa: The problem is that each one of these are huge, enormous.
They have...

Bābājī: No, no, no. Each one is a specific taste: servitorship, parenthood,
friendship, neutrality, conjugal love. Those are very distinct tastes. They're
as distinct as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, lime and rocky road. They are
very different tastes. So at least you can say this particular broad huge
enormous unlimited infinite category is my favorite. Let's get real here.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 248
Question from Chandra: "We have seen in our scriptures that we are not
this body but the soul. My question is how, by giving trouble to the body,
the soul us affected, and how he feels that pain?"

Bābājī: Well, the whole issue of how the soul perceives anything through
the body is very deep: Ontologically speaking, the soul is completely
different from the body. The body is material, it's temporary, it's made of
matter; and the soul is spiritual and pure consciousness and personal, and
so many opposite qualities. That the real question is, how can the soul
perceive the body at all? And the answer is, through the special potency of
Supersoul. Supersoul has a special potency, part of yoga-māyā. One of the
aspects or potencies of yoga-māyā is that even the impossible becomes
possible. So by yoga-māyā Kṛṣṇa sets up this link between the soul and a
particular material body, in which the body appears to be the self. The
word ātmā can mean body, it can mean mind, or it can mean soul. So this
ātmā appears to be the self; the body and the mind. And for most people
the body and the mind are actually their field of activities; but for most
people the body and the mind appear to be the self—they don't make any
distinction. So of course we know from the very beginning of studying
this devotional service that this is incorrect. But how many people have
actually realized it?

I question this, because I saw my Godbrothers, for example; many of

whom even took sannyāsa at an early age and became big, big leaders of
big, big projects and made big, big mistakes and had big, big falldowns.
And took big, big money from ISKCON and went away. And strangely
enough, none of them have been prosecuted for embezzlement. But that's
getting off the topic. Apparently, they did not realize that they were not
this body, because they were willing to perform actually criminal activities
to support the body, even after having taken the so-called lifetime vows of
celibacy and austerity, and accepting the title of svāmī and so on. So
apparently they did not actually realize that they were not the body; they
were simply thinking that they were not the body. There's a difference
between thinking and realization. In thinking, that means you maintain a

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 249
copy of certain words within the mind. And you can bring this copy out,
and you can even perform certain logical operations on it, and come up
with different conclusions by philosophical speculation, and if your
process of logic and your knowledge are accurate, you can actually reach
correct conclusions by means of word jugglery. But this is very different
from actual realization.

Realization means to perceive something directly with one's

consciousness. But because people in general, and especially neophyte
devotees, do not understand consciousness, cannot define consciousness,
cannot explain consciousness; because they don't understand how
consciousness works, or what consciousness is, they talk very glibly about
‘Kṛṣṇa consciousness,’ ‘this consciousness’ and ‘that consciousness,’ but
when it comes right down to it they don't know what consciousness is—
they simply throw the word consciousness around as in ‘Kṛṣṇa
consciousness’ as a catch phrase: "Oh yeah, we're all about Kṛṣṇa
consciousness." And they seem to be of the opinion that Kṛṣṇa
consciousness means thinking about Kṛṣṇa. But that's not Kṛṣṇa
consciousness; that's consciousness of symbols relating to Kṛṣṇa. Actual
Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to be directly consciousness of Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Not of a symbol, not of the word, not of a concept, or an idea—but
directly conscious of Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental person. When one is
actually Kṛṣṇa-conscious, then he can explain everything very clearly, and
so in that state there's no question about falling down into material
consciousness. Or actually, those devotees that I spoke of they never left
material consciousness in the first place, they were simply in a more subtle
layer of material consciousness, and this is proven by the fact that they fell
down from sannyāsa.

So our orientation is that we don't care about taking sannyāsa, and we

don't care about trying to demonstrate some artificial high standard of
renunciation; because, as you notice, the definition of pure devotional
service given by Rūpa Gosvāmī doesn't say anything about renunciation. It
just says that you do not have any desires which are separate from bhakti.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 250
Now, desire is something that is very deep within the heart. Desire is not
something external; it's internal. It's something that only the person
themselves can actually know. And it's like emotion; a lot of us have a
block, an artificial block on seeing our actual desires. And so we deceive
ourselves into thinking that "Oh yes, I have pure spiritual desires." When
actually our actions and our words reveal that we have a lot of desires for
power, position, prominence, recognition and different kinds of labels and
designations. This is called pratiṣtha. And this is a subtle form of sinful
activity or anartha, that can prevent one from loving Kṛṣṇa. Because it
means his devotional service is still motivated; and what was the
definition given in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu? It has to be ahaituki,
unmotivated. Unmotivated means the only desire in it is the desire for
more bhakti. Desire to please Kṛṣṇa. No other desire for karma, jñāna,
yoga, or anything else.

So the fact that these devotees fell down means they never did actually
realize Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the first place, and the fact that they were
giving guidance to often thousands of other devotees means that those
other devotees' advancement was also limited by the lack of realization of
those devotees, because they were the leaders. So you have a situation
where, after Śrīla Prabhupāda left this world, certain devotees took over
ISKCON; but these devotees were not actually self-realized. So none of
the devotees who accepted their shelter could go beyond their realization.
And for this reason the whole thing is now completely confused. If I have
any good qualities, or any, you know, if there's anything special about me,
it was that I never listened to those guys! I never listened to them. Even
from the very beginning I didn't listen to them. I only read Prabhupāda's
books. And by reading Prabhupāda's books very carefully, with the aid of
a dictionary, which is a process that I personally was trained in, as an
editor in the BBT, I could understand from Śrīla Prabhupāda's books that
these guys were preaching something else. They weren't preaching Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, they were preaching ‘follow-the-leader consciousness.’
They were preaching political consciousness; they were preaching
religious consciousness. They weren't preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 251
They were preaching "Follow me in the name of Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
And guess what, everybody bought it! And even today, I'll give you an
example: there's a Kṛṣṇa consciousness, supposedly Kṛṣṇa conscious
temple two blocks away from here. And everybody in that temple is less
senior than I am. Everybody, from the temple president on down, is less
senior; but do these people come to me for advice? No. If they were to
come to me and I gave them advice, would they follow that advice? No.
Do they consider me their authority in any way? No. Why? Because they
have been trained not to accept any authority that is outside of their
political structure. And because of that, they violate the vaiṣṇava etiquette,
every single day. So this is the proof that the leaders who trained them
were not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; they were in politics consciousness,
political consciousness, organization consciousness, religious
consciousness—which is very nice, but it's not Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It's
something material.

So if someone accepts instruction from a person on that platform, if

someone hears from a person on that platform, their understanding is
going to be limited by the level of realization of the person they are
hearing from. Śraddhā, faith, is developed by hearing. So if one is not
hearing from Śrīla Prabhupāda but is hearing from somebody else, or is
interpreting Śrīla Prabhupāda according to the instructions of somebody
else who is not in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then they will not be able to
understand what pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness is. That's why we're taking the
trouble to explain all these things over and over and over, very, very
clearly. So that people understand, or can understand, if they want to, what
real Kṛṣṇa consciousness is. We spent the last three years preaching about
‘what is consciousness.’ You can go back to our earliest podcasts, you can
go back to our early, early, books and different essays, and you'll see that
every single one of them is about the sāṅkhya-yoga philosophy given in
the Second Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. There's even one series called
Science of the Soul, where we go into every single one of Śrīla
Prabhupāda's thirty-two classes on Bhagavad-gītā 2.13. And we take them
apart, we analyze them in detail, because Prabhupāda preached on that

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 252
particular verse more than any other śloka in the Vedas. It's so important.
And what does that sloka say?

"You're a spirit soul, you're eternal." [ Bhagavad-gītā 2.13]

So we have been preaching on this platform for three full years. And only
recently we started to move beyond that platform. And now we would like
to preach on the platform of pure bhakti. Now that that term
‘consciousness’ has been adequately explained and cleared, now we can
start to talk about ‘Kṛṣṇa consciousness’ and have it be meaningful,
because now we have an adequate background to understand what is
consciousness, now we can put it together with Kṛṣṇa and come up with
something really interesting, which is pure bhakti.

Because as soon as we can understand what is Kṛṣṇa, our consciousness is

going to be attracted like a magnet. But if there's something in between,
just like you can have iron and you can have a magnet, but if you have a
piece of wood in between, the attraction of the magnet is going to be very,
very less. So in the same way, if you have Kṛṣṇa and you have the
individual soul, and then you have someone else in between who is not
Kṛṣṇa conscious, that's going to make the attraction to Kṛṣṇa very, very
weak. And because of that, people are going to fall away; they're not going
to be strongly attracted. And this is what's going on. We see this going on
in all these different groups and organizations. People come out of
curiosity, and it's our job to fire up their curiosity into something much
stronger, into real attraction for Kṛṣṇa, real love for Kṛṣṇa. So this art is
the art of preaching. But if we're actually not talking about Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, if we're actually talking about organization consciousness
or political consciousness or follow-me-and-give-me-money
consciousness, that's going to come in between the attraction for Kṛṣṇa
that is deep in the heart of every soul, and Kṛṣṇa Himself, and they're not
going to be able to make advancement. As a result they're eventually
going to fall down.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 253
And this is happening. The average lifetime of a devotee in the
organization of ISKCON is three-and-a-half years. The average lifetime of
a devotee in ISKCON is three-and-a half years. That comes from ISKCON
themselves. ISKCON, especially ISKCON North America —I think it's
even less now, two-and-a-half years. After that they can't stay in the
organization. Why? Because after that much experience, they start to get a
clue that "Oh wait a minute, something is wrong here." But because
they've been hearing from people who don't understand real Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, they can't quite put their finger on what the problem is,
because it's a blind spot. That blind spot has been trained into them by
people with an even bigger blind spot. Because they don't want to admit,
even to themselves, that their real interest is in power, politics, and profit.
So if we hear from people like that, they're not going to describe pure
bhakti. They are going to describe in a very tricky way, something that
appears to be like Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the uninformed, but is not
actually Kṛṣṇa consciousness according to the definition of Rūpa
Gosvāmī. And because these other people have not read Rūpa Gosvāmī,
they have no standard to compare it to, and so they just accept whatever
they hear, and then they're mislead. So this is going on, and this is a great
trap.

So we're trying to advise people not to fall into that trap, but it's hard
going because most people want to be cheated. They don't want the most
powerful or highest or best process, because they themselves want to
cheat. They want something less; they want something cheap. They want
something fast. And yes, you can get that out of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; you
can make it into a religion. You can even into some kind of self-help
course. That's not really what it is, or what it should be, or what it could
be. But you can do that, and some people have done that. But that's not
what we're doing. So if you're really serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if
you really want the highest benefit, if you really want the full potential of
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you have to go deep into the original scriptures.
You have to learn Sanskrit, you have to learn the philosophy, you have to
think very deeply about it, and you have to look up all the words in the

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 254
dictionary and clear the definitions to get full comprehension. This is
called ‘scrutinizing study,’ and Śrīla Prabhupāda recommends it again and
again and again in his books. You have to study these books scrutinizingly
to get the full benefit. If you do that, then you will not be cheated. Because
you will know the difference between the real philosophy and the
imitation. If you do not do that, if you are relying on somebody else to tell
you what the actual standard is, then you will be cheated. And I say that,
fully aware that people who listening are expecting me to tell them what
the real standard is. But I'm saying “Don't rely on anybody, go to the
original source literatures and understanding them directly yourself.”
Otherwise you can't be sure; somebody may be trying to cheat you. It's
very likely that somebody will cheat you, if you don't go back to the
original and make up your mind from that. So that's my advice to you;
that's my advice to everyone, that they should go back to the original, back
to the Sanskrit. Don't be lazy, take the time and energy to analyze this
information properly so that you really understand it, then whatever you
do will be very, very effective.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 255
Chapter 10: Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17-20
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 6, 2009

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī: We have to get our ears on straight. This

is the biggest problem in learning spiritual life: we hear something
imperfectly, but we think that we heard it properly; and then we go on and
base so much other thinking and acting on our imperfect hearing. And it's
true that sometimes the teachers will simplify things: Prabhupāda, when
he first started teaching the rāgas of the kīrtanas, he simplified them
somewhat for Western ears. But as soon as the devotees got a tānpura,
Prabhupāda began to sing it in the original way; nevertheless, nobody
except Prabhupāda sang it that way. Because the devotees learned it
wrong, they kept doing it wrong out of habit, even down to the present
day.

To hear an esoteric truth properly the first time is very difficult. Generally,
people don't have the ontological structure embedded in their mind to be
able to hear it correctly, so later on when they repeat it, it comes out all
wrong. At least they're trying to glorify Kṛṣṇa somehow or other; but it's
not actually the proper style; it loses something of the original mood every
time it's changed even a little bit. So then one generation of disciples will
change it a little bit, and then the next generation will change that a little
bit, and then the following generation will change that a little bit, and by
the time you get ten generations down the line, they're speaking and
singing something completely different.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: Tying the cat to a tree.

Bābājī: [laughs] There was a Master in a temple where they had very nice
cat. Every temple should have a cat, because in temples they store so
much food for cooking for the Deities; and of course the mice will come,
so every temple must have a cat. This particular cat was very affectionate,
and every time the devotees sat down for class in the temple, the cat would

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 256
come and rub all over them and purr, and get in their laps and go "Pet
me!" So of course this is very distracting when you're trying to study. So
the Master said "OK look, I'm trying to get through to you guys about this
philosophy. Please take the cat outside and leave him there." But of course
then the cat would come back in again. "Oh, all those nice warm cozy
laps. Mmmm." [laughs] So he would come in again, and if they closed the
door he'd come in the window; you know how that goes. So after a while
the Master said "Oh look, just tie the cat to the tree." So from that day on,
every time they had class they would tie the cat to the tree, and then as
soon as they were done they would let him go again. No problem, right?
Except the next generation of disciples in that temple, before giving class
or doing any kind of service, would tie the cat to the tree. Why? "Well,
that's just the way we do it around here. You see? We tie the cat to the tree.
It's an integral part of our process." Then, of course, a few years later that
cat died, so they got a new cat, and they tied that cat to the tree too. And
on and on it went, and after two or three generations the logo of the temple
became a cat tied to a tree, and there were disciples writing learned
discourses on the epistemological significance of cat-tree-tying, and you
see how it goes.

So when students don't have an adequate background of definitions to

duplicate what they hear, they will be firmly convinced that they heard
something else. And then they will proceed to base their thinking and their
attitudes and their actions and everything on what they thought they
heard. You know, there's even a funny line about that: “ I know that you
believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize
that what you heard is not what I meant.” And it's true. It happens so many
times, that people will mis-duplicate our communication. And we see it in
spiritual life, especially with the kīrtanas: we'll sing one thing, and then
everybody will go of and sing exactly what they thought the tune was
supposed to be, but actually it was something else. Maybe it was
something close to that, but not exactly. But the devil is in the details, or
actually Kṛṣṇa-bhakti is in the details. The difference between a very sort
of plain-Jane tune and something that's really rasika will often be in just a

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few notes, or in some subtle timing or the intonation, or any number of
fine distinctions that one has to make to do really, really nice kīrtana.

And the same thing in the philosophy: there are a bunch of very fine
distinctions that in the beginning don't seem to make any difference, but
actually in the long run they make a great deal of difference. We're talking
about rasa; this Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is only about rasa. That's all it's
about; this whole big thick book. Two volumes, how many pages? Nine
hundred and sixty pages in Volume One, and Volume Two is just about as
hefty. So sixteen, seventeen hundred pages of dense, highly technical
information about rasa. But I remember in ISKCON hearing devotees
talking very casually about rasa like, "Hey, what's you're rasa, dude?"
Having a very, very rough and inaccurate understanding of what rasa is.
Here's my challenge to those of you who are in ISKCON, or know people
in ISKCON, or hang out at ISKCON temples somewhere: go up to any of
the authorities in the temple, the temple president or some big sannyāsī or
some guru and ask him, "What are the five ingredients of rasa?" Ask him!

[to Nava-yauvana dāsa] What are the five ingredients of rasa?

Nava-yauvana dāsa: Sthāyi-bhāva, vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika-bhāva

and vyabhicārī-bhāva.

Bābājī: See, everybody here knows what they are. But I bet you can go up
to any big, big leader in any big, big ISKCON temple and ask him this
simple question: "What are the five ingredients in rasa?" and they can't
tell you. It's like "What are the five ingredients of sweet rice?" milk, sugar,
ghee, rice, and a little pepper. You have to know what are the ingredients
of something before you can make it. Otherwise, it's just words. I can say
"Sweet rice, sweet rice, rice rice, sweet sweet," I can chant that all day, but
I won’t get a nice cup of sweet rice out of that. I have to know the
ingredients, and go in the kitchen and make it. Then I can physically,
tangibly have sweet rice to offer to the Deity. And the same with rasa. We
can talk about rasa all day, but to actually make rasa we have to know the
process.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 258
In Los Angeles in the early days of ISKCON, there was a group of
devotees who met together to discuss the Nectar of Devotion, and they met
separately from the other devotees of the temple. And they called their
little group the “Gopī-Bhāva Club.” And their idea was that "We're
advanced because we're discussing rasa." And the only thing they had to
go on was Prabhupāda's current edition, at that time I think it was the 1972
edition of Nectar of Devotion. And we've been through this issue in this
series of classes, and we know how many editorial mistakes there are in
that edition. So these devotees were meeting together, and they were
trying to discuss the most exalted subject in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is
the devotional service of the gopīs. And all they had to go on was this
really rough edition of Nectar of Devotion that had so many errors in it.

And Prabhupāda knew this. He just hadn't had time to go back and give a
proper translation. But meanwhile these devotees are thinking like,
winding each others' spring, so to speak. They were arrogant: "We're the
Gopī-Bhāva Club! Hey, cool, wow Prabhu!" And Prabhupāda just stopped
it. He just said: "No, this is nonsense, stop it. Don't do this anymore. You
haven't even understood Bhagavad-gītā. How can you try to understand
the Nectar of Devotion?" So now, fortunately, due to our Godbrother’s
efforts in translating Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , we have an accurate edition,
much more accurate. Maybe it's not perfect, but it's a lot better than what
we had before. And we also had over thirty years of practical application
of bhakti-yoga and our own sādhana and realization, so now we're in an
actual position to talk about these things, and to discuss bhāva and rasa
and the ingredients of rasa, and how to approach all these things in the
proper way. So, with that introduction, we're going to look at verse
seventeen.

kleśa-ghnī śubhadā mokṣa-laghutā-kṛt sudurlabhā

sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā

“The unique characteristics of bhakti are: its ability to destroy suffering;

its bestowal of auspiciousness; its disregard for liberation; its rarity of

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 attainment; its manifestation of concentrated bliss; and its ability to
attract Kṛṣṇa.” [Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17]

This verse is very important, because it's actually the subject matter for the
entire First Wave. What we've been going through so far is basically the
introduction. The introduction is not broken out into a separate section; it's
part of the First Wave. But actually this is the beginning of the First Wave,
because it gives the subject matter for the First Wave. The previous verses
about the excellence of pure bhakti are giving the subject matter for the
entire book. The previous three or four verses, especially talking about
pure bhakti, give the overall subject of Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu; and
now this verse gives the subject matter for the First Wave, which are the
unique and astonishing characteristics of bhakti.

Of course, Rūpa Gosvāmī's talking about pure bhakti, uttama-bhakti. How

do we know this? Because this was very, very carefully defined and
elaborately commented upon in the previous verses. So if you have been
following along with this series, you heard those explanations in great
detail and extremely high language, very subtle points about the nature of
pure bhakti. And pure bhakti is what it is because it has these special
qualities, these six qualities:
• the ability to destroy suffering,
• it bestows auspiciousness,
• its disregard for liberation,
• rarity of attainment,
• manifestation of concentrated bliss, and
• its ability to attract even Kṛṣṇa.

These six qualities are going to be explained in great detail in the

following verses. They are what make pure bhakti special. The subject
matter of the First Wave, therefore, is a general overview of bhakti. And
not just any kind of bhakti, but uttama-bhakti, the highest bhakti, pure
bhakti, pure devotional service. This is the special characteristic of a pure

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devotee: the pure devotee has pure bhakti, and offers this bhakti to the
Lord continuously. And because of this offering, all these characteristics
manifest in their experience, in their consciousness: that suffering is
destroyed, it bestows auspiciousness, liberation is disregarded, it’s rarely
attained, it manifests concentrated bliss, and it attracts Kṛṣṇa.

So Jīva Gosvāmī comments:

In verse ten it was said that the qualities of bhakti will be discussed
in this chapter. Why? To show bhakti's supreme position. This
verse mentions those unique characteristics of bhakti in brief.

In other words, we're not talking idly about these qualities of bhakti, we're
not just making a laundry list; but there's a definite purpose behind it. The
purpose is to show that bhakti is superior to every other spiritual method,
every other spiritual path. And this will be proved elaborately from the
śāstra itself. This is not just Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī's opinion. Although even if
it were, I would be happy to accept it just because of who he is. But
actually this is also Lord Caitanya Māhaprabhu's opinion and the opinion
of the Vedas and Kṛṣṇa, and there are pages and pages below that describe
these wonderful qualities of bhakti, and how they manifest in the life of
the devotee.

So we should be very anxious to hear this, because this is what we're

doing here: we are cultivating pure bhakti. That is our reason for being
devotees. There's no other reason. We don't accept any other motivation or
any other desire as being a part of bhakti. That's part of the definition of
bhakti that was given in the previous verses. So here we go back to the
original topic that we started with tonight: that some people hear about
bhakti, and think: "OK, so I’m a devotee, but I can still continue to work
at my job and hang out with my girlfriend and smoke a little dope on the
side, and I have my hobbies like my car and my dog, and every once in a
while I go out and have a burger, but you know, and it's no big deal
because I chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and I'm a devotee." Well, sort of. Somehow or
other, in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, this wonderful definition of

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pure bhakti given in the scriptures, and confirmed again and again by so
many quotes in the upcoming section that ratify and confirm and support
these points, has gotten turned into something very different than the
original.

I remember a few years back I heard an interview with rock singer Boy
George; and some reporter was asking him: "I hear you're into this Kṛṣṇa
movement." Boy George replied, "Oh yeah! I'm really into this Hare Kṛṣṇa
thing, it's great, fantastic!" The reporter said, "But you're gay!" And Boy
George goes: "Oh, it's cool to be gay and be a Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa is
the gay religion. It's like, totally cool to be gay and into Hare Kṛṣṇa."
What? I wondered, what nonsense rascal so-called devotee is preaching to
him? He's got it completely wrong. Sinful activities are sinful activities.
Illicit sex is illicit sex, whether it's gay, straight, with animals or whatever
your perverted mind can think of; it's still illicit sex. Illicit sex is breaking
the principles. That's an offense. That means you're ineligible for pure
bhakti.

So if you're not engaging in devotional service to get pure bhakti, why are
you here? What is this all about? If it's not to get pure bhakti—if it's to
become a big, big religious leader and make millions of dollars and rack
up lots of frequent flyer miles, that's not pure bhakti. It's not pure bhakti if
you want to make a big splash with the ladies and have a lot of girlfriends,
be popular—that's not pure bhakti. It's not pure bhakti if you want to
become a big, big scholar and be able to defeat anybody by quoting so
many śāstras and ślokas; that's not pure bhakti. That is covering bhakti
with jñāna and karma. It's not bhakti either if you want some mystic
powers to be able to see into the future, or understand what's inside
somebody's mind or control them by mystic power. That's not bhakti,
that's yoga; that's mystical stuff. We're not into any of that. What we're
here for is to please Kṛṣṇa; and when we please Kṛṣṇa then these six
wonderful qualities manifest. When we try to use bhakti to please
ourselves—with karma, yoga, jñāna, or any other way—then these special
qualities do not manifest, because they are proper to pure bhakti alone.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 262
Bhakti, if it's not pure then it's not, in a sense, really bhakti at all. It's just
like, here I have a glass of pure water. Because it's pure, it satisfies my
thirst. This pure taste is very nice. In fact, it's so nice that Kṛṣṇa says in
Bhagavad-gītā:

"I am the taste of water." [Bhagavad-gītā 7.8]

Kṛṣṇa identifies Himself with the taste of water because water is pure. But
if somebody puts a little turpentine in the water, then it will not
accomplish its specified purpose of satisfying thirst. Or if somebody puts
alcohol, or blood or any one of a million contaminants in the water, then it
won’t do what it's supposed to do. The satisfying properties of water are
predicated on its purity. Similarly, uttama-bhakti is very pure like water,
and when you take it, it satisfies the soul. Just like the body has a natural
thirst for pure water, the soul also has a thirst for pure bhakti; and if we
don't get it, then we run here and there trying all kinds of other things, but
they don't work very well. But if our bhakti is contaminated, if our bhakti
is not pure, it does not have the same quality of satisfying the soul, just
like the water that's contaminated with some pollutants does not have the
quality of being satisfying. Did you ever go someplace where they have a
lot of chlorine and fluoride and all kinds of nonsense in the water? If you
go to New York, and you taste the water it's like: "Whoa! What kind of
chemistry set did this come from?" It's not drinkable; it's not something
you want to put in your body.

So similarly, impure bhakti is liable to cause you more problems than it

solves. We can't recommend it; we can't tolerate it either, in the people
who are close to us. And our requirement is that when you join our
community, your aim is to develop pure bhakti; and especially if you
come here to live in our āśrama or be closely associated with us, you
must be following pure bhakti or we won't accept your association. That's
because we want to cultivate pure bhakti, and to do that we have to restrict
our association to those who are practicing kevala-bhakti alone. That's our
principle. That's our platform. That's our value proposition. That's what
makes us special. That's what makes us different. That's why we can hang

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 263
out our brand and say: "We are the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas," not
the religion of the Vedas, not the philosophy of the Vedas, not the armchair
Monday morning quarterbacks of the Vedas; not the political committee of
the Vedas; but we are the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas, and we give
Esoteric Teaching seminars. Welcome to our Esoteric Teaching seminar
for today. This defines who we are and what we're doing: that we're
talking about pure bhakti, and pure bhakti has all these wonderful qualities
that we will discuss in detail in this series.

Uddhava dāsa: Why is pure bhakti so rarely attained? But it gives so

much benefit, you know? And then, still it's rarely attained.

Bābājī: Precisely because of this issue that people do not take care to
make sure their bhakti is pure. And even just a little bit of contamination
renders bhakti almost impotent to confer its special benefits. There's a
quote in the Vedas that:

"Even just a little bit of sand in a bowl of sweet rice, and the whole thing
is ruined."

Sweet rice is so nice. It’s very, very satisfying; but only when it's pure. If
anything contaminates it, the whole thing is ruined; it's rejected. We have
the same attitude towards bhakti. Bhakti, when it's very, very pure, oh,
there's nothing like it. Really it's just wonderful! But if it's contaminated—
if it's covered over by any of these things, karma, yoga, jñāna, speculation
—then we don't like it. Why? Because it does not give the wonderful,
astonishing results of pure bhakti, which are given in this verse.

So let's jump into this and look at this first wonderful quality, which is that
pure bhakti destroys all suffering.

tatrāsyāḥ kleśaghnatvam
kleśās tu pāpaṁ tad-bījam
avidyā ceti te tridhā

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 "The first topic, its ability to destroy all suffering, will be discussed.
Suffering is threefold: sinful reaction, the seed of sin and ignorance."
[Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.18]

Here we enter into a discussion of how bhakti relieves all suffering. When
people hear this they tend to be skeptical: “You mean just by chanting this
mantra I can eliminate all suffering? It doesn't sound at all plausible. Just
by this little song I can get rid of all my suffering? How is it possible?” So
now we're going to explain how it's possible; and it begins from an
analysis of the anatomy of suffering.

Suffering has three main parts.

And actually he states them backwards in time, or in terms of cause and

effect.

Ignorance is the first thing, then the seed of sin, which is material desire,
and finally sinful reaction.

How it works is that first one will be or become ignorant, either by

circumstance or even by desire; ignorant of the real truth about what is sin
and what are the results of sinful activities. Then because of that, they will
begin to cultivate a desire for sinful activity. And then, because of
cultivating this desire, eventually they will act upon it. Actually, it will
happen by the laws of material nature. And then there's the reaction:
suffering. Suffering is the reaction; and actually, all three of these things
are suffering: ignorance is suffering, cultivating sinful desires is suffering,
and sinful reactions are suffering. They’re all suffering, but from subtle to
gross. Ignorance is subtle suffering. Cultivating sinful reactions is in
between; and actually performing sinful reactions and getting the results,
is gross suffering.

We see people going through this cycle all the time. Out of ignorance, they
don't know that a particular activity is sinful. Let's take for example eating
meat: because of ignorance, which has been deliberately cultivated in our
society, people don't know that eating meat is wrong. They don't know that

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 265
the cruelty that they treat the animals with is going to come back to them
in the form of karmic reaction. Some of these people even believe in
karma, but they have the wrong definition of karma. They think that, as
put it, “What goes around comes around,”

They think, “So if I'm nice to people, then people will be nice to me.”

“OK, but what about the animals? How are you treating the animals?”

“Well, it just says in the Bible, 'do not murder'.” That's what Christians
say.

If you say, “But Jesus says, 'Thou shalt not kill;' Why are you killing?”

“Oh, it's OK to kill animals, they’re meant for us to eat." they say.

Uddhava dāsa: Material taste.

Bābājī: Yes, they are driven by the taste to enjoy, instead of the taste of
serving and helping others. Here they are, somehow or other convinced
that animals don't have consciousness. But anybody who's had a pet
knows that animals have feelings. How could they have feelings if they
didn't have consciousness? How could they have desire? How could they
have intelligence? It's well-proven scientifically that animals have
intelligence; they can learn, they can communicate, so many things. How
can they do that without consciousness? It's not possible. You know from
your own experience that everything you do—learning, action, desire,
communication—involves consciousness. So do you think the animals are
any different? This is ignorance. There's so much data, so many proofs, so
many ways that they could come to the right conclusion, but somehow
they come to the wrong conclusion. Why? Because they have sinful
desire, a taste for selfish enjoyment. They want to enjoy the material
world, and so somehow or other, they rationalize it. What this means is
they accept ignorance as truth.

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This is very unfortunate. Because then, the next thing they know, they're
down at McDonald's; and if that doesn't kill them, then the sinful reaction
of all of that junk food will. So now there's record numbers of people
getting heart attacks and different terminal diseases, cancer and such
things, as a sinful reaction for their meat-eating. That's the way it goes.
The violence which is performed on the animal, reacts upon the eater. You
can't say: "Well, I'm not killing the animal! I'm just going down to the
store and buying a burger." That doesn't cut it, because you're paying
someone to kill the animal for you, and dress it and pack it and ship it and
sell it and so many things. You're paying all those peoples' salaries by
paying for the meat at the store. So all those sinful activities will come
back on you, as well as on them.

So, people are so ignorant; they don't realize that the whole material world
is intelligent, and everything we do is recorded. Everything that we do is
known. People are so up in arms now about the regulation of the Internet:
"Oh, now they're gonna know everything I do. Oh, they're spying on us!
Every site we visit, they're gonna know; they're gonna record it." Well, so
what? Everything you even think is recorded; it's recorded and it's played
back at the time of death. And this playback is analyzed to determine what
proportion of sinful activities and pious activities you have performed, and
then you get the next body according to the result of that analysis. So what
to speak of your web-surfing, everything you even think is recorded.
Everything you feel, everything you want, your desires, your dreams,
everything; and that all goes towards creating a sinful reactions or pious
reactions. So first, let's discuss sinful reactions.

tatra pāpam —
aprārabdhaṁ bhavet pāpaṁ prārabdhaṁ ceti tad dvidhā

“First we will discuss sinful reactions. There are two types of sinful
reactions (effects of sinful acts): effects that are experienced in this
lifetime (prārabdham) and effects that will be experienced in future lives
(aprārabdham).”

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There are two types of sinful reactions. Sinful reactions are the effects of
sinful acts. They may not be connected in time, and this is one thing that
makes it very difficult for ordinary people to understand the law of karma:
that the cause and the effect may be widely separated in time. The effect
may come even in the next lifetime. Therefore, there are two kinds of
sinful reaction: prārabdha, which means it comes in this lifetime, and
aprārabdha, which means it comes in a future lifetime.

tatra aprārabdha-haratvam, yathā ekaḍaśe (11.14.19)

yathāgniḥ susamiddhārciḥ karoty edhāṁsi bhasmasāt
tathā mad-viṣayā-bhaktir uddhavaināṁsi kṛtsnaśaḥ

Here is an example of destroying all aprārabdha reactions from the 11th

Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [11.14.19]:

“My dear Uddhava, devotional service in relationship with Me is

like a blazing fire that can burn to ashes all the fuel of sinful
activities supplied to it.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.20]

What a wonderful verse spoken by Kṛṣṇa! Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary

says:

Just as a blazing fire used for cooking and other purposes turns wood
sticks to ashes, so bhakti directed to Kṛṣṇa in the form of actions such as
hearing about Him, somehow or other burns up all sins which will be
committed.

The hint in this verse is that, although devotional service destroys all
sinful reactions both in this life and in a future life, that's not its real
purpose. The real purpose of bhakti is only to satisfy Kṛṣṇa; but as a
byproduct of satisfying Kṛṣṇa, it burns to ashes as much sinful reaction as
you can throw at it. Take a fire, for example: the more fuel you put on the
fire, the bigger it blazes and the more it burns. And you can just keep
adding fuel to a fire unlimitedly; it will burn whatever you give it. That's
the nature of fire. So the nature of bhakti, no matter how many how many
sinful reactions you have coming, you can throw them at the bhakti and
bhakti will burn them up; it will annihilate them.

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The power of bhakti is so strong because the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is directly involved. He has the power, of course, to nullify all
sinful reactions. He can purify anything; His influence is so strong. So we
shouldn't worry about sinful reactions when we're engaged in pure bhakti.
Now if we're not engaged in pure bhakti, well, we don't know exactly what
will be the result.

Uddhava dāsa: I have one question about this verse. I don't know if it's
just the translation or the Sanksrit that it mentions "When this bhakti is
rendered unto Me," or Kṛṣṇa is saying, "unto Me." Is there any other
bhakti that's not for Kṛṣṇa?

Bābājī: Well, go back to the definition of bhakti given in the eleventh

verse. What does it say?

"The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions

directed towards Kṛṣṇa, His expansion forms or others related to Him."
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]

Bābājī: So bhakti can be towards Nrsiṁha or Nārāyana or Viṣṇu, or

Vāmana or any other expansions or avatāras, or His devotees or His
temples or His qualities or His scriptures or anything related to Him.

Uddhava dāsa: In this verse He's saying, "bhakti directed towards Me."
So He's being more specific?

Bābājī: Yes. He says "Devotional service in relationship with Me." He's

specifically talking about the platform of rasa. He's talking about rasika
devotional service. The exact word is " mad-viṣaya bhaktir." Look up
viṣayā.

viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha ha'be mana

[Lālasāmayī Prārthanā, from Prārthanā by Narottama dās Ṭhākur,
verse 3]

We sang that last night.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 269
Uddhava dāsa: Mat-viṣayā – with Me as the object.

Bābājī: Ah! Yes. So Kṛṣṇa is especially indicating devotional service

directed toward Him as the object. But that object could also be any of His
expansion forms, because They are all equally potent. He's not limiting the
object of bhakti to His form as Kṛṣṇa. He's saying, in other words, “Any
devotion directed towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead...

"...can burn to ashes all the fuel of sinful activities supplied to it."
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.19]

So it doesn't matter how much sinful reactions we have stocked up in

aprārabdha form; these are all destroyed by pure bhakti.

prārabdha-haratvam, yathā tṛtīye (3.33.6)

yan-nāma-dheya-śravaṇānukīrtanād
yat-prahvaṇad yat-smaraṇād api kvacit
śvādo'pi sadyaḥ savanāya kalpate
kutaḥ punas te bhagavan nu darśanāt

Here is proof of destroying prārabdha reactions from the Third Canto of

Bhāgavatam [3.33.6]:

“To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the
Supreme Person face-to-face, even a person born in a family of dog-
eaters immediately becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he
once utters the Holy Name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or
chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or
even remembers Him.” [Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.21]

The previous verse talked about aprārabdha reactions that are going to
manifest in a subsequent lifetime; but this verse talks about prārabdha
reactions that will manifest in this lifetime. Because we not only have to
worry about what will happen in the future, we have to be concerned about
what will happen in this life too; and if we have so many sinful reactions
coming from our previous activities, then how can we make any
advancement in life, or accomplish anything worthwhile? But here it's
stated that:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 270
 "...even a person born in a family of dog-eaters..." [ Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu 1.1.21]

We can understand that dog-eaters are very sinful people, because dogs are
very impure, and it's very nasty to eat them. So if a person is born in such
a degraded position in life, we can understand that they must have a lot of
sinful activities which are manifesting in this lifetime, prārabdha.
Prārabdha, that's what it means: sinful reactions manifesting in this
lifetime. Aprārabdha means in next lifetime; but prārabdha means now.
So the evidence of past sinful activities is that they're born in a family of
dog-eaters. Now, even if such a person performs any kind of devotional
service, even once chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, they immediately
become eligible for performing Vedic sacrifice. Now, performing Vedic
sacrifice requires a lot of knowledge, a lot of purity, a lot of pious
activities, so many qualifications. It's not easy to do; you have to be
qualified. Now, how is it that some rascal dog-eater can immediately
become qualified to perform Vedic sacrifice? Well, it doesn't say that he
immediately becomes qualified; it says that he immediately become
eligible. Eligible. What does eligible mean? “Chosen for that purpose.”
He's a candidate for performing Vedic sacrifices. Not that he immediately
goes from being a dog-eater to being a qualified brāhmaṇa performing all
kinds of sacrifices; that's not possible. But the possibility opens up;
whereas before, there was no question about it. But if he's just walking
down the street and he sees some devotees chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa,
immediately he has the possibility of walking over to them and taking a
book, and going back to the temple with them and staying there the rest of
his life and getting trained up in devotional service not saying he's gonna
do it, but he has the possibility. He becomes eligible because any
contact with devotional service, especially for a person like that means, in
practical terms, it means contact with devotees. So either through a book
or some other medium or personally, somehow or other, this person is
coming in contact with devotees, and that gives him the opportunity to
become trained up in devotional service if he so desires. Kṛṣṇa never
forces us to do anything, especially in terms of desiring. But if we want,

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the possibility is open. So anyone who is listening to this webcast, or
watching the YouTube recording later on, or reading this as a book, is in
this same position. And actually this applies to all of us, because all of us
were born in sinful Western families, or became entangled in the sinful
Western lifestyle. Somehow or other we got rescued from that. How did
that work? This śloka describes it. Somehow or other we came in contact
with devotees; we came in contact with the power of devotional service,
and because we had some small desire that: “Oh, I want a better life,” or “I
want to know what this is all about” or “I want to find God” or something
like that, we approached the devotees, we got involved, we started
performing devotional service, one step led to another, and here we are,
actually performing Vedic sacrifice. This verse is about us. It's about
you and me. This verse explains how we became devotees. Because of
this extraordinary quality of devotional service, pure bhakti, to destroy
sinful activities, thanks to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's so wonderful.

Śvadaḥ refers to a particular class of persons who eat dogs. That is

because the derivation of the the word is the noun śva, dog, combined
with the verb adam, eating in the present tense. This refers to a person
who possesses the nature of eating low food like a carnivorous animal. If
the verse were to refer to remembrance of the Lord's name as the
atonement for accidental eating of dog flesh, the past tense should be
used: "The person who ate the dog."

But in this case the present tense is being used. So that means he's still
doing it.

In any case, there is the rule of rudher yogam apahity, conventional

usage overrides etymology. The conventional meaning of śvadaḥ is "a
low-born person" and this contradicts a contrived liberal meaning such
as "a person who ate a dog only once."

All these commentaries are to defeat specific speculative arguments

against the actual purport of the verse. So somebody might say: "Well, it's
impossible for a dog-eater, somebody who eats dog all the time, to
perform Vedic sacrifices; so this must refer to a situation where someone
was actually born in a brāhmaṇa family and, somehow or other by

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 272
mistake, they ate a little dog meat one time." So now Jīva is dismantling
this argument, piece-by-piece.

Thus, the proposition of having the word śvadaḥ refer to an accidental

sin of eating dog flesh is rejected. Therefore, Śrīdhara Svāmī says the
word is the equivalent of śva-pacaḥ—dog cooker. A person of very low
caste.

I guess people like that existed even back in those days.

By hearing or chanting the name of the Lord, or by bowing down to the

Lord or by remembering the Lord, the dog-eater quickly destroys his
prārabdha-karma of this life which have produced his low birth and
which prevent him from performing sacrifices. At the same time, by
devotional acts, he also attains the puṇya—which means good karma—
which creates qualities suitable for performing sacrifices. However, a
person, even if born as a brāhmaṇa, without bad birth, has the need of
Vedic initiation with the Gāyatrī mantra.

This is required. Before a person can perform Vedic sacrifices, they have
to be properly initiated with Gāyatrī mantra. Gāyatrī initiation is the actual
initiation, because it makes you a priest: you can perform weddings,
sacrifices, any of the eight sacrifices of family life. The wearing the
brāhmaṇa-thread is very significant: it means you can open temples, you
can perform all of the duties of a priest. Actually it's a very, very high
qualification to have that thread. So a person who is born, even in a family
of brāhmaṇas, doesn't get to wear that thread automatically by birth; but
because they're born in that environment, they have an ideal opportunity to
acquire those qualifications. The chanting of the Holy Name, or other
devotional service, is so potent that even a dog-eater who performs these
things very quickly becomes qualified to receive that kind of initiation.

This produces in him the special birth necessary for performing

sacrifices.

Because the brāhmaṇa initiation is called the "second birth." Somebody

may say, "Well, if you're not born in a brāhmaṇa family, you can't perform
Vedic sacrifices." That's incorrect, because even a person who is born in a

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 273
brāhmaṇa family has to have a second birth before they're qualified. That
means the actual principle is: one must become qualified for the second
birth and accept that initiation, and then he can perform sacrifices.
Physical birth is irrelevant. So even a person born in a family of dog-
eaters, if they acquire the necessary puṇya, the necessary karmic
qualifications, can accept the second birth, and then the past is wiped out
and they have the opportunity to perform Vedic sacrifices just like any
brāhmaṇa.

Therefore, what has been stated in the verse is that the process of
hearing, chanting, or remembering has the power to elevate even the
dog-eater by eradicating his prārabdha-karmas . What then must be the
power of seeing the Lord directly?

What then must be the elevation of other persons not born so low? The
verse's purpose is not to advocate his immediate performance of Vedic
sacrifices. Similar statements are found elsewhere.

bhaktiḥ punāti man-niṣṭhā

śva-pākān api sambhavāt

"Devotional service fixed on Me purifies even the dog-eaters from

the contamination of their low birth." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.21]

That's another verse from the Uddhava-gītā, spoken by Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava.

So we'll continue discussing this point of this section tomorrow, because
there's a rather long purport coming up. Are there any questions on
tonight's topics?

Uddhava dāsa: You just read that the "prārabdha-karma is destroyed."

And then we talked about, some time ago in the Vedānta-sūtra that the
aprārabdha is destroyed for the devotee and the only thing left is the
prārabdha.

Bābājī: Yes, but not all of the prārabdha-karma; just a portion, whatever
is needed to maintain the body. Let's take the example of people like us,
who were born in Western families which are addicted to meat eating and

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 274
illicit sex and all that nonsense. If we had stayed in that situation, like
most of our peers, then we would have continued those activities even in
this life, due to prārabdha-karma; but now our activities are completely
different: we're not doing those things anymore. We're engaged in pure
devotional service; so it must be that the prārabdha-karma that caused
that low birth, and would continue to cause these same sinful activities,
has been removed. But other prārabdha-karma that simply causes the
existence of the body, has not been removed. It's just that the body is now
purified of the sinful prārabdha-karmas. But the ordinary or normal
prārabdha-karmas remain. And the reason for this is so that the
enlightened people can stick around and teach others. Otherwise who is
going to represent Kṛṣṇa? Who is going to instruct people in this art of
devotional service? If everyone who becomes self-realized just
immediately leaves the body and goes back to the spiritual world, who is
going to tell people about this thing? As soon as someone became self-
realized, they would disappear. The whole system of disciplic succession
would fail, because nobody who was left would be self-realized. So then
we would be stuck. We would have only theoretical knowledge of bhakti
and as we have experienced, that is not sufficient. We have to have access
to one with realized knowledge; we have to have practical knowledge,
practical realization, to keep going with the process; otherwise, the process
very quickly becomes corrupted and fails.

Uddhava dāsa: So this prārabdha-karma can be understood something

like: "A person is kind of cursed or sentenced to be in the mode of passion
or in the mode of ignorance in which all their actions are controlled by
nature," basically. Like a dog. You put food and he will always go for the
food. He can't choose.

Bābājī: Yes. If you look at a person's birth chart, that gives an astrological
picture of their prārabdha-karma . That's what we're seeing in the birth
chart: "He's got this sun in this particular sign in this house, and this rising
sign and this moon and all these things going together. And this gives a
picture of a certain type of individual." But if that person becomes

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 275
engaged in devotional service, that can change many, many things in the
chart. It probably won't change their overall lifespan and things like that.
But it will certainly remove all the sinful prārabdha-karmas, for sure. And
it may also release other forces in the chart that are holding them back
from, let's say, becoming an artist or whatever it is they want to do for
Kṛṣṇa.Just like Jadurani is a good example. When she first came to Śrīla
Prabhupāda she wasn't an artist. What was she doing? She was working as
a clerk or something like that. And Prabhupāda was working on his books,
and he was saying: "You know, we really need an artist to do the book
covers." And she said: "You know, I've always wanted to be an artist. Can
I try?" And Prabhupāda said, "OK I'll instruct you." And so she started
working and she worked very hard, and she developed the ability to paint
very nicely to for Kṛṣṇa in just a few months. So of course, under the
inspiration of Prabhupāda, he had this tremendous force driving him to
bring devotional service to the West, so we can understand his presence
was very inspiring and very elevating. All those devotees made
tremendous advancement in a very short time.

So the prārabdha-karmas that are holding a person back from reaching

their full potential, can also be destroyed without substantially changing
maybe the span of the life or other things. Well, the health improves. So
many things improve when one becomes a devotee, because you're not
performing sinful activities anymore. The sinful activities are the things
that are so hard on the health and the nerves and the psyche and all that.
They're going to discuss, a little bit later on in this topic, how the
aprārabdha-karmas manifest in the form of premonitions. Thinking that,
"Oh, something bad is gonna happen in the future." Because you have the
impressions stored in the mind in subtle form that: "Oh, I did this and I did
that, and now I'm gonna have to suffer for that." You don't know exactly
what will happen or when it will happen, but you have this feeling of, "Oh
boy, something bad is gonna happen." Because the impressions are there;
they’re just sitting there, waiting for the right time, the right situation. So
even the aprārabdha-karma causes mental anxieties even before it
actually manifests.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 276
Question from Thiago: "Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my humble
obeisances. Is there such a thing as karma to learn and spread Absolute
Truth? Or it only happens by free will?"

Bābājī: It's not karma, because karma is material. Karma could make you
a bank president, but it won't make you a guru. Devotional service is done
by the pure free will of the soul wanting to love Kṛṣṇa, and to spread this
wonderful science to as many other people as possible.

Question from Don: "So if people think they can't change the aspects of
their chart, they are basically not going to change anything unless they
bring in bhakti to their life?"

Bābājī: Yes. How can you change your birth? It already happened. It's
done; the die is cast. Unless you have something higher, more powerful
than karma, how can you change karma? Just like when we talk about
changing consciousness; you cannot change consciousness from the
mental platform. Because the mental platform is below consciousness; it's
less powerful, it's one of the effects of consciousness. You can't change the
cause by working on the effect. So similarly, you cannot change karma by,
for example, attending a course on “how to win friends and influence
people.” You can change karma by bhakti, because bhakti is more
powerful: bhakti is on the spiritual platform, and the spiritual platform is
of course higher than mind, intelligence or false ego. So by engaging in
bhakti we purify the prārabdha-karmas, and then whatever is left of the
prārabdha-karma becomes our karma for the rest of that lifetime. It feels
almost like you're losing something. People are so attached; they're even
attached to their suffering. And when they become engaged in devotional
service their suffering begins to melt away, and sometimes they'll become
upset: "Wait a minute? I'm gonna have to give this up? I'm gonna have to
give that up? I'm gonna have to give up my smoking and my drinking and
my illicit sex and my... all my other nonsense?" But wait a minute, all that
is suffering. Because the verse that we just read says that:

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 277
 "Suffering is of three parts: sinful reaction, the seed of sin, and
ignorance." [Śrī bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.18]

That's called the threefold suffering of material existence. So all these

things connected with karma are suffering: suffering from beginning to
end. From the beginning of the concept of material existence, all the way
through the actual experience of the reaction of sinful activities: it's all
suffering. There's no enjoyment in it. People think: "Oh, I have to give up
my enjoyment, my intoxication or whatever my nonsense is." But that's
not enjoyment really, it's suffering because it creates karma, and in the
future you're going to have to take another material body and suffer all
that—the traumas of birth and so on—just to get the result of those
karmas. It's not a very good deal. Engagement in bhakti doesn't destroy all
of our karma, but does clean up the sinful reaction part.

Nava-yauvana dāsa: In many of these verses, we find Jīva Gosvāmī's

commentary elaborately using Sanskrit grammar to prove exactly what
Rūpa Gosvāmī meant in that verse. Why doesn't he just say that: "Look,
Rūpa Gosvāmī is my uncle, and I studied with him for thirty years. If
anyone knows what he meant, it's gonna be me." Otherwise, there's always
a thought that there might be some other grammarian who could use a
better argument and prove something else that he meant.

Bābājī: Well, that's understood by any astute reader of the book: “This is
not just anybody writing a commentary. This is a very close disciple, a
very closely-related person.” But he also has to follow the Vedic form. For
example, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s comentary on Vedānta-sūtra uses a
five-fold structure. Where Vyāsadeva will make an assertion ( viṣaya) in
the form of a sūtra; and then there will be a counter-assertion
(pūrvapakṣa): thesis and antithesis. And then the synthesis, the resolution
of the objection, has three parts: the first part is the statement of why this
idea is wrong, the second part is presentation of Vedic evidence to prove
that it's wrong, and the third part (siddhānta) is a statement in ordinary
language of the logic of why it's wrong. So actually, Jīva Gosvāmī is
simply following this formula. Maybe not always in the complete form

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 278
like it is so formally done in Vedānta-sūtra, especially Baladeva
Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s wonderful Govinda-bhāṣya commentary strictly follows
this form throughout the whole thing. It's this amazing tour-de-force; and
you learn the art of Vedic argument and debate just from reading this. It's
so wonderful because it covers every possible point, every possible
objection, every possible nonsense philosophy. So this is what he's doing
in his commentary: he's taking apart the typical arguments that crop up. In
this example that we just read, it would be from the caste brāhmaṇas.
They're saying: "Well, certainly you can't be talking about a real dog-
eater! It must be someone who is actually a brāhmaṇa like us and born in
a brāhmaṇa family, and then he just happens to have a dog-burger at the
beach, or something." The caste brāhmaṇas are trying to rationalize the
real meaning of the verse away, and take some other meaning because
they can't imagine that anyone not born in brāhmaṇa family could ever
become qualified to perform sacrifice. But, if that's true, then that means
Kṛṣṇa is wrong in Bhagavad-gītā for saying that:

"I created these four varṇas by quality and work." [Bhagavad-gītā

4.13]

So what Jīva Gosvāmī is really affirming here is that anyone can change
the quality of their work by bhakti. And that is the key to bhakti
eradicating suffering, because bhakti can even destroy the prārabdha-
karma of the present life. It not only destroys the aprārabdha-karmas of
the following life, but it even destroys the sinful karmic reactions of this
life. And he'll go on to show how it also counteracts the other things: the
seed of sin and ignorance. This section goes on for another twenty or thirty
verses, so it's a very elaborate argument; a very, very cogent argument that
proves the fourteenth verse. The first of the six amazing qualities that
bhakti has is that it destroys all suffering. And the point that they're trying
to make here is how it destroys suffering, and as a sub-point in this
particular topic: “By the way, anybody can do this. You don't have to be
born in a particular family, you don't have to have a particular kind of

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background. Even a dog-eater can do it. Anybody can do it. All you have
to do is perform pure bhakti as it's given in the scriptures.”

Nava-yauvana dāsa: And the aim of this section is to convince the reader
to take up this path of bhakti, right?

Bābājī: Well, of course. It's more or less assumed, though, that the reader
is actively engaged in bhakti, or why else would they be reading this? So
the point in this stage of the discussion is to educate the reader actually
how wonderful bhakti is, and also to convince him that: "If you're not
getting all these benefits, you need to amend your practice of bhakti so
that your practice is pure." And then he gives all the methods in a very
detailed way. The next Wave is on sādhana-bhakti, and will be a very
intricate discussion of all the methods of sādhana. So if you're not already
on the stage of bhāva-bhakti where all these things manifest, he's telling
you how to get there.

Uddhava dāsa: It's for devotees.

Bābājī: Yes, it's for devotees; it's not for the general public. That's
incidentally why we don't have general public programs. We're not
interested in preaching to the general public; we're interested in teaching
those devotees who want to perfect their practice of bhakti, how to do it.
This knowledge is coming from the preeminent authority, Śrī Rūpa
Gosvāmī, who was directly empowered by Lord Caitanya to give this
teaching. That's why we're studying this particular book. There are so
many temples and teachers and svāmīs and places you can go and hear
Bhagavad-gītā. There are fewer, but still quite a few places where you can
hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . But how many places can you go to hear
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu ? Especially in the original Sanskrit, with the
original verses, the original commentary? It's very, very rare; we're
probably the only people in the world that are studying this? Why?
Because nobody else cares! They're into something else, other than pure
bhakti. They're into having a big temple, a big community, a big false ego
or whatever their desire is.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 280
So they don't want to know about this Esoteric Teaching, because this is
going to tell them: "No. No. No. Turn it down; tune it down; make it
small; make it intimate; make it very, very pure; only accept the people
who are very serious; don't worry about the big temple and the big, big
this and that. Just like have your little scene, and keep everything very
personal, very pure, very ecstatic, and continue like that." That's the only
way that a teaching like this can be propagated. If you create a big group,
then you have to lower the standard so that everybody can be included.
That is the nature of a big group. It goes along with the territory. You can't
artificially change it, otherwise everybody will leave. If we had a big
group, like the ISKCON temple down the street, and we start talking about
pure bhakti, everyone would run away. I went there one Sunday and they
asked me to give class. I started talking about Bhagavad-gītā 10.8, and
talking about the Kṛṣṇa and His energies, energies of creation. So of
course I started talking about Vedānta-sūtra, and:

athāto brahma jijñāsā [Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.1]

Is the first sūtra. That is the question: “What is Brahman?” And the
answer is:

janmādy asya yataḥ

"From whom all of this creation has come." [ Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.2]

That is the Vaiṣṇava philosophy in a nutshell: that God has energies, and
He is in control of those energies. He is the Owner, the Origin, the
Controller, the Enjoyer, and the Doer through His energies. And that this is
precisely the point on which the argument of Māyāvādī philosophy turns.
And they say: "Actually God doesn't have any energies; everything is
simply God. There's no difference between God and His energies." So I
was talking like this; and we've talked over these points many times. This
is just basic Vaiṣṇava philosophy. And later on the temple president came
up to me and I asked him, "How was the lecture?" And he said: "Oh, it
was too high. Nobody knew what you were talking about." There was

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 281
maybe a hundred and fifty to two hundred people in the temple room. "Oh,
Prabhu, it was too high." And that night we were leaving after the feast
and one very intelligent man came up and he said, with his hands together
praying, "Oh thank you, thank you, I've been waiting to hear this for
years!" One, out of two hundred people! So if we started giving class there
all the time, eventually they would be down to like two or three people.
Those two or three would be really into it; but everybody else would go
away.

Prabhupāda used to say: "We're selling diamonds. When you sell

diamonds, you can't expect to have too many customers because diamonds
are very, very expensive. They're also very, very high quality gemstones.
Among gemstones, diamonds are the top." So Kṛṣṇa is like that in every
department; He is the top. And in devotional service, the top means pure
devotional service. Among all the different processes of religion and
different forms of worship, different types of philosophies, this pure
bhakti is the top. But it's a diamond; it's very expensive. You have to
dedicate everything. So not too many people will buy it. Just like that
quote that I put on the front page of the site. I recently rewrote the
introductory essay on the front page and it ends with this quote that:

“When there is hunger and thirst, tasting varieties of food and drink
make one feel satisfied. Similarly, worshiping the Lord with pure
devotion awakens powerful, astonishing and ever-increasing
transcendental bliss within the heart. Pure devotional service in
transcendental consciousness is very rare: it cannot be procured by
ordinary religious or pious activity, even for hundreds of thousands of
lives. It can be obtained only by paying one price: intense desire to attain
it. If it is available somewhere, surely one must acquire it without
delay.” [Śrī Padyāvalī, 13-14]

And to get these amazing benefits, there's no need for any other process.
In fact, trying to do any other process along with bhakti diminishes its
results. But the point is that this process is very, very rare, because only a
very intelligent person, a very pious and a very fortunate person, is going

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 282
to be able to let go of all these other things that contaminate bhakti, and
come to the pure bhakti. This is why pure bhakti is very, very rare.

There aren't many people who have the discrimination to recognize why
pure bhakti is superior. Those devotees who were puttering along in mixed
bhakti and who have been puttering along ever since I was in ISKCON
twenty or thirty years ago, are probably puttering along in the same rut
their whole lives, they can't tell the difference! They honestly, sincerely
cannot tell the difference between what they're doing and what we're
doing. They think we're doing the same thing as they are, only on a
smaller scale. They really think that! They really think that we're just a
bunch of small-time country boys, and they're downtown. They really
think that. They don't have the discrimination; they don't have the
intelligence to see that we are doing something qualitatively different. It is
said: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." So
we're giving all these wonderful, high philosophical arguments based on
principles of pure bhakti, which originate with Lord Caitanya; and those
who can appreciate them are welcome to them. Enjoy them! Perform the
process, get the result and experience the benefits of pure bhakti. And if
you can't appreciate this pure bhakti, well just change the channel. We'll
get by; we'll be OK. We're being taken care of directly by Kṛṣṇa. That's
the value of what we're doing.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 283
 Chapter 11: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.21-23
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 11, 2009

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī: We will continue our discussion from the

previous lecture [Chapter 10: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17-20] about
the poor dog-eater [laughter]. He's down at McFido's having lunch and he
hears the kīrtana party go by. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says about him
that:

"To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see

the Supreme Person face to face, even a person born in a family of
dog-eaters immediately becomes eligible to perform Vedic
sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His
pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him."
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.33.6]

That’s very easy to do here in India. From “Veṅkateśvara Hardware Store”

to “Śrī Rāma Cloth Merchants,” all these Holy Names are everywhere.
You can’t avoid the Lord’s Holy Name. The Lord confirms in Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto that:

"Devotional service fixed on me purifies even the dog-eaters from

the contamination of their low birth." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
11.14.21]

This discussion is in the context of a discussion about suffering and how

bhakti, specifically pure bhakti, eradicates suffering. How does it do that?
It destroys two kinds of karma: prārabdha and aprārabdha. Prārabdha-
karma is the karma that’s due to manifest in this life, and aprārabdha
means the karma will manifest in the next life. There is a controversy
about this verse. How is it possible that a person born in a very low family

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suddenly becomes eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices? The next verse
reads:

durjātir eva savanāyogyatve kāraṇam matam

durjāty-ārambhakaṁ pāpaṁ yat syāt prārabdham eva tat

"It was understood that the low birth of the dog-eater is the cause
of his disqualification for performing sacrifice. The sinful reaction
by which he attains such low birth in this life is called the
prārabdha sin." [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.22]

Here is Jiva Gosvami’s commentary:

This verse, starting with durjātir eva, explains how the previous
verse illustrates removals of prārabdha karma. The cause of being
disqualified for sacrifice (savanāyoyatve 'pi kāraṇam) is a low
birth (durjātiḥ) only in the sense that it produced the sinful nature
which is not favorable for being qualified for sacrifices.

Jātīḥ means birth and dur means difficult, bad or troublesome. In other
words, anyone can theoretically become qualified for doing sacrifices by
taking the proper training. But, most people don’t do that; and the reason
they don’t do that is because they have a sinful nature. Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.18 discussed how suffering is of three kinds:

• The karma itself, the karmic reaction from the sinful activities.
• The seed of sin which is desire.
• Ignorance.
"Suffering is threefold: sinful reaction, the seed of sin and ignorance."
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.18]

The sinful reaction here is the low birth. The seed of sin is the sinful
nature; it causes a person to desire sinful or material activities. Ignorance
is the lack of information that this is not the natural or normal healthy
spiritual condition; this is something you have to take care of. But, most
people are completely ignorant of this; they think that everything is OK

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and they’re just normal. They don’t realize that they have a serious
disease.

Low birth or durjāti is not the sole cause of his disqualification for
sacrifice, for even those born in brāhmaṇa families without bad qualities
are not qualified. Even those of high birth must attain additional
qualification. They must undergo the second birth which gives them a
special purity which makes them qualified for performing sacrifice. Even
if you're born in a family of brāhmaṇas, you can’t just start performing
Vedic sacrifices; you have to be initiated first. To be initiated means that
you have to acquire certain qualifications; you have to meet specific
criteria.

Now, it is a fact that the sinful person dissolves the prārabdha-karmas

producing bad birth and qualities which are unfavorable for conducting
sacrifice. How does he dissolve it? By chanting, hearing or remembering
the Holy Name, or some contact with devotional service or devotees.
Association of devotees is the key to making any kind of real spiritual
advancement.

But since he does not have the second birth, because of previous lack of
virtuous behavior, if he actually wants to perform sacrifices he must take
another birth in the future and then undergo the second birth rites which
will bestow the particular purity which will destroy the lack of
qualification inherent even in the sons of brāhmaṇas. In that sense,
commenting on the words, savanāya kalpate in verse 1.1.21, Śrīdhara
Svāmī says "being immediately qualified for sacrifice means that he has
given the respect due to a qualified person."

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it says:

"To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see

the Supreme Person face-to-face, even a person born in a family of
dog-eaters becomes immediately eligible to perform Vedic
sacrifices." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.33.6]

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It doesn’t say that he can immediately perform sacrifices. It’s not like a
person is walking down the street who hears somebody chanting Hare
Kṛṣṇa and then they immediately go and start performing the Vedic
sacrifice; that’s not going to happen. It means that now they become
eligible to perform sacrifice; they gain the possibility. How? By
approaching that devotee who is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and inquiring:
"What are you doing? Tell me about this. How can I do this?"

What should be understood from the words "immediate destruction of

sinful reactions in this life which have caused bad birth" is that there is
destruction of the sufferings to be experienced in this life (caused by bad
birth) through the action of bhakti. In other words, he got the bad birth
because of sinful reactions. And those sinful reactions would be operative
throughout the whole life. A person, especially here in India, who is born
in a very low family is basically marked for life. Everybody is born in a
low family in the West [laughter]. But even in the West, a person who is
born in a very, very poor family will be marked.

For example, a person born in a very poor rural family in a Southern state
in the US: [In a funny Southern accent] “That person’s always gonna talk
a little funny.” [laughter] And people are going to know: "Oh you’re a
poor yokel from some backwoods village." No matter how hard he tries,
he can’t erase that mark. But, if somehow or other he goes to Harvard, the
first thing that’s going to happen is that all of his frat brothers are going to
be on his case until he learns how to talk normal. [laughter] By that
education, he will overcome the influence of his very low birth, from a
material standpoint.

From a spiritual standpoint, the reason why he got that low birth is
because he has sinful reactions from the previous life. Normally, those
sinful reactions would operate through his whole life, and he would have
to experience all kinds of unhappiness because of that. For example,
people would encounter him and their reaction would be: [in a disgusted
voice] "Oh, you’re a dog-eater. Ew, get out of here." What happens if he

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becomes a devotee is that now he no longer identifies with that birth, and
because he no longer identifies with that birth, with that identity, the sinful
reactions no longer affect him. They may even happen to him; he may
even get problems. People may say:

[In a materialistic person's voice]: "Oh, you’re Charlie, the dog-eater. I

remember you."

[In a devotee's voice]: "No, no, no, I'm Kṛṣṇa dāsa now. Hare Kṛṣṇa!
Please chant this Holy Name."

[In a materialistic person's voice]: " Get out of here, you dog-eater!"

[In a devotee's voice]: "Ah. Haribol! Haribol!."

He is now no longer identified with that material designation. I keep

telling people about changing your consciousness. Well, this is what it
means: if you want to be free from suffering, you have to change you
consciousness so that you’re no longer identified with the designation
that is the recipient of your bad karma. But, because we don't have time
to explain all of this every time we want to help somebody, we have to
say: "Well, just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. [laughs] And all these things will
happen." One of the things that should happen when you chant is that you
stop identifying with this material body. Because this identity of “I am the
son of so-and-so, I was born in this family, in this country, in this
socioeconomic group” and so on and so on, all these material
designations, they attract karma like flies. Whatever karma is affecting
you, that caused you to take that birth, is always going to be invoked by
identifying with that body. As soon as you don't identify with that body
anymore, even if the karma continues to affect that body, it won't affect
you. Why? Because you know that you're different from that body.

What should be understood from the words "immediate destruction of the

sinful reactions in this life which have caused bad birth" is that there is

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destruction of the sufferings to be experienced in this life (caused by the
bad birth) through the action of bhakti.

The sinful reactions from the previous birth are nullified through the
action of bhakti because we don't identify ourselves with the body
anymore. If you still think you're Joe Blogs, then you will react to any
karma coming to you. But, if you change your consciousness, direct it to
the spiritual platform, then you don't see yourself as Joe Blogs anymore.
You see yourself as a spirit soul who is not identified with this body. So
the sinful reactions might affect your body, but you don't suffer because
you know: "I'm not the body." Those who are engaged in this process of
bhakti don't suffer from the bad karma of their previous life. That's what
destruction of prārabdha-karma means.

Thus, this is a suitable example to illustrate the topic "destruction of all

prārabdha-karmas ." In a similar way, it is said:

ma vāsudeva-bhaktānām aśubhaṁ vidyate kvacit

janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhir bhayaṁ vāpy uajāyate

"There is no sin at all in the devotees of Vāsudeva. Birth, death, old age,
and disease do not give fear to them." [Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma-stotra ]

There is a similar verse in the Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma, phala-śruti :

na vāsudeva-bhaktānām aśubhaṁ vidyate kvacit

janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi bhayaṁ naivopajāyate

“No actually inauspicious condition is ever imposed on the devotees of

Lord Vāsudeva, and therefore they do not fear having to take birth in
this world again to suffer the miserable conditions of old age, disease
and death.” [Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma, phala-śruti ]

This is very, very important; this is a big deal. It's a very big deal because
people understand that: [in a materialistic person's voice] "Oh, I'm
suffering because of what he did. I'm suffering because of what they said.
I'm suffering because the weather is bad. I'm suffering because I have

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bad luck." They come up with all these excuses that all mean the same
thing: "I'm suffering because of something outside of me." But this is not
correct. If you're suffering, you're suffering because of your karma. If you
want to get released from your suffering, you have to destroy that
prārabdha-karma. That's the only way. Otherwise, even if you stop this
guy from saying whatever he is saying about you that's disturbing you,
then somebody else will start saying it. Or, even if you move to get away
from the bad weather, then the weather in the new place will get bad. You
cannot get away from your prārabdha-karma; you have to destroy it. The
only way to destroy it is with bhakti. Here is Viśvanātha Cakravartī's
commentary:

Yogyatvā or qualification means the essential nature which

qualifies a person for performing sacrifice. One should not say, "If
that lowborn person really has qualification for sacrifices why
does he not then perform sacrifices?" (This implies actually that he
is not qualified.) He does not do sacrifices, not because he is not
qualified, but because he does not have faith in such actions, since
he is not endowed with pure bhakti.

The same prārabdha-karma that results in a low birth also results in

mental qualities like lack of intelligence, lack of faith, sinful desires and so
on. If someone has desire for sinful activities, they're not going to perform
sacrifice. To become qualified to perform sacrifice means that you have to
give up sinful activities for long enough to get trained and initiated to
perform them. That's just not an option for most people because they have
this disqualification. They're not endowed with pure bhakti.

And other householder devotees born in high families perform these

actions only to teach the common people in general not to abandon duties,
although they too have no faith that these actions have any value. They're
talking about religious sacrifices like rituals.

Thus, the Gītā says:

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 karmaṇaiva hi saṁsiddhim
āsthitā janakādayaḥ
loka-saṅgraham evāpi
sampaśyan kartum arhasi

"By prescribed actions as well as hearing, Janaka and others

attained realization of ātmā. Thus, just with the consideration
of setting examples for others, you should perform work. "
[Bhagavad-gītā 3.20]

In other words, we actually aren't following the path of Vedic sacrifices.

We are following the transcendental path; the Esoteric Teaching of the
Vedas. Sacrifices are the exoteric teaching of the Vedas, the public
teaching. When people think of Vedic knowledge or Vedic civilization,
they think of going to the temple and performing sacrifices: having the fire
altar, all the paraphernalia, chanting so many mantras, big, big prayers,
and big offerings. It's a spectacle. It's like entertainment; it's like holy
entertainment. This may have been the dharma for a previous age. In the
Dvāpara- and Tretā-yugas, temple worship and the performance of great
sacrifice were the yuga-dharmas. But, in Kali-yuga, that doesn't work
anymore. The main reason is that there is a lack of qualified brāhmaṇas to
perform such sacrifices. We don't actually believe in this path of sacrifice,
although sometimes we perform them. It's basically just to provide a good
example for the people in general, that they should perform religious
duties according to scripture.

It should be understood that their reason for performance of sacrifice is

only because of fear of rumors created by people ignorant of the
devotional scriptures. Explaining that having qualification means being
respected, just like a person who performs sacrifice, arises from a wrong
interpretation of the text. It is incongruous with the actual text. The text
says that the destruction of prārabdha-karma makes one qualified for
sacrifice, not for being respected. That interpretation would be applicable
in the case of a jñānī who had some prārabdha-karmas which instigated
such bad qualities [like eating a dog once in this life] and then regained

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 291
respect by performance of bhakti which extinguished those temporary bad
effects.

We went over this argument in the last lecture. The jñānīs, or the rule-
based religionists, especially here in India, have very, very strict rules. If
you break them then you have to perform prāyaścitta; you have to perform
penance to be reinstated in your previous position. But that is an indication
that they are engaged in a material process, not a spiritual process.
Vaiṣṇavas do not accept penance. The process of penance is for people
who are on the material platform of religion. Why? Because, in spiritual
life, everything is based on consciousness. If a devotee has a minor
accidental falldown, all they have to do is pick themselves up and renew
performing their normal duties. They don't have to go through any special
process of purification, penance, austerity, or some extra thing. They just
go back to their regular performance of devotional service because
devotional service itself is the purifying activity. If something interferes
with your devotional service and you have to stop for a while, instead of
doing penance, just keep on doing your devotional service. Instead of
going to the woods and sitting under the sun with fires blazing around you,
or sitting up to your neck in ice water in the middle of winter (these are
actual Vedic penances) just keep on doing your devotional service. None
of this other stuff is necessary. Your regular devotional service is the path
that leads to the highest purification.

However, happiness and distress are also seen in the devotee, even with
the destruction of prārabdha-karmas. Happiness is one of the incidental
results of practicing bhakti. It is said:

hari-bhakti-mahā-devyāḥ sarvā mukty-ādi-siddhayaḥ

bhuktayaś cādbhutās tasyāś ceṭikāvad anudrutāḥ

"All the perfections such as liberation and wondrous enjoyments

pursue the great goddess of devotion to the Lord like
maidservants." [Nārada-pañcarātra]

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The distress experienced by the devotee is sometimes given by the Lord
(not by karma).

asyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ

tato 'dhanaṁ tyajanty asya svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam

"If I especially favor someone, I gradually deprive him of his

wealth. Then the relatives and friends of such a poverty-
stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one distress
after another." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.88.8]

This verse is spoken by Kṛṣṇa. The verse after this explains that finally,
when the person has no other alternative, he makes friends with the
devotees and then Kṛṣṇa gives him His special mercy.

So in other cases, the suffering of the devotee is a result of offenses to the

Vaiṣṇavas. In other words, if you become a Vaiṣṇava, if you're engaged in
pure bhakti, then the prārabdha-karma is destroyed, except for those
prārabdha-karmas necessary to maintain life and the body. Yet, still it's
seen that the devotee experiences happiness and distress. However, the
devotee's happiness and distress is different from the happiness of the
materialist. Why? Because the devotee's happiness comes from his
association with the Lord. His is transcendental happiness. Similarly, the
devotee's suffering comes from separation from the Lord, or the Lord
disciplining him to get rid of his bad habits, as described in the verse that
we just read. Also, sometimes we see a devotee suffering because they
committed some offense. In that case, they're quickly restored to
devotional service as soon as they realize their mistake. Here is the next
verse:

padma-purāne ca—
aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham
krameṇaiva pralīyeta viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām

Also, in the Padma Purāṇa it is said:

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 For those engaged in bhakti to Viṣṇu, step-by-step the
aprārabdha, kūṭa, bīja and prārabdha-karmas are destroyed. [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.23]

Aprārabdha means in the future life. Bīja means seed karmas. Prārabdha-
karma means the karma of this life. Kūṭa isn't clearly defined here but we
can use Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary to figure it out from the context. This
is Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

This additional quotation from the Padma Purāṇa makes clear the
fact that bhakti destroys prārabdha-karma. The word pāpam is the
substantive which is modified by the words aprārabdha-phalam,
kūṭam, bījam and phalonmukham. This verse particularizes sinful
reaction. Phalonmukhuam (approaching fruition) means
prārabdha-karma (literally "commenced karma"), that karma
which has already begun to fructify, and sinful reaction presently
being experienced in this life as happiness and suffering. Bīja
means that reaction which is about to produce or become
prārabdha, about to be experienced, and is in the form of
impressions. Kūṭa refers to sinful reactions which are about to
become bīja.

It doesn't really explain it very clearly but that's good enough for our
purposes here. Aprārabdha-phalam means those reactions which are not
prārabdha: they are not to be experienced in this life at all, but which
cause effects in the form of kuta, bīja and prārabdha. These aprārabdha-
karma have been acquired without beginning (anādi-siddha) and are
infinite in number (ananta). In this work, aprārabdha-phala has been
called simply aprārabdha (illustrated back in verse 20) when talking about
the dog-eater.

Bīja and prārabdha were reckoned together previously in verse 21. The
remaining type not yet discussed, kūṭa reactions, may be included with the
aprārabdha reactions. So kūṭa is a little bit closer to manifestation than
aprārabdha, but it's still in such subtle form that it doesn't even matter for
this particular life. It's pretty much outside the discussion that we're
talking about right now.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 294
Kramena means that the reactions are destroyed gradually from recent to
previous: from prārabdha, to bīja, to kūṭa, and finally to aprārabdha.
However, verse 21 mentioned that immediately the prārabdha-karmas of
the dog-eater were destroyed rather than gradually. Therefore one should
understand that the prārabdha-karma will be destroyed in the manner of a
needle piercing a hundred lotus leaves. [The needle appears to piece the
whole pile of leaves in one stroke but actually it pierces one leaf at a time].
Similarly, the karmas will be destroyed gradually, though from the
perspective of the unlimited duration of the jīva's existence in the world,
they are destroyed all at once. These contradictions between the two
statements in verse 21 and the present verse are resolved.

He's giving all these arguments because he's anticipating how the
materialistic religionists are going to react to this: [in a materialistic
religionist's voice] "What? Just by chanting this little mantra and doing a
little service in the temple, all the sinful reactions are dissolved? It takes
thousands of births to attain liberation. Are you kidding? You can't destroy
all this karma just by a little devotional service." They're going to argue
that. Then they're going to quote so many ślokas from the Vedas saying
that it takes hundreds and thousands of births to attain liberation.

But the question is inappropriate because our aim is not to attain liberation
at all. Our aim is to attain pure love of Godhead, and liberation is
automatically included in that. The devotee is in a liberated condition of
life even while existing within the material world. We don't feel the
normal aches and pains, ups and down, and gains and losses of life the
way the ordinary material person does. They still happen to us sometimes,
but they don't really bother us. It's not the end of the world. The difference
between our having a good day and having a bad day is: were we able to
stay in spiritual consciousness? Were we able to stay in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness? Are we able to stay in our personal ecstatic loving
relationship with Kṛṣṇa? If we can do that, then no matter what happens,
it's a good day. Even if we get run over by a truck. [laughs] It's a good day

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 295
if we don't forget Kṛṣṇa. Consequently, it can be a bad day even if
something good happens but it results in our forgetting Kṛṣṇa.

Devotional service puts us in a different state of consciousness, and

because of that, the prārabdha-karma is destroyed. It is not destroyed in
the sense of being annihilated completely, but in that we transcend its
influence, its range. It's just like if you know there's going to be an
explosion. You get a call: [in a ruffian's voice] "The house is bombed.
You've got five minutes?" What do you do? Stay in the house and look for
the bomb? No, that would be stupid. What you do is you run out in the
street and you get as far away as possible. If you know that prārabdha-
karma is coming, you know it's going to cause us suffering. The proof that
you have prārabdha-karma is the fact that you have a material body. So
we know that prārabdha-karma is coming and it's going to cause us
suffering.

The cure then is to get out of range. How do we do that? We stop

identifying with the object of karma: the body. And we stop performing
sinful material activities which are the cause of karma. These two things
together basically mean that we're not subject to the law of karma
anymore. Does that mean that we're not going to suffer at all anymore?
No, because sometimes, just by the force of circumstances or by the nature
of the body that we have, there's going to be some suffering. But we don't
have to identify with that. There's a saying that I like: "Pain is required,
suffering is optional." This body is going to experience pain because it's a
material body. There's going to be so many pains: hunger and thirst,
sleeplessness, the body getting old and your joints start to hurt, so many
things. But, if we're not identified with the body, we don't think that the
pain is happening to me; we don't suffer. Try to understand the distinction
between pain and suffering. I may be very, very angry because it's raining:
[quietly yells in a grumpy voice] "I wanted to go out and get a tan. Now
it's raining. My whole day is shot. Bah!" This is only because I had some
expectation that I was going to do something that required sunshine. If I
had read the weather report last night, I would know that it's supposed to

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 296
rain all day today, and I would just make other plans. Similarly, if you read
the weather report in the scriptures, you know that this body is going to
experience pain, because it's a material body; it comes along with it. You
can look up your astrology: if you have a Saturn square then there's going
to be some pain, some annoyance, or something. But, you don't have to
suffer.

For example, last week I was sick. Most of the day I had to rest, take it
easy, or just stay in my room. What I did was spend hours and hours
transcribing Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , which doesn't take much energy; it
doesn't take a whole lot of anything except time, attention to detail and
stuff like that. I had plenty of time, nothing to do, and had to rest anyway
as my body felt like crap, so I just sat at my desk and did a little
transcription work. If I got tired, then I would rest for a while and then I
would come back to do some more. And because of that, even though my
body was sick, I wasn't suffering. I was in an ocean of nectar, paddling
around very happily, experiencing so many wonderful things. Similarly,
even if there's suffering in the body, the devotee doesn't have to suffer.
Even if there's pain in the body, the devotee doesn't have to suffer because
the devotee knows: "I'm not this body. I'm the spirit soul. I'm the
consciousness within." Even if something goes wrong, I don't have to get
all wound up about it. I don't have to think that it's happening to me.

If you say: "Where's your hand?"

Somebody will say: "OK, this is my hand."
"Where's your arm?"
"OK, this is my arm."
"Where's your shoulder?"
"This is my shoulder."
"Where's your head?"
"This is my head."
"Where's your consciousness?"
"Uh, um." [laughs] Usually they'll point to their head. If you ask them
why:

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"Why do you say your consciousness is in your head?"
"Well, my eyes are there; my ears are there."

No, those are your senses. Those are the things that you're conscious of ,
or you’re conscious of the world through those senses. That doesn't mean
your consciousness is there. Where's your consciousness? Can you show
me your consciousness? No. Why? It's not part of the body. You can say
“my body, my head, my arm, my senses, my mind,” even “my ego,” but
you can't say where the I is located. All you can say is: "I'm here,"
wherever ‘here’ is. [laughs]

The spirit soul can go from the material world to the highest spiritual
planet in a second, just like Kṛṣṇa. Why don't we? Because we're
identified with this piece of meat. We're identified. Identification means
you think that you are something that actually you're not. We are suffering
from this disease of identification, and this is the cause of all our suffering.
If we could just cure this one suffering, this one disease of identification
with the body, then so many other things would automatically be cured.
How do we do that? It's much more than just accepting a theory: [in a
common person's voice] "Oh, OK, I'm a spirit soul, I'm consciousness, I'm
not the body." Right, but then the next thing that happens is you stub your
toe and you go "Ow!" [laughs] That's not a very powerful way of curing
this disease.

To perform devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is very powerful because suddenly

you have a relationship. You have communication going back and forth
between you, the spirit soul (not the body), and someone who is never
located in a material body, who is never on the material platform, who is
always on the transcendental platform, and whose form is always spiritual.
Suddenly you're operating and experiencing on the spiritual platform,
someplace where this body doesn't exist at all. When we're off in kīrtana-
land, and we're feeling high and ecstatic from the Holy Name, you don't
even think of your body; there is no attention on the body at all. This is the
actual proof of suffering being eradicated by devotional service. Anybody

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can experience this, but it's especially profound in the states of rasa, when
we are feeling a strong mood of emotion towards the Lord.

There are six wonderful qualities of bhakti that we're going to discuss in
this chapter: it destroys suffering, it gives auspiciousness, it disregards
liberation, it is rare to attain, it gives concentrated bliss, and it attracts
Kṛṣṇa. Destroying suffering is not the same as giving concentrated bliss.
In fact, the destruction of suffering, and the disidentification with the
material body that is required for it, has to take place before we can
experience this bliss.

We can't experience it on the physical body platform; it would be too

much. The energy would be just too much; it would burn us out.
Sometimes we hear about people who take a bunch of acid or something,
and they have some kind of enlightenment experience that leaves them
unable to function. They're saying: "Oh yeah, it's beautiful man, it's great,"
but they can't even take care of themselves; they're totally out of it. What
this means is that they did not destroy their prārabdha-karmas , they did
not destroy the causes of suffering or debility in the material body, and
they pushed too far into the spiritual realm by some kind of speculative
process. They encountered energies that were way beyond the ability of
their body to deal with and so they become basically disabled. The path of
bhakti automatically prevents this by insisting on complete sobriety; no
intoxication is permitted on the path of bhakti. That way we don't ever get
too deeply into the spiritual energy; no more than our body or our mind
can handle. We let Kṛṣṇa guide us. We completely surrender to Kṛṣṇa and
he makes sure that we don't get into something that we can't deal with.

Question from Thiago: "If we can stop suffering just by changing our
consciousness and not identifying with the pain, is this characteristic of
destroying the karma exclusive of bhakti? Won't someone who may not
know about bhakti have the same benefit if he changes the consciousness
and stops identifying with the source of the problem."

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Bābājī: First of all, there's some incorrect assumptions here. We can't
destroy karma. We can't destroy suffering. We can't change consciousness.
But, we can perform the process that convinces Kṛṣṇa to change our
consciousness. How? By desiring. We can desire to change our
consciousness and then Kṛṣṇa actually changes it. We can't change it
because we're not our own creator. Kṛṣṇa is our creator and we're Kṛṣṇa's
energy. When I say we should change our consciousness, I'm using a
shortcut way of expressing the process. But actually, we don't change our
consciousness because we don't have the power to do that. However, we
can perform a process that convinces Kṛṣṇa we're serious about wanting to
have our consciousness changed, and then He changes it. Why are we in
this material world? Because we convinced Kṛṣṇa that we really wanted to
be here. He's like: "Are you sure you want to go there? [laughs] You
really want to go there?" [in an excited conditioned soul's voice] "Oh
yeah, yeah!" [in Kṛṣṇa's voice] "OK!" And so here we are. Some time ago
we convinced Kṛṣṇa to put us here; now we have to convince Kṛṣṇa to
take us out. [laughs] How are we going to do that? The whole bhakti path
is there just to do that. That's how we do what we're trying to do.

How then is the suffering destroyed? Again, it's not by us, but by Kṛṣṇa.
The karma is Kṛṣṇa's energy and He can do with it whatever He likes. We
don't have control over karma. We have control indirectly; we have
control over our activities. If we like to fully engage in devotional service,
then we can stop creating more karma. But, we still have the karma that
we already made coming to us: prārabdha-karma and the aprārabdha-
karma. If that's going to be destroyed, it's going to be destroyed by Kṛṣṇa,
not by us, because we're not even in charge of it. Yamarāja is in charge of
karma in this universe and even he doesn't try to change anybody's karma;
he just delivers the results according to what they deserve. Only Kṛṣṇa can
change your karma.

Now to answer the second part of your question: "Won't someone who
may not know about bhakti have the same benefit if he changes the
consciousness and stops identifying with the source of the problem?" Now

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the answer should be obvious that without knowledge of the process of
bhakti, he can't change his consciousness. Bhakti is how you change your
consciousness. Or, actually, you convince Kṛṣṇa that you would like to
change your consciousness and so He does it for you. A person without
knowledge of bhakti is helpless to change consciousness. They can't do it;
they don't have the tools. If I'm trying to work on my car and all I have is
my bare hands, I'm not going to get very far. I need strong metal tools that
are of the same nature as the car engine. I can't work on a strong metal
engine with just my soft bare hands. I need the proper tools to work with
that kind of material.

Similarly, karma is on the same level as consciousness and stuff like that;
it's ultimately spiritual. I can't work on karma, I can't affect karma or
change karma with ordinary tools such as mind, intelligence and false ego.
Those are improper substances; they're of a different nature than karma.
Karma is spiritual. If I try to work on karma with my mind, it's not going
to work. It's like trying to work on a car engine with my bare hands. It's
the wrong substance; the wrong type of energy. I need tools which are
much, much more subtle. Tools which are much more spiritual to even
approach the level of karma. It has to be beyond false ego. False ego
means that I identify with this body, with this mind, with these senses. I
have to get beyond that before I can even think about doing something to
my karma. And if you look at every other process of so-called spiritual
life: karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, mystical yoga like sāṇkhya, and so on, they
all stay on the level of mind, intelligence and false ego. They never go
beyond that. Our process of bhakti-yoga begins from the result of these
other kinds of yoga which is to realize that I'm a spirit soul. Our process
begins from the highest level that other forms of yoga can reach. How can
any of those other processes affect karma? Karma-yoga is even in the
third and fifth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. But the fact that we're a spirit
soul is in the second chapter; that's prerequisite to these other processes
that act upon karma.

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 Chapter 12: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.24-25
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 8, 2009

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī: We are going to continue with Bhakti-

rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.24:

bīja-haratvam, yathā ṣaṣṭhe (6.2.17) —

tais tāny aghāni pūyante tapo-dāna-vratādibhiḥ

nādharmajaṁ tad-hṛdayaṁ tad apīśāṅghri-sevayā

An illumination of bhakti destroying the seed of sin, namely

material desires, is found in the Sixth Canto of Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam [6.2.17]:

“Although one may neutralize the reactions of sinful life through

austerity, charity, vows and other such methods, these pious
activities cannot uproot the material desires in one's heart.
However, if one serves the lotus feet of the Personality of
Godhead, he is immediately freed from all such contaminations.”
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.24]

That's Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.2.17. The context is the discussion of the six

wonderful qualities of bhakti, and in particular, the first one: that it
destroys all suffering. Suffering is due to sinful reactions. Therefore, by
destroying sinful reactions we can at least stop the cause of suffering. We
haven't got to real happiness yet, but at least we'll stop the suffering.

How does bhakti destroy the sinful reactions? First of all it destroys the
seed of sin. It destroys the desire to commit sinful activities. Other
methods of penance, austerity, yogic meditation and stuff like that may
destroy the results of the sinful activities, but they don't touch the seed of
desire in one's heart to perform sinful activities. The origin of suffering is
separation from the Personality of Godhead. Everyone is suffering because

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they're separated from Kṛṣṇa, and they're trying to find the same joy that
one would get from serving Kṛṣṇa in this material world. This is the origin
of all these desires for sinful activities: “Let me be the doer, let me be the
owner, the creator, the knower, the enjoyer and all these other things.” But
actually, Kṛṣṇa is all these things. By imitating Kṛṣṇa, we create so many
desires which lead to sinful activities, and then we have to suffer the
reactions. Everyone is suffering on account of these reactions. Then what
do they do? They go out and try to commit more sinful activities: “I'm
suffering, so let me enjoy even more. Let me take more intoxication, more
meat-eating, more illicit sex.”

It's a vicious circle leading downwards. An intelligent person – or even a

little bit intelligent person – they will take up some kind of process of
atonement: saying prayers, giving charity, performing sacrifices, maybe
some kind of yogic austerity, renunciation, vows, and those kind of things.
Those can help you overcome the reactions to the sinful activity but they
don't remove the cause of the sinful activity, which is the sinful desire
within the heart. But, pure bhakti – bhakti in general and pure bhakti in
particular – brings us directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, and thus the joy that we get from bhakti completely satisfies our
desires for love and happiness and all these other things. Bhakti uproots
the seed of the desire to go out and commit sinful activities in an attempt
to compensate for the loss of the association of Kṛṣṇa.

If you can serve the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, this immediately removes all these
sinful desires because it removes the underlying cause of separation from
Kṛṣṇa. Here is Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

“This verse is quoted to show particularly the destruction of the

seed (desires which cause sinful acts which cause karma, which
cause suffering).”

It's a chain of cause and effect; like I said, a downward spiral. “I don't
have Kṛṣṇa; I have separated myself from Kṛṣṇa due to ignorance. Now
where am I going to get my happiness? Oh, I'll try to engage my material

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senses in enjoying objects in the material world.” That's a great idea,
except for one thing: those things belong to Kṛṣṇa. When we try to enjoy
them, it creates karmic reaction because we're stealing. We're enjoying
Kṛṣṇa's property without His permission. Where does Kṛṣṇa say in the
scriptures: “Oh, go out and enjoy anything you like in the material word.”
No, He doesn't say that. The scriptures of any religion – not just the Vedic
religion – always try to restrict material enjoyment: “No, you can only eat
this kind of food on this particular day of the week.” Or: “You can only
have sex on this particular day of the month.” Something like that. They
always restrict. In fact, the very word 'religion' comes from Latin re +
legere, which means 'to bind back the senses; to restrict the senses'. That is
the original etymological derivation of the word ‘religion’ itself. Religion
means sense control.

However, even the most strict sense control is not going to uproot the
desire for sinful activities and, sooner or later, we're going to break down
and do it anyway. It is better to just stop the whole process at its root: the
process that causes suffering. It's better to cut it at the root by getting rid of
the original problem, which is that we're separated from Kṛṣṇa. If we serve
Kṛṣṇa nicely in bhakti-yoga then we come in contact with Kṛṣṇa. Our
consciousness contacts Kṛṣṇa directly and then, after that, we feel great
happiness. There's no need to go out and try to enjoy through the senses.
Here is Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura's commentary:

“This verse shows how the seed acts as a cause of sin. Pūyante
comes from the root pūn, which means 'to destroy'. Sins, heavy or
light, (referred to in the previous Bhāgavatam verse) are destroyed
by austerity, charity and vows. The root – the subtle form of the
sins (tad-hṛdayaṁ) arising from evil nature – is not destroyed by
pious acts. The root, however, is destroyed by bhakti to the Lord's
lotus feet because bhakti destroys even the desires for sin.”

The three causes of suffering are:

• sinful reactions (pāpaṁ),

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 • the seed desire for sin (bījam),
• ignorance (avidyā).

So far we have covered the first two. Previously we discussed how bhakti
destroys the sinful reactions even to the degree that a very low-born
person can become a performer of Vedic sacrifice and actually approach
the Lord directly. Here we discuss how the seed of sin, or material desires,
is destroyed by bhakti. And finally, we're going to discuss bhakti's ability
to destroy ignorance.

avidyā-haratvam, yathā caturthe (4.22.39) —

yat-pāda-paṅkaja-palāśa-vilāsa-bhaktyā
karmāśayaṁ grathitam udgrathayanti santaḥ |
tadvan na rikta-matayo yatayo’pi ruddha-
sroto-gaṇās tam araṇaṁ bhaja vāsudevam ||1.1.25||

Next, bhakti’s ability to destroy avidyā (ignorance) is illustrated

[in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam4.22.39]:

“The devotees, who are always engaged in the service of the toes
of the lotus feet of the Lord, can very easily overcome hard-
knotted desires for fruitive activities. Because this is very difficult,
the nondevotees – the jñānīs and yogīs – although trying to stop
the waves of sense gratification, cannot do so. Therefore you are
advised to engage in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa, the son of
Vasudeva.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.25]

What a nice verse. It's a beautiful verse. Here is Jīva Gosvāmī's

commentary:

“Taking up the topic of naiṣṭhikī bhakti's ability to destroy avidyā,

the author illustrates this with two verses.”

Naiṣṭhikī means 'without any impurity'; without any falldown, without any
contamination. Remember the subject of this whole Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu: it's not ordinary bhakti, it's pure bhakti. All of the wonderful

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qualities and properties and activities of bhakti described in this book
apply to pure devotional service, not mixed devotional service. Mixed
devotional service is rejected immediately in the first few verses of this
book by the definitions given of bhakti, which require that bhakti should
be uninterrupted, unmotivated and pure. It should not be mixed with any
other desire or any other process. That means the devotee's life has to be
centered completely on serving Kṛṣṇa. No other activity, no other desire,
no other thoughts. That's the standard. Then all these wonderful things
happen. But unless you reach that standard, then to that degree the actions
or results of bhakti are going to be diminished.

“Ṛkta-matayaḥ, persons with empty minds, means those persons

whose minds are empty of meditation on the Lord. Araṇaṁ means
shelter. Using the process of hearing to represent all the devotional
processes, Sūta Gosvāmī gives the progression in destroying
avidyā or the knot in the heart in the following verses:”

This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.17-21:

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā

[Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful
devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of
the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages,
which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and
chanted.”

These are very famous verses.

“By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by

rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to
the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto
the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental
songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”

Naiṣṭhikī bhakti:

“As soon as naiṣṭhikī bhakti is established in the heart, the effects

of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire

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 and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is
established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy. Thus
established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose
mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the
Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of
Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association.
Thus the knot in the heart – avidyā – is pierced, and all misgivings
are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when
one sees the Lord, who is the ātmā.”

This is a very famous passage from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Naiṣṭhikī-bhakti

means immovable, fixed, pure. We should become naiṣṭhikī-bhaktas and
perform pure devotional service. Then all these wonderful things will
happen.

The image is given several times here of a knot in the heart. When you
take a rope, you tie a knot in it, and then you pull it very tight, the tighter
you pull it then the harder it is to loosen the knot. The more load you put
on the rope, the tighter the knot is going to get. Similarly, these desires for
material enjoyment in the heart are like a tight knot binding us to material
existence. The more sinful reactions that we accrue by these lustful
activities is like increasing the load on the rope, and the knot becomes
tighter and tighter, and more and more difficult to disentangle. Sometimes
the knot will become so hard when you tie a rope that the only way to
undo the knot is to cut the rope. Bhakti – pure bhakti, especially – cuts this
knot. Instead of trying to untangle a complicated knot, the easiest thing is
to just cut it. Instead of trying to disentangle ourselves from material
activities and their reactions, which is very complicated and difficult, we
should just cut the root of the problem. Cut the knot by developing love
for Kṛṣṇa. It's much easier; it's less complicated.

I get these letters sometimes that contain a long, elaborate description of

what's going in a devotee's life and then: “How can I solve this problem?”
I suspect that some of them are disappointed with me when I reply: “Well
just engage in bhakti. Just engage in devotional service and automatically

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all these problems will be solved.” But actually it's true, and the support
for this idea is there in the scripture, in the verses that we just read:

“As soon as naiṣṭhikī bhakti is established in the heart, the effects

of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire
and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is
established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.”
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.19]

If you read in Bhagavad-gītā the description of the three modes of nature:

• the result of the mode of goodness is happiness,
• the result of passion is suffering,
• and the result of ignorance is madness.

Because of madness, because of ignorance, people do so many nonsense

passionate things and then they suffer. All the influence of the mode of
passion and ignorance has to be removed from the heart and the devotee
has to become established in pure goodness. When that happens then
automatically we become happy; automatically we become satisfied. We
don't have to do anything in particular to enjoy that happiness. Happiness
is the natural, healthy condition of the spirit soul.

It's not that we have to engage our senses in some kind of sense enjoyment
to be happy. That's not true. That's the perverted, diseased condition of
material consciousness. That is the cause of suffering, actually. It's so
ironic. The very thing that people are doing to try to stop their suffering is
actually the cause of suffering. It's like sometimes you find out there'll be
a consumer report on some kind of medicine, usually a patent medicine.
Not a prescription medicine but something available over the counter. And
they'll find that it contains some ingredient that actually makes the
condition worse. For example, I remember one that's dandruff shampoo.
Seriously. They did tests and found that the dandruff shampoo actually
makes your dandruff worse. Well, duh! [Laughter] Why? Because they

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want to sell more dandruff shampoo. “Oh this dandruff is getting worse.
I'd better use more.” [Laughter] Really, that's the way these rascals work.

Coca-cola is another very good example. Coca-cola makes you thirstier. It

contains all kinds of garbage. Because these rascal cheaters are trying to
exploit people, they say: “Oh, this will cure your thirst! Here you go, have
a Coke!” And you drink it and you get twice as thirsty. This is going on.
That's the action of the mode of passion. Yes, drinking a Coke will
increase your mode of passion, definitely. It contains so much caffeine
you'll be like, “aaaahhh!”, ready to run around and do all kinds of stuff.

But is that going to make you happy? No, it's going to make you suffer
because that's the result of the mode of passion. It doesn't matter what kind
of passionate activity; the result is suffering. Because passion, in general,
involves the exploitation of material energy, and – here we go back again
to the same old thing – this is not your energy to exploit! It's Kṛṣṇa's and it
has to be used according to His direction. And when we use Kṛṣṇa's
energy according to His direction, that is the mode of goodness. And
because we're engaged in the mode of goodness, utilizing Kṛṣṇa's energy
properly, we're happy.

But this information about how to act in the mode of goodness has been
very carefully and deliberately suppressed in the Western culture. Now
this Western culture has become dominant all over the world, and
gradually people are being misled away from the mode of goodness and
into the modes of passion and ignorance. We're saying the cure for this is
to break this cycle of cause and effect, of passionate activity and suffering,
and simply serve the Lord in goodness and then you'll be happy. It's so
simple. It's so simple that actually an unintelligent person cannot accept it.
A person who is addicted to the material logic or the material conception
of cause and effect cannot understand this. They will insist that they have
to do something to be happy, and what they usually propose on doing is
some kind of activity in the mode of passion. But this is going to make
you suffer.

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You have to stop that and do devotional activities. Devotional activities
are in the mode of pure goodness – goodness with no contamination of
ignorance or passion. Even ordinary religious activities still have some
contamination of passion and ignorance. For example, the Vedic sacrifices
that give material results, karma-kāṇḍa, are done not for the pleasure of
the Lord but for the pleasure of the person performing the sacrifice. Even
though you're acting according to Vedic direction, there's some
contamination of passion: the desire to enjoy. There's also an influence of
ignorance because one does not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and that serving Him is the actual purpose of
human life. Instead, they think: “Oh, I'll do these rituals and then I'll
enjoy.” But that's not perfect knowledge. Perfect knowledge is: “If I
surrender completely to Kṛṣṇa then He'll take care of me. I don't have to
worry about anything.” That's perfect knowledge.

This is describing how the practice of bhakti yoga destroys ignorance.

Here is Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura's commentary on this verse, Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.25:

“With two verses, the ability of naiṣṭhikī bhakti to destroy avidyā

or ignorance is illustrated. Palāśa, petal, refers to the Lord's toes
in this verse. Vilāsa means 'distinctive sport' or 'movement with
distinction' (viśeṣena lāsa) – in other words, beauty increasing at
every moment. Bhakti has two forms: sādhana (practice) and
sādhya (perfection). Karmāśayam means ahaṅkāra filled with
impressions of karma.”

Ahaṅkāra means false ego. Ahaṅkāra: “I think I am this body.”

“... filled with impressions of karma. And this is tightly knotted

(grathitam). This is equated with avidyā.”

This is the image given of the knot in the heart.

“The hṛdaya-granthi (the knot in the heart) refers to this condition.

Please worship Vāsudeva, the shelter. The Vaiṣṇavas ( santaḥ)
untie the knot of ahaṅkāra filled with impressions of karma, tied

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 tightly by the jīva's previous actions, by now performing actions to
the Lord which have the opposite effect – by the process of bhakti,
progressing from sādhana to sādhya, which is offered to His lotus
petal toes whose beauty increases at every moment. Renunciates
(yatayaḥ) cannot do the same. Why? Their minds are without
objects of thought (rikta-matayaḥ).”

He calls them 'empty-minded'. This means they don't have a final goal in
their mind. We meet many yogīs like this. They want to call themselves
yogīs, wear far-out clothes, a cool hairstyle, and usually they wear the
three-line tilaka and like that. And we also see them smoking chillum,
smoking tobacco, taking intoxicants, having sex-life and all this. They
think they're very cool, but if you ask them “Well what is your final goal?”
then maybe they'll say 'liberation', if they're very intelligent. But most of
them just want to gain some mystic powers and enjoy this material world
in a better way, not realizing that the very activities that they're performing
to gain these mystic powers are actually going to cause them suffering in
the future. Maybe they do a little yogic exercise or chant a few little
mantras, and then they're off being engaged in sense-enjoyment just like
an ordinary rascal. What is the point? What is the use of their yogic
activities? It's again like the elephant that goes and takes a bath and then
rolls in the mud. What's the use of it?

“On the other hand santas [commendable persons or saints], have

their minds concentrated on the Lord. They have good
intelligence. The renunciates have attempted to stop the group of
senses which flow like rivers into the sea of material life or
existence. But just as it is impossible to stop the flow of a river,
this attempt to stop the sense is a sign of their foolishness. On the
other hand, the santas engage their eyes and other senses in the
sweetness of the Lord's beauty and other qualities. They are very
intelligent and happy. Araṇam means shelter.”

These people who are following this impersonal path have no final object
of devotion in their mind. How are they different from the ordinary person
who is trying to enjoy their senses? Actually they're not different. They're

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actually following the same process, just at a little bit higher scale of
intelligence. It's actually very little difference between them and a regular
sense-enjoyer. The only thing is they try to regulate the senses a little bit.
Ultimately they try to stop the senses. They have some idea of nirvikalpa-
samādhi or something like that. They give it various different names but it
all means the same thing, which is that the senses do not engage with their
objects. But, factually this is impossible because they don't have any other
object for the mind. What else are they going to think about except the
senses? They may talk; they may give some bluffing talk about
nothingness, emptiness and all this nonsense. Or oneness: “Oh, it's all
one.”

They may bluff about that, but then as soon as they get down off the
podium, we see them engaging in ordinary activities just the same as any
other rascal [laughs]. Even the best of them, the highly-trained Śaṅkarite
brāhmaṇas, and people like sannyāsīs. What are their activities? Opening
hospitals, building temples, and things like that. We don't see any of them
engaged in pure bhakti. They don't think they need it. They think that
ultimately they are God, which is such a nonsense idea that I'm not even
going to bother trying to defeat it. We've been over this ground many,
many, many times on the way to this topic.

What we're talking about now is how to destroy all suffering. The only
way to destroy all suffering is by cutting this knot in the heart that attaches
one to material activity; that actually binds one to material activity. As
long as we're engaged in material activity, we're going to suffer. It can't be
stopped; it can't be avoided. The senses are like rivers. In India here, there
are many rivers, and especially this time of the year in the rainy season
they're full of strong currents of water. Trying to stop these rivers would
be foolishness. It would be madness. Similarly, the senses are like rivers
that flow toward their objects. The eyes are drawn to beautiful sights, the
ears are drawn to beautiful sounds, the tongue is drawn to tasty food and
so on. You can't stop these senses. They're like snakes. Ever try to catch a
snake? It's very hard to catch a snake. You usually get bitten [laughs].

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The best thing is not to try to stop the senses but to simply engage them in
objects that are related to Kṛṣṇa. This is the actual sense control. Control
doesn't mean stopping someone. That's a really low, crude level of control.
You see this a lot in policemen and people like this, whose job is to stop
certain things from happening. For example, somebody is going in their
car and they do something wrong. The patrol car has to chase after them
and stop them. This is very dangerous for everybody. It's dangerous for the
motorist, for the policeman, for the bystanders, for everyone. A high-speed
chase on the highway and then finally they make a blockade and stop the
rascal. Maybe then there's a fight or something. Why not just teach people
how to drive properly? But they don't do that. This is the strangest thing.
I've always wondered about this. Actually I took driving class when I was
in high-school and I learned how to drive properly. And because I was a
young rascal sometimes I would speed and stuff like that. But the point is,
I knew how to drive properly. A lot of people never bothered to learn
driving, as if driving was something that anybody could do automatically.
What is the qualification to be a good driver? There's a lot of things you
have to know. But these people don't bother to look into it at all.

Here's another example that is always inconceivable to me: some people

think they can become a musician without any training whatsoever. “Let
me just pick up a guitar and start to sing,” and, of course, you know the
result is Bob Dylan or something like that. He's a musician but he can't
sing; he's a guitarist but he can't play. He knows like three or four chords
which he repeats over and over and over again. Meanwhile we're all going
[makes yawning motion] “Isn't there a Brahms recital? Some real music
we can listen to?” Music is such a deep thing. Music is such a complicated
thing; it has high, high standards. For somebody to think: “Oh I can just
become a musician without any training,” is actually ridiculous. It's
ludicrous; it's nuts. All you're going to do is degrade the whole art down to
your level of unintelligence.

So the same is true of life in general. Life is a very complicated thing. It's
a very risky thing. You can really mess yourself up if you don't know what

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you're doing. But do people take any education in how to live? No, they
automatically think that they know. I mean, this is the nuttiest thing. This
has always been very puzzling to me, how people could think that there
doesn't need to be any manual, there doesn't need to be any instructions,
there isn't a course you could take that teaches you how to be a human
being or how to live. Isn't it strange when you think about it?

This is the Vedas or the teachings of devotional service especially. They're

giving us a manual for human life; they're giving us instructions on how to
live so that you don't have to suffer. All the suffering that people are going
through in this world is completely unnecessary. It's only due to the
reactions of their previous sinful activities – and they could even stop that.
They could even destroy that simply by engaging in pure devotional
service. Why don't they do it? Instead, they fight against the devotees, they
try to suppress the Vedic philosophy, or reinterpret it so that it becomes the
same materialistic nonsense that they're already engaging in.

Why don't they take up this process? We can only guess that they must be
cursed. They must be cursed by the Lord that they lose all their good
intelligence, and all their intelligence simply becomes directed at material
sense-gratification, because they seem to be very good at that. They're
expert at that. They're expert at causing themselves more suffering in the
future, but they're not very good at figuring out how to release themselves
from suffering. The suffering goes on and on and on. This is the material
world.

We would like to help these people, but without their cooperation we can't
do anything. We can't force anybody to love Kṛṣṇa, just like you can't
force anyone to eat or drink. You would think that as soon as we would
say things like: “This is the cure for all suffering,” or: “This is the way to
destroy all ignorance,” that they would be very attracted. But no. Because
it's 'religion', they're very skeptical. Of course, they have been cheated in
the name of religion before and so have we, but that doesn't mean we
stopped looking. Because when you're cheated by something false, it

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means that there is a real thing. That's why there are so many cheaters;
that's why there are so many knock-offs. You can go to any store and get
Gucci bags that are made in China somewhere. Or Rolex watches. They
look perfectly just like the original, but they're just cheap knock-offs. They
won't last as long or be as accurate, but they look great. The same is there
in religion. A lot of religious teachers, spiritual teachers who look the part
– they're real Hollywood: they have the looks, the delivery, and the whole
thing – but if you follow their teachings, their teachings have no real
substance. They don't lead anywhere.

This is the cheating process in the name of religion. Many, many people
have been cheated because they were young, foolish, and they didn't know
any better; they got involved in some cult or something like that. And then
a few years later they're like: “Yeah, religion. Yeah, I tried that; it didn't
work.” But just because there is a false religion doesn't mean there is no
real religion. The fact that there is a false religion almost certainly
guarantees there is a real religion somewhere that the false religion is
copying, that the false religion is trying to make a buck off of. For
example, if anybody comes up with a hot website these days, immediately
there are a hundred copies of it all over. How many knock-offs of Twitter
are there? We even have one on our website. [laughs] Anything that's
famous, anything that's successful, anything that works is going to have
imitators. It's natural that devotional service, the process of actual spiritual
success, is going to have imitations. Cheaters are going to come along and
copy it, change it and present it in their own way. In the process, they're
going to take all the potency out of it. We have to be intelligent enough to
know this and to correct for the inevitable cheaters; to keep looking until
we find the real thing.

The real thing is here; the real thing is in the Esoteric Teaching, and
especially in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . These are the top. It doesn't get
any better than this: pure bhakti. We've been working toward this level for
years now, trying to build up enough knowledge, enough experience and a
good situation where we could just get our attention off of all these other

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things and simply focus on pure bhakti. That's what we're doing now, and
it's working out very well. I'm spending my days immersed in this ocean
of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and it's a very happy situation for me. This is
the way I like to live. It's very simple. We're even taking very simple
prasādam, nothing elaborate, and worshipping the Lord in His most
merciful form, Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda, and just chanting the holy
name and staying engaged in service 24 hours a day. This is the ideal life.
In the near future I expect this will become a lot more popular. Right now
it's kind of... esoteric [laughs]. But that's the way it's got to be because the
world is full of cheaters. Only a few people are going to find their way to
the real thing. If the forest is filled with a thousand false wells that don't
have any water, how are you going to find the one that really has the water
in it? You're going to have to look here and there, high and low,
everywhere, until you finally find one that actually has some substance,
some meaning.

Don't give up. Read these books. Study them very deeply – scrutinizingly,
as we say – by looking up the words. Keep a good dictionary around. Yes,
they're technical. Did you expect the process for solving all problems to be
so easy anybody could do it? Well actually anybody can do it, but it
requires very expert guidance. You have to know what you're doing
otherwise you'll simply repeat the same mistake that got you in this mess
in the first place. You have to take the association of a pure devotee, and
you have to join a community of pure devotees who are practicing pure
devotional service – not mixed devotional service. This scripture does not
say that these same astonishing qualities, such as destroying all suffering,
exist for mixed devotional service. It doesn't say that at all. In fact, it
rejects mixed devotional service right in the beginning. It says devotional
service cannot have any mixture of any other desire. In pure bhakti the
only desire accepted is to serve the Lord with love. All other desires are
rejected. That includes mixed bhakti because that's what mixed bhakti is:
when you have bhakti along with some other desires. These astonishing,
amazing, exalted, powerful qualities definitely exist in pure bhakti, and as
far as mixed bhakti is concerned, well, nobody can really say. We don't

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want to say anything against mixed bhakti because we don't want to
discourage the people who are on that platform. But at the same time we
have to be honest and say: “You can't expect to get the full results. You
can't expect, for example, the complete cessation of suffering or the
complete cessation of ignorance.” Why? Because there's some
contamination of passion and ignorance. It's very clear. One has to be
situated at least in the mode of goodness, if not in the transcendental mode
of śuddha-sattva, pure goodness. Then all these amazing qualities will
come.

Question from Don: “Is it true to say that because we have senses, it is
sinful to try to nullify them, since the real purpose of the senses is to use
them to worship Kṛṣṇa?”

Bābājī: Well you can't nullify them. The senses are stronger than we are.
If it wasn't so, then the yogīs would be successful in controlling or
stopping the senses. But as we all know, they're not. Even great yogīs like
Viśvāmitra fell down because they couldn't control the senses.

Rūpa Gosvāmī uses the image of a great river. You can't stop a great river;
water is going to flow down. Even if you put some obstacle in the way, it
will go around the obstacle. It's going to flow down to the sea. That's what
water does. Similarly, the senses are also very strong. They're like a great
river, full of all kinds of impressions and desires. We can't stop them; we
can't nullify them. To do that would be like suicide. Maybe that's what
people do when they try to drink themselves into insensibility or
something like that. They're trying to stop the senses somehow or other;
they're trying to stop the mind. But you can't do it that way. You can only
do it by changing their objects. You can't stop the general operation of the
senses, but you can aim them at devotional service to the Lord. When you
do that and you fill the senses with impressions of spiritual quality, then
the suffering of material life begins to dissipate very, very quickly. That is
the process of devotional service, of sādhana-bhakti. The farther we get in
that process, the more of the suffering is destroyed. Remember the sinful

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reactions are only part of the suffering. It's also the desire seed and
ignorance. All these three things have to be destroyed before get complete
relief from suffering. Otherwise, for example, if ignorance is not destroyed
completely, we may make some mistake that will get us right back in hot
water again. All these things have to be done:
• you need the transcendental education,
• you need the actual pure lifestyle,
• and you need to perform devotional service to cleanse the mind.

All those things are needed. You have to stop sinful activities, cleanse the
mind, and educate yourself on the real philosophy of life – the real reason
why all these things are happening. Then you can conquer the suffering.
You can't do it by stopping the senses.

Question from Don: “Thus it is sinful because it is a waste of time?”

Bābājī: It's impossible. It's not even sinful; it's just not possible. Why
bother trying to do something that's out of the question, that can't happen?
Why try to stop the wind? You're not going to do it. It's just going to go
around you. It's bigger than you are. Similarly, the senses are very
powerful. Māyā is very, very strong. The only thing we can do is engage
them in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Then we can control them.

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 Chapter 13: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.26-29
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 10, 2009

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī: We are going to continue with Bhakti-

rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.26:

pādme ca —
kṛtānuyātrā-vidyābhir hari-bhaktir anuttamā
avidyāṁ nirdahaty āśu dāva-jvāleva pannagīm

Padma Purāṇa says the following:

“As the forest fire burns up the female snake demon, supreme
devotion to the Lord quickly burns up avidyā completely by the
knowledge (vidyā) which accompanies it.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-
sindhu 1.1.26]

This is a nice verse from Padma Purāṇa. Remember there were three
causes of suffering:
• sinful reactions (pāpaṁ),
• the seed desire for sin (bījam),
• ignorance (avidyā).

The sinful activities happen automatically if the desire is there. As soon as

the opportunity arises, then boom – the senses will act. Viśvanātha
Cakravarti Ṭhākura comments on this verse:

“kṛtānuyātrā-vidyābhir means 'by knowledge which follows after'.

Such knowledge appears by itself along with the practice of bhakti
even though there is no desire for it. Anuttamā means 'most
attractive'.”

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Hari-bhaktir anuttamā means the most attractive devotional service for
the Supreme. And:

“Pannagīm means 'a female snake'.”

The female snake is the most vicious snake. The male snakes aren't so
vicious, but the females, because they have to protect their eggs, are very,
very vicious. We have experience of that. In this material world, the
female mentality is very dangerous. Especially for one who wants to
engage in devotional service, the association of female mentality is very
dangerous. Female mentality means more or less like a child. A person
who has this mentality considers themselves the center of the universe and
their own desires are the supreme object of worship for them. They tend to
engage everyone around them in that same worship. The female mentality
is very, very dangerous; it's very much attached to the material body and
the senses.

We aren't against women or anything like that, but if someone in a female

body wants to become spiritually advanced, they must give up this
mentality. That's the first thing they have to do. And they have to adopt the
mentality that: “I am a spirit soul different from this body, different from
these senses. These desires of the senses are not my real desires. They're
only coming from the body and I have to bring them under control.”
Someone who takes that attitude is no longer considered to have the
female mentality. Now they have the devotee mentality. This devotee
mentality is very auspicious because it automatically brings knowledge.
Knowledge, vidyā, is what gives us the perspective to conquer over the
senses and the activities of the mind and body. Avidyā means the lack of
this knowledge. When we're talking about knowledge, we mean the
standard background philosophy of the Vedas which is given in
Bhagavad-gītā, the Purāṇas, and so many other scriptures. This is
beginning with the idea that: “I am not this body. I am the soul within the
body. The desires and needs of the body are not as important as the desires

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and needs of the soul.” What does the soul desire? What does the soul
need? Kṛṣṇa. And we attract Kṛṣṇa through the process of pure bhakti.

What is this knowledge, vidyā? Vidyā is especially the knowledge of the

spirit soul and the spirit soul's relationship with God, Kṛṣṇa. This vidyā is
absolutely necessary for self-realization. If you don't have this knowledge,
or if you have incomplete knowledge, then you will not be able to attain
self-realization. Nor will you be able to get the wonderful benefits that are
discussed in the Vedas and especially the six wonderful benefits of bhakti-
yoga given in this book. These benefits are not given by any old bhakti-
yoga but only by pure bhakti-yoga. Pure bhakti-yoga is described in the
11th verse:

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

“The highest bhakti is defined as continuous service or emotions

directed towards Kṛṣṇa, His expansion forms or others related to
Him, with a pleasing attitude towards Kṛṣṇa. It should be devoid
of desires other than the desire to please the Lord, and
unobstructed by impersonal jñāna, the materialistic rituals of
karma or other unfavorable acts.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.11]

If one can cultivate this kind of uninterrupted service, which has very, very
positive affinity toward the Lord, then this is pure bhakti. This platform of
pure bhakti is not obstructed by any other activity or desire, and it has as
its object only the pleasure of the Supreme Lord or others associated with
Him, in any of His forms or expansions, but principally the form of Kṛṣṇa,
the original form of the Lord. If one practices this pure bhakti then there
are six wonderful qualities that manifest:

“The unique characteristics of bhakti are: its ability to destroy

suffering; its bestowal of auspiciousness; its disregard for
liberation; its rarity of attainment; its manifestation of

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 concentrated bliss; and its ability to attract Kṛṣṇa.” [ Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17]

So far, we have discussed the ability of bhakti to destroy suffering. There

are three causes of suffering:
• sinful reactions (pāpaṁ),
• the seed desire for sin (bījam),
• ignorance (avidyā).

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.26 describes how bhakti destroys ignorance,

and this is the experience of everyone who practices bhakti. Simply the
practice of bhakti itself automatically destroys ignorance. The association
of devotees also destroys ignorance because devotees are always speaking
about the Lord, they're always sharing their experiences in spiritual life,
and they're always referring back to the Vedic scriptures, which are the
source of all this knowledge. We have a tremendous store of knowledge
that comes along with the whole package of bhakti, and association with
devotees especially.

One should practice bhakti – not just any kind of bhakti, but pure bhakti –
and then automatically the three causes of suffering are destroyed. When
you destroy the causes of suffering, the suffering automatically dissipates.
Maybe it doesn't happen overnight; maybe it takes some time. Maybe it
takes a few years actually. But one gets into a position where the suffering
of material existence is certainly minimized. And that's only the
beginning. That's only number one of the six wonderful qualities.

Now we will discuss the next wonderful quality: the bestowal of

auspiciousness. This is described in verse 27:

śubhadatvam —
śubhāni prīṇanaṁ sarva-jagatām anuraktatā
sadguṇāḥ sukham ity-ādīny ākhyātāni manīṣibhiḥ

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 “Next, the second unique characteristic of uttama-bhakti, namely
its bestowal of auspiciousness, is discussed. The wise explain that
there are four kinds of śubha (auspiciousness): affection for all
living entities, being attractive to all living entities, possession of
good qualities, and happiness, as well as other items.” [Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.27]

What does auspiciousness mean? It means that whatever happens is good

and favorable. When we say that something is auspicious, it indicates
something good is going to happen in the near future. This quality of
auspiciousness is broken down into four specifics in verse 27:
• affection for all living entities,
• being attractive to all living entities,
• possession of good qualities,
• and happiness, as well as other items.

Jīva Gosvāmī comments:

“Prīṇana or affection for the world means that he works for the
world's benefit.”

What does a person with a sufficient amount of money do? He becomes a

benefactor, he becomes a philanthropist, and he begins to benefit people
with this money by different philanthropic gifts. Similarly, all the bhakta's
problems are solved; he has no difficulties or problems in life. Therefore,
he begins to work for other people's benefit. For example our broadcasts,
podcasts and webcasts are all for other people's benefit. We would be
studying these books, chanting these mantras and doing this worship of
the Lord anyway; but by sharing it with others, we benefit and help them.
The devotee is always engaged in some kind of activity for the benefit of
all human beings or all living entities, and this is auspicious.

The whole world is also attached to the person who works for the benefit
of all beings. Everyone likes someone who does good. In fact, a great
personality is known by the fact that they are very charitably disposed.

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They work for the benefit of others. A great personality – not a phony
great personality created simply by media, but an actual great personality
– is someone whose life is dedicated to the welfare of other people. That's
the definition of a great personality. If you see someone who is very, very
selfish, very venal and low-class, you don't think of them as a great
personality. But if you hear of a great philanthropist or a great leader who
benefits the people in his country, this is a great personality. There's all too
few great personalities these days.

“Though these two items are actually included within ‘possession

of good qualities,’ the third type of śubha, they are listed
separately to show their superiority above all other qualities. Or,
though these two qualities may be included in the attainment of
good qualities, they should not be relegated to the status of mere
constituents. Rather, they are the very svarūpa, the very essence of
all good qualities. Therefore they should be listed separately. This
quality of being honored by all others is also noted in the story of
Dhruva:

yasya prasanno bhagavān

guṇair maitry-ādibhir hariḥ
tasmai namanti bhūtāni
nimnam āpa iva svayam

“Unto one who has transcendental qualities due to friendly

behavior with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all living
entities offer honor, just as water automatically flows down by
nature.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam4.9.47]

In other words, people automatically tend to honor a person who has good
qualities. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta gives a list of twenty-six qualities of a
devotee. The devotee automatically attains good qualities, whereas a
person engaged only in material life actually doesn't have any good
qualities. Even their so-called good qualities are actually bad qualities
because they lead only to further entanglement in material existence,
whereas the devotee, because of having friendship with the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, automatically becomes decorated with all good

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qualities: knowledge, detachment, gentleness, sense of beauty, the ability
to sing and dance very nicely, etc.

Devotees have all good qualities: transcendental knowledge, humility,

honor, respect, the love of the common people. Everyone among the
common people loves a great religious person. It's found that if a spiritual
personality has enemies, they are usually among the so-called upper
classes who feel that this natural attraction is a threat to their power. But
the common people generally always love a spiritually advanced person.
This is natural, just as natural as water flows downhill. It's natural for
people to honor a saintly person.

These auspicious qualities all become the property of the devotees because
the devotees are in touch with the Supreme Personality, who is the ocean
of all auspicious qualities. Another thing that we'll go into in great detail
in the study of this book is the 64 qualities of the Lord. These qualities are
so wonderful and amazing that we'll be in bliss just by studying them.

Here's another quote from Padma Purāṇa in verse 1.1.28:

tatra jagat-prīṇanādidvaya-pradatvam, yathā pādme —

yenārcito haris tena tarpitāni jaganty api
rajyanti jantavas tatra jangamāḥ sthāvarā api

The first two types of auspiciousness are illustrated in the Padma

Purāṇa:

“He who worships the Lord is pleasing to all living entities; and
all the inhabitants of the world, both moving and non-moving, are
pleasing to him.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.28]

How does that work? Because the devotee is in touch with the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, he automatically inherits the good qualities of the
Lord – as far as his ability to assimilate them. A pure devotee possesses up
to 71% of the Supreme Person's qualities – 50 qualities out of 64 –
although in small amount. Kṛṣṇa possesses these same qualities, but in an

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unlimited amount. The other qualities, of course, belong to the Supreme
Person alone.

Because the devotee sees all living entities as emanations from the Lord,
as the Lord's energy, they're dear to him because they are created by the
Lord – they're the sons and daughters of the Lord. All living entities
become dear to the devotee and he tries to benefit them by giving them
spiritual knowledge. That's how this works. The devotee acquires
auspiciousness by being dear to all living entities because of his beneficial
activities for all living entities. And all living entities are dear to him
because he sees them in relationship with the Lord; he doesn't see them in
relation to his own desires. The unenlightened person sees everything in
relationship to what he wants, and if he sees someone that he thinks can
help him get what he wants, then he flatters them, serves them, and does
all kinds of things just to attract their good wishes. But, if the
unenlightened person sees someone who has no value to his desires, he
simply ignores them, mistreats them, or just rejects them.

A devotee of the Lord considers every living entity equally important. He

doesn't consider anyone to be better than anybody else. He sees them all as
jīva souls. And so they all have – or should have – the benefit of the Lord's
mercy. For example, that's why we make all the scriptures, the original
texts, the videos, and the audios of all of our teachings available on our
site for free. We want everybody to have access to them. Not that only
people who can pay deserve to access this teaching; everybody should
have access. Everybody is related to the Lord and so everyone should have
this wisdom; everyone should have this knowledge; everyone should have
the opportunity to serve Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should have the opportunity to
engage in pure devotional service because that is our heritage; that's our
inheritance from our Supreme Father. We all have the ability to use the
Father's energy up to our quota:

īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ

yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat

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 tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā
mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is

controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept
only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his
quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to
whom they belong.” [Śrī Īśopaniṣad, Mantra 1 ]

Everybody in this world is entitled to their particular share of the Lord's

energy, but that energy has to be engaged according to the Lord's
instructions, otherwise it creates sinful reactions. The scriptures are giving
the teachings of how to engage this energy properly. If we follow them, or
if we induce others to follow them, then this is very auspicious for
everyone. In this way the devotee becomes dear to everyone and everyone
is dear to him. These are two qualities of auspiciousness.

Here is verse 29:

sad-guṇādi-pradatvam, yathā pañcame (5.18.12) —

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

That bhakti bestows good qualities and other things is discussed in

the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [5.18.12]:

“One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of

Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods. But one who
is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications, that
are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental
plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy.”
[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.29]

This is a wonderful verse because it brings out the difference between the
devotee and the non-devotee. The devotee has all good qualities, just like
the demigods, and for the same reason: he's engaged in unflinching service

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to the Lord. Bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā: in fact, he has nothing else –
akiñcanā means one who owns nothing. He has nothing else except
service to the Lord. His whole life is nothing but service to the Lord. He
has given up his life, surrendered his life at the lotus feet of the Lord, and
therefore he becomes decorated with all good qualities. This is the same
thing that makes the demigods so powerful. Kṛṣṇa gives them His own
power. He shares with them some of His own qualities so that they can
serve Him nicely as administrators of the material world, of the universe.
Similarly, the devotee is given certain powers and certain qualities to be
able to serve the Lord nicely. The devotee becomes linked with the
spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy is wonderful; it has all kinds of
very attractive qualities.

Here is Jīva Gosvāmī's commentary:

“In the phrase sad-guṇādi-pradatvam , the word adi (other things)

has been added to indicate the devotees’ ability to control the
suras, and by extension, all other beings (since that is what is
stated in the Bhāgavatam verse).”

In other words, the devotee can actually control the demigods. How? By
the power of devotional service. In the ancient times the devotees would
perform great sacrifices. These sacrifices were so wonderful and so
attractive that the demigods would actually appear; they would actually
show up. Now in Kali-yuga, this doesn't happen any more. But the
demigods, or their blessings, are certainly felt whenever we engage in pure
devotional service to the Lord. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā that when we
take the material elements and offer them back to the Lord, the demigods
are automatically pleased and they begin to shower all kinds of blessings
on us. The actual cause of prosperity, success and all these wonderful
things is not our own endeavors at all; it's because we get blessings from
higher powers.

The devotees' view of the world is completely different from the

humanistic view of the world. In the humanistic view of the world,

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humans are regarded as the cause of everything that happens to them; but
actually that's not the case. These different material resources are under
the control of the servants of the Lord – the demigods – and they are
giving or taking the material resources that we enjoy in this world
according to our qualifications, according to our karma. The law of karma
is all-powerful within the material world.

However, the devotee is actually situated in a liberated condition. The

devotee is not situated in the material world; he's actually situated in the
spiritual world. He sort of visits the material world just to take care of
whatever service that he has to do here. The devotee doesn't even consider
himself a resident of the material world; he's sort of just visiting. But,
because of this, he gets all kinds of facilities from the demigods. We all
have stories we can tell about the wonderful things that happen when we
engage in Kṛṣṇa's service. Every devotee has some wonderful stories they
can tell, and this is the evidence that this is true.

“Sad-guṇādi-pradatvam (the power of bestowing good qualities,

etc.) means that bhakti puts at the command of the devotee all
good qualities, the Lord, and others as well.”

Pure devotional service can attract even Kṛṣṇa. That's one of the
astounding qualities of pure devotional service; the devotees can even
control the Lord. Not that they want to control the Lord for their own
benefit, but they want to control the Lord so that He can come and enjoy
their service. In this way they can attract the Lord; they can control Him.

“Surāḥ refers to the Supreme Lord and others – that is, first the
Lord and then His attendants, the devatās and ṛṣis. Samsāsate they
remain under control.”

And there's a footnote here:

“If bhakti gave only the qualities of the devatās (the demigods),
that would not be remarkable.”

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Why? Because:

“Even devatā worshippers can obtain those qualities, which will

be predominantly material.”

If the qualities of bhakti are extraordinary then the meaning of surāḥ has
to include the Lord Himself. Generally surāḥ means 'saintly persons'. And
of course, the Lord is the chief of all saintly persons, so He is included in
that. The Lord, the demigods, His eternal companions, the great devotees,
the sages and all saintly persons are controlled by the devotee. What does
that mean? It means that they give him blessings. So the devotee is never
without blessings; he's never without auspiciousness. This is where the
auspiciousness comes from: the fact that by pure devotional service the
devotees influence all the saintly persons up to and including the Lord
Himself.

Here is Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura's commentary:

“The devotee brings under his control the suras along with
excellent qualities of the senses (guṇaiḥ), and not with any faults
in the senses.”

In other words, not material qualities but spiritual qualities, which are
faultless.

“Thus the meaning is “the devatās in charge of the senses (surā)

remain under the control of the devotee (tatra), along with the
excellent qualities of the senses (under the devatās control). The
non-devotee who pursues material objects (asati) because of desire
(manorathena) has no faultless qualities in his senses.”

Why does the non-devotee have no faultless qualities in his senses?

Because all the objects of his senses and all the objects of his desires are
for his own benefit alone; his own personal or extended benefit.
Sometimes people say: “Well I'm not selfish. I'm trying to get money,
enjoyment and other things not just for myself but for my family, maybe
for my country, maybe for my religion, my political group or some other

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group. So I'm not selfish.” But wait a minute. If these different entities
benefit then you will also benefit, isn't that true? “Well, yes.” So it's
actually selfishness. It's simply extended selfishness. Extended selfishness
means that we seek the benefit of those entities or groups that we identify
with. There is no difference between enjoying or desiring these things for
ourselves and enjoying them for groups that are part of our extended
bodily conception of life. It's just a difference in degree or quality.

But we're talking about changing our consciousness so that we have a

different quality of existence and a different quality of desire; so that our
desire is not focused on our own benefit. In fact, it's not focused on the
benefit of any living entities in this material world, but it's focused on the
pleasure of the Lord. And because of this, we're automatically able to
benefit all kinds of living entities – without even trying. That's the
amazing thing.

Śrīla Prabhupāda would often make the example of watering the root of
the tree. If you water the root of the tree then all the branches and leaves
are automatically taken care of. We don't have to water each one
separately. Similarly, when we worship the Supreme Lord – Who is the
root of all existence – then we please Him. When we please Him, we
automatically please all living entities; we automatically benefit them. By
our service the world becomes a better place – truly a better place.

For example, think of the benefit given by the author of this wonderful
book that we're studying: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . It's because of his work
that so many thousands and millions of people in the future will be able to
understand all these secrets about bhakti. This is really, really wonderful
work; it is really beneficial for the whole world. All living entities will
benefit from this. The world will be changed; the world will be a better
place. This knowledge would be lost if it had not been written down by
Rūpa Gosvāmī. Even then, there is a tendency for it to be lost because it's
so high, it's so advanced, it's so pure, and it's so transcendental that very,
very few people can appreciate it. If you're able to hear this knowledge, if

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you're able to appreciate it, and best of all, if you're able to apply it in your
life then you will get such wonderful benefits.

Kānāi dāsa: When I started this process – maybe I was just two months
into following the regulative principles and also always paying attention to
what you were saying – I was walking through town and someone who I'd
known for years saw me. He hadn't seen me for a long time and said: “Oh
my God! Look at you! You look great! Are you back from a holiday or
something?” I replied “No.” He continued: “You look wonderful.”

I had bleached all my clothes; they were all orange, whitish and kind of
shiny. Everyone else in the place was wearing real dark clothes – grayish –
and I was shining, had a change of clothes, and I looked healthier. He
asked: “Well how are you looking so good?”

I replied: “Well, I changed my whole approach to life. I'm chanting now

and eating prasādam.” It opened so many doors for him to ask: “What is
prasādam? What is this process?” This led to 12 hours of me explaining
the philosophy. I was going to go and do my thing, and he was going to go
and do his thing, but he just couldn't let go of me. He was inquiring: “And
what about this? And what about that?”

I asked: “Don't you have to go to the post office?” And he was saying:
“No, no no! Don't worry about the post office. Tell me more about this.”

There was a big improvement in how I looked. Prior to devotional service,

my eyes were sunken in and looked jaded, but now I just beam. All the
devotees shine.

Bābājī: Yes, when someone is engaged in devotional service they

automatically become happy. Śrīla Prabhupāda used to joke; he said:
“Formerly you were Hippies; now you are Happies.” [Laughs] Prabhupāda
had that way – he could turn a phrase just perfectly. 'Happies', because
devotional service invokes the Lord, and the Lord is always happy. He's

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never subject to illusion, negativity, ignorance, suffering, any of the things
that bother us. He's beyond all that.

Uddhava dāsa: The other example that's very good is when demons
approach devotees for advice. Like when Kaṁsa was trying to find Kṛṣṇa,
or the person who would kill him. Nārada came and Kaṁsa said: “Oh
Nārada, please come. You're my friend because you always tell the truth.”
Even the demons appreciate and value the devotees very much because of
their qualities.

Bābājī: It is said that the demons used to live with their doors unlocked
because they knew that unless they attacked Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa wouldn't attack
them. Of course, Jarāsandha didn't listen to that, but most of the demons
were just like: “OK: He killed Kaṁsa, He killed Jarāsandha. We'd better
leave Him alone.” They stopped messing with Kṛṣṇa after that. The
demons didn't bother to guard against Kṛṣṇa attacking them because they
knew that unless they bothered Him, He wouldn't bother them. That's the
good quality of a devotee: even the demons count on his good qualities.

Question from Kānāi dāsa: Are demons ordinary jīva souls who are
really fallen and became very nasty and corrupt?

Bābājī: A demon is someone who is against the supremacy of the Lord.

That's the definition of a demon.

Kānāi dāsa: Their original starting point is eternal. They were created by
Kṛṣṇa like we were created by Kṛṣṇa, and so originally they had some of
the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa.

Bābājī: The soul is never created nor destroyed. The soul is eternal. But,
because we have free will, we can desire all kinds of weird, perverted,
strange, negative things and get ourselves really tangled up in material
nature. This is what the demons have done. They've inverted values so that
what's good is bad and what's bad is good; what's up is down and what's

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down is up. Their idea of progress is completely wrong; it's backwards.
They think that they alone are the cause of everything that happens.

So don't be a demon [laughs]. When Prabhupāda first came to the US, he

was preaching again and again and again against the Māyāvādis, against
the impersonalists, against the demons. The devotees were wondering:
“Why is Prabhupāda always preaching against the impersonalists and the
demons?” And then it finally hit them one day: “He's talking about us.”
[Laughter]

That's exactly who they had been before they became devotees: demons.
But this process cleanses the heart even of a demon. Prabhupāda knew
this. In fact, when he first came on the boat and they were at Boston
harbor, he was looking at the people and he was thinking: “How am I ever
going to make these people devotees? They're so demoniac; they're so
fallen. They're so covered over with heavy, heavy karma. How am I ever
going to break through this?” Then, of course, Prabhupāda found his
audience in the Hippies. The Hippies were ready to try anything. That was
the mood. [Laughter] That was their good quality. So they would also try
devotional service. Most of them didn't stick with it because then they
went on to try the next thing and the next thing. But a few did, and slowly
Prabhupāda was able to build up his movement like that.

Uddhava: There's several times where Prabhupāda is giving a lecture, and

he would say: “Oh, it looks like an assembly of the demigods.” The
hippies had become very pure and nice.

Bābājī: Yes, he had seen them when they were still all dirty and furry,
wearing weird clothes. When I first joined the temple, we actually would
have to announce to the guests at the Sunday feast that they have to cover
their breasts and genital areas. We had to actually announce that this is a
requirement of attending the Sunday feast. [Laughter] It was the 1960's
and 1970's. Somehow we survived it. We're so fortunate to have these
good qualities. Life is so much more enjoyable when you're not a demon.
[Laughs] Hare Kṛṣṇa!

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Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 335
 Chapter 14: Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.1.30-32
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, November 11, 2009

Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī: We will start with Bhakti-rasāmṛta-

sindhu 1.1.30:

sukhapradatvam —
sukhaṁ vaiṣayikaṁ brāhmam aiśvaraṁ ceti tat tridhā

Bhakti bestows happiness: There are three types of happiness: from

material things, from realization of brahman and from the Lord. [Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.30]

This verse is describing the quality of all auspiciousness. As we have

discussed, there are six extraordinary qualities of pure bhakti:

“The unique characteristics of bhakti are: its ability to destroy suffering;

its bestowal of auspiciousness; its disregard for liberation; its rarity of
attainment; its manifestation of concentrated bliss; and its ability to
attract Kṛṣṇa.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17]

We covered the ability to destroy suffering in the last few verses. Now
we're covering the quality of granting auspiciousness and there are four
types of auspiciousness. These were covered in verse 27:

"...affection for all living entities, being attractive to all living entities,
possession of good qualities, and happiness, as well as other items.” [ Śrī
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.27]

These four are the most important. If someone wants happiness, the most
common thing that they do is they try to get happiness from material
things, and this always fails. [laughs] It fails because material things are
not constituted in such a way as to give happiness to the soul. The soul
cannot get happiness from the material items because they're imperfect,
they're temporary, they're always covered by some fault or some cheating,

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and there's always some mistake. These are also the four disqualifications
of the conditioned souls: they have imperfect senses, they have a cheating
propensity, they are in illusion, and they make mistakes.

These four qualities of the conditioned soul are also true of material
happiness. You try to get something to please your senses, but right away
that's a mistake because what it does is it gives the senses power over the
soul. The soul is begging the senses: "My dear senses, please give me
some happiness." The senses say: "Oh OK, and you're a sucker; come on.
We've got some happiness for you, a special today only." [laughs] It's a
cheating business. The senses cheat the soul because the senses are
inferior to the soul by nature. Just like the cheating rascal at the used car
place; I guess in India it would be the used bicycle place. They're always
cheating; they can't help themselves. This is part of the relationship
between the soul and the senses. The soul is higher than the senses. If the
soul goes to the senses begging some favor, this is immediately a setup to
be cheated. For example, if some very, very high class person goes to
some low rascal on the street begging: "Please do me some favor," what's
going to happen? He's going to get cheated. [in a rascal's voice] "Oh yeah,
just come into this alley here." [laughs] "Show me the money." The next
thing you know, he's cheated. Similarly, when we go to the senses, the
material senses, and the mind, for happiness, we always get cheated.

Another point in this regard is the happiness from Brahman. This is

basically a mental happiness because we cannot really merge with the
Brahman. People think: "Yes, I can merge with Brahman, I can realize
Brahman." But, you can't realize Brahman. Brahman is infinite and the
soul is infinitesimal, atomic. How can we realize the great Brahman? It's
not possible. The most that can happen is that we can get some mental
idea of merging into the Brahman, and we get pleasure from considering
this mental idea: "Oh yes, I am so advanced, I'm merging into the
Brahman." [laughs] This is another form of cheating because it's not
actually Brahman realization. Actual Brahman realization means to
understand that I'm a spirit soul. I'm a spiritual living entity. I'm not this

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body. I'm not this mind either. If we try to take pleasure from the mind,
from some mental conception of ourselves, from any material designation,
thinking: "I am a man, I am a woman, I am this, I am a member of this
family, I belong to this country, I belong to this religion, I belong to this
business," then this is foolishness. And the highest ones are the illusions of
ego connected with religion: "Oh, I am very advanced in religion; I am
very advanced in spiritual life." Actually, we're all fools if we think this.
Then the highest one is: "Oh, I am one with God." This is the highest form
of illusion, the highest form of ignorance. This is the greatest ignorance. A
person is Fool numero uno, fool number one, to think: "I am one with the
Brahman." This is nonsense. If you were one with Brahman, then how did
you get this individual consciousness, individual existence, individual
body, mind, everything. You are a unique individual and you cannot give it
up. Even if you try, you cannot become one with any other individual. In
Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa asserts that everyone is individual. In the second
chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says:

"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these
kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. " [Bhagavad-gītā
2.12]

The soul is eternal and individual. Even if you try, you cannot change it.
Individuality is a quality of consciousness, and consciousness is the
principle symptom of the soul. You cannot separate consciousness and
individuality. Just like you cannot separate consciousness from the soul.
We are eternally existing and we are eternally conscious. Depending on
how we direct our consciousness, to which objects, that determines the
quality of our existence. I have been saying this for years now and a few
people have actually got it. But, most people who hear this don't really
understand what we're talking about. The point is, you can focus your
consciousness on anything, so what are you going to focus it on? Are you
going to focus it on the objects of the senses? The objects of the mind? Or,
are you going to focus it on a spiritual object? We humbly suggest that you
focus it on Kṛṣṇa. If you do this, you will get unlimited happiness. The
happiness of bhakti is not anything like these other kinds of happiness. It's

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not simply a mental construct, like a happiness of Brahman. And it's not
simply the objects of senses; a false promise of happiness like sense
pleasure. This happiness of being in love with Kṛṣṇa, or being connected
with Kṛṣṇa, is real happiness. This is real yoga, real self-realization and
real spiritual life. All others are simply imitations.

The proof that other paths are imitations is that the people who follow
these paths cannot give up their sense enjoyment. They cannot renounce
the material world. If they do, they renounce by force because they have
to, because they're getting old, or something like that, and they can't enjoy
anymore. Then they say: "OK, now I'll pretend to be a sannyāsi and I'll
pretend to be some big, big brāhmaṇa scholar. I'll quote all these ślokas
and try to prove with word jugglery that I am one with Brahman." No,
they're simply cheating.

We don't accept this. Because we don't accept it, people in general don't
know how to understand the devotees. In general, people think that if you
cannot achieve happiness in this material world, then the only other
alternative is to try for liberation. And their idea of liberation is something
impersonal: you cease to exist; you merge back into the Brahman. But
actually, you can't do that; you can only think that you're doing it. Any
pleasure or happiness that comes from this Brahman realization is actually
just mental happiness. It's not really different in quality from thinking that
“I am an American, I am an Indian, I am man, I am a woman, I am this
body. I am a member of this family or this country, of this business, of this
political party,” or whatever. People think like that and they extract a little
temporary happiness from these material designations.

But actually, there is no happiness there. The proof is that all of these
designations have a beginning and an end, and they all have an opposite. If
you think that "I am a man," somebody else is thinking "I am a woman." If
you think "I am rich," somebody's thinking "I am poor." If you're thinking:
"I'm beautiful," then somebody else is thinking "I am ugly." And you can
also think those things at different times and different places. Some days

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you think you're beautiful, and some days you think you're ugly. Some
days you think you're very intelligent, other days it's shown how dumb
you actually are. [laughs]

But spiritual happiness is not like that. There's no opposite to spiritual

happiness. If we come in contact with Kṛṣṇa through His Holy Name,
some spiritual service that we do, through meditating on His form or
pastimes, or through hearing about His wonderful qualities, then there's no
opposite to that. There's no negative side to that. You cannot conceive of
anything that negates the happiness that comes from being in touch with
Kṛṣṇa. [laughs] That's because this happiness is absolute, just like Kṛṣṇa.
There's no opposite to Kṛṣṇa. The Christians have invented the devil, but
the devil doesn't really exist. That's just their own invention. Actually,
there is no opposite to God. Anyone who is against God is automatically
disempowered; he has no place to stand. He becomes a demon and then
he's kept forever in this hellish material world.

When we approach Kṛṣṇa, this is real happiness. This happiness never

ends. It has no opposite, it has no imperfection, and it has no material
source either. The next verse is:

yathā tantre —
siddhayaḥ paramāścaryā bhuktir muktiś ca śāśvatī
nityaṁ ca paramānando bhaved govinda-bhaktitaḥ

Thus it is said in the Tantras:

“Astounding mystic powers, material enjoyment, eternal happiness in
the realization of brahman, and eternal bliss from service to the Lord all
appear from bhakti to Govinda.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.31]

These are all the desirable things that people pursue in life and they're all
available from a single source: Govinda- bhakti. The scriptures don't lie; at
least the Vedic scriptures don't lie. There's further confirmation in the next
śloka:

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 yathā hari-bhakti-sudhodaye ca —
bhūyo’pi yāce deveśa tvayi bhaktir dṛḍhāstu me
yā mokṣānta-caturvarga phaladā sukhadā latā

It also says in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya:

"O Lord of the devas! I again pray to You that I may have firm devotion
to You. That bhakti is a creeper that bestows artha, dharma, kāma,
mokṣa and also the happiness of realization of the Lord." [ Śrī Bhakti-
rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.32]

These are all the things that everyone finds desirable. Artha means
economic development; dharma means religiosity and pious activities;
kāma means sense enjoyment; mokṣa means liberation. And beyond all of
these things, because these are all very easily available here in the material
world, there is eternal service to the Lord, or bhakti-rasa. That's the actual
subject of this book, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu . That's the name of the book.
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu means “the eternal ocean of bhakti-rasa, which is
eternal, ecstatic loving service to the Supreme Lord, or Rasa.”

Rasa means nectar, and it also means taste. One should have this exalted
taste for pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he develops
this taste then his happiness, and his material and spiritual well being are
guaranteed; everything is guaranteed. You have to have this faith. If you
don't have it, then you have to develop it because this is the actual
Absolute Truth. There are many different processes as a means to attain
happiness, and all of them are flawed for reasons that we've already
discussed. Most of them are either on the material platform of the senses,
or they're on the mental platform of the mind. Also, the happiness derived
from Brahman is considered nothing next to the ocean of happiness
derived from bhakti-rasa.

There's even a śloka saying that the happiness derived from Brahman
realization is like the water in the footprint of a calf. [Śrī Caitanya-
caritāmṛta, Antya 3.197] A calf has a very small foot; it's just a little baby
cow. When they stick their foot in the mud, it creates a little puddle. But,
the happiness of Brahman is likened to the water in that puddle, compared

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to the ocean of happiness of bhakti-rasa. If anyone has intelligence, they
will approach Kṛṣṇa in devotional service and not waste time with these
other processes. Here is Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's commentary on
this verse:

Siddhayaḥ means mystic powers such as becoming very small. Bhukti

means material happiness. Mukti means happiness derived from
realizing impersonal brahman. Paramānanda means the bliss derived
from the Lord since it comes at the end of the statement.

nityaṁ ca paramānando bhaved govinda-bhaktitaḥ

[Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.31]

There's some happiness in these other things but that happiness is limited.
The bliss derived from devotional service is paramānanda: the greatest
bliss. Anyone can taste this just by doing a little chanting. He also
comments on the verse from Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya :

I pray that I may have bhakti, the creeper which gives the four fruits of
endeavor culminating in liberation, and which also gives the bliss of
realization of the Lord (sukhadā), which consequently makes liberation
insignificant.

There's a footnote:

The happiness that bhakti gives will manifest in all three stages—
sādhana, bhāva and prema—but with increasing intensity, with
increased realization of the Lord.

This bhakti process is so nice because from the very beginning, even in the
stage of sādhana, it gives spiritual happiness. Everybody wants happiness.
Why are we doing everything that we're doing? Simply to get happiness.
This the greatest motivation in our life is to obtain happiness. The problem
is that most of us are seeking our happiness from the wrong source; we're
seeking happiness from the material world. The material happiness is not
only limited, but it's not even really satisfying. In order to gain material
happiness you have to become a slave of the senses, and the senses are
going to cheat you because they're material. They're material and you're

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spiritual. You are a spirit soul; the senses are just organs of the body.
Someday, all these senses are going to die. This body is going to be
finished and you're going to have to get another one. What kind of
happiness can you get in that situation, knowing that everything you do is
only temporary? No matter how much material wealth, material beauty,
fame, knowledge, or whatever material quality that you aspire for, no
matter how much of it you collect, you cannot extend the length of your
life even by one second. It's already programmed. From the moment of
birth, the whole life is already programmed.

I see this time and time again when I do astrology charts.Yesterday I did
an astrology chart for a gentleman, someone that I don't know. He simply
emailed me on the website and sent in a donation, asking: "Would you do
my chart?" I did his chart, and I was two-thirds of the way through when
the power went off. I didn't even get to finish the reading, but I uploaded it
anyway just to see if he had any questions. He wrote me back this morning
and said: "I can't believe how you know everything about me." [laughs]
"Well, you told me your time and place of birth." [laughs]

That's what astrology is for. Astrology shows you the persons karma that
they bring into this life at the time of birth. From this very, very small
amount of information—the person’s name, the date, the time and the
place of birth—then you can tell so much about their whole life: what
happened in the past, what's happening now, what's gonna happen in the
future. It's all very, very simple and clear. This should not be astonishing,
because the material energy is not supreme; the material energy is
dependent on the spiritual energy. The spiritual energy is the cause and the
material world is its effect.

The type of consciousness you have will determine the type of body, the
type of circumstances, the type of happenings and everything that you
experience. It's very simple. We've made the point again and again that
two people with different consciousness will experience the very same
thing in very different ways. The example I like to use, because it's so

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relevant to our work, comes from when I was acting as a priest in a
temple. A young married couple came to visit, and at that particular
temple, the Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa Deities are very beautiful. I opened the
curtains so they could have darshan, and the young lady was just
immediately struck by Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa's beauty. She was just like: "Oh,
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa." The guy standing next to her was checking his watch:
"Oh let's see, how long before we can leave?" The same place, same time,
same Deities, same everything. But one person, who had a little credit of
devotional service, was in ecstasy, and the other one was impatient and
ready to leave. This shows that the difference in consciousness determines
what kind of experience you're going to have. All you have to do is change
your consciousness a little bit, and the whole experience of your life will
change. Maybe the circumstances won't change, but your attitude will
change; your consciousness will change and you'll experience it very
differently.

How do you change your consciousness? By changing the impressions in

your mind. Our consciousness is the sum total of impressions that we have
absorbed in our experience. If someone has very unfortunate
circumstances, let's say they experience so much suffering in their early
life, we know this predisposes the person to have certain attitudes toward
the world: a defeatist attitude, a depressed attitude, or an expectation of
more suffering. We also see that when a person is born in a good situation,
and they have early impressions of pleasure, security and safety, their
attitude is completely different. They have a much more positive, much
more confident, and much more pleasure oriented attitude toward the
world, and this changes their experience. It changes their possibilities; it
changes everything. If you fill your mind with material impressions, then
you're going to see the world as a very inhospitable place, a very
unfriendly place, a very nasty place full of all kinds of suffering. That's
going to be your experience because that's the material energy. The
material energy is there to cheat you. The material senses are going to
cheat you because they are not spiritual. You cannot get the quality of
enjoyment that you seek as a spiritual living entity from the material

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senses. You cannot get the quality of experience that you seek from the
material senses. You can only get it from spiritual senses. How do you
spiritualize the senses? By engaging them in the service of the Lord in
devotional service. There's that famous verse:

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
[arcanaṁ] vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental

holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu,
remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord
respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers
to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best
friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving
Him with the body, mind and words). [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.23]

Ātma-nivedanam means surrendering everything. It begins with hearing

and chanting. Hearing with these same ears and chanting with this same
mouth, but instead of some material nonsense, instead of the latest pop
song, we're chanting the name of the Lord and we're hearing the Lord's
Holy Name. We recommend to people who have material issues, who are
suffering, that they should chant Viṣṇusahasranāma: the thousand names
of Viṣṇu. Why? Because that mantra specifically says that the results of
chanting is that it takes away all material miseries. How does simply
chanting and hearing some mantra take away material miseries? How is
that possible? The way it works is that by hearing all those Holy Names of
Kṛṣṇa over and over again, we absorb spiritual impressions in the mind. In
other words, we direct our consciousness towards spiritual qualities by
chanting over and over again: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare
Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare
Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. We accumulate so many impressions of spiritual
quality, and because we direct our consciousness towards the spiritual
energy, we begin see things from a whole different viewpoint. We begin to
see from the spiritual viewpoint instead of the material viewpoint. In the
spiritual viewpoint there is no suffering, there is no death, and there is no

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hardship. There is not a problem of any kind because we are under the
protection of Kṛṣṇa. This process of bhakti-yoga means to shift our
consciousness from the material platform to the spiritual platform, and the
way we do that is by creating many, many impressions of spiritual quality.
Kṛṣṇa is known as sac-cid-ānanda:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an

eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other
origin and He is the prime cause of all causes. [ Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1]

This is the opening verse of the fifth chapter of Brahma-saṁhitā. Kṛṣṇa is

the Supreme Personality of Godhead , svayam bhagavān [Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 1.3.28], and He has a body of sac-cid-ānanda. Sat means
eternal existence, cit means eternal consciousness or knowledge, and
ānanda means spiritual bliss. His body is directly composed of spiritual
bliss which means that, if we're touch with Kṛṣṇa, we're automatically in
touch with spiritual bliss.

If you're chanting and you're not feeling bliss, there's some problem or
offense that you have to clear up. If you are chanting and it seems like a
drag, it's just routine, it's dry and boring, and you're not getting any bliss,
it means you're doing something wrong . Usually it's some
misconception of what is Kṛṣṇa, what is devotional service, what is guru,
what is the proper relationship, or what is the proper way of performing
devotional service. If you're not getting bliss, you have to look into this.
Which of the ten offenses are you committing? We've spent a lot of time
discussing these offenses in the past. You can look up those podcasts,
Darshans, or articles where we talk about them, on our site. We also have a
whole course discussing the Holy Name, how to chant, the ten offenses,
and all that, as part of the Bhakta degree. The point I want to make is that
by approaching Kṛṣṇa in devotional service, you will get all the happiness

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that you can handle. If you're not getting happiness from your devotional
service, that means you should check into it and correct your mistakes.

If you're performing your devotional service nicely, you will have all the
happiness you can deal with. It's described in many places in śaṣtra. For
example, Subala was fanning Kṛṣṇa with a big peacock fan. Subala's bliss
was increasing so much that his body was becoming paralyzed. He
couldn't even fan Kṛṣṇa because there was so much bliss, and he was
thinking: "Darn it! I wish I could get rid of this bliss, it's too much. It's
getting in the way of my fanning Kṛṣṇa." This is the pure devotee. The
devotee doesn't think about his own happiness at all. He doesn't crave his
own happiness. He even rejects the happiness when it gets to become too
much, and starts to interfere with his service, because the main thing is
Kṛṣṇa's happiness. If we think of Kṛṣṇa's happiness, if we act for Kṛṣṇa's
happiness, if we try to ensure that Kṛṣṇa is happy, then automatically
we become happy.

Try to understand Kṛṣṇa's character and his attitude. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He has all potencies. He has unlimited potencies.
His body is composed of concentrated transcendental bliss. Kṛṣṇa is not
lacking for happiness, enjoyment, or anything. He is full of enjoyment
eternally. Kṛṣṇa is paramānanda, the highest bliss. If we serve Kṛṣṇa, and
come into touch with Him through our service, we automatically taste this
bliss. We don't have to endeavor separately for our happiness. We
especially should not approach Kṛṣṇa or devotional service with thoughts
or desires for our own happiness. That will get in the way of our own
devotional service; that will interfere with our devotional service. That
selfish attitude will get in the way of our pure loving relationship with
Kṛṣṇa.

This is not like ordinary love; this is not like mundane love. In mundane
love you have to make a deal: "OK, I'll give you this and you give me that.
I'll do this for you and then you're going to do that for me." We negotiate a
deal. That's mundane so-called love. It's not really love at all; it's a

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business deal. Real love means that we give service to Kṛṣṇa without any
thought of return. But, just the fact that we're in touch with Kṛṣṇa
automatically guarantees that we're going to be happy.

We don't have to think separately about our own happiness. We don't even
have to worry about it because one of Kṛṣṇa's qualities is that He's grateful
and that He considers a little bit a service a great deal. If we approach
Kṛṣṇa, or any of the expansions or forms of Kṛṣṇa, and we render
devotional service, then He will automatically take the initiative to
respond or reciprocate with the devotee for that service. He's not a cheater.
He's not like the people in this material world. Kṛṣṇa is so completely
generous, so loving, so unselfish, and so pure that He will automatically
reciprocate our service. We don't have to worry about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will
take care of us. We don't have to worry about ourselves either. Kṛṣṇa will
take responsibility for those who surrender unto Him. There are so many
ślokas confirming this in the scriptures. Kṛṣṇa says that as soon as
someone surrenders to Him, He takes responsibility for that devotee and
maintains him:

"But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My

transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack and preserve
what they have." [Bhagavad-gītā 9.22]

He may not maintain you in the way or with the standard of material
enjoyment that you have been conditioned to expect, especially if you're a
Westerner. You may wind up living in a big dormitory in India with a
bunch of devotees. [laughs] But, you will be happy, and you won't really
know how you're happy or why you're happy. You won't really have to
know; it doesn't matter. When a person is born into a very, very rich
family, they don't think about money. Money is just there. A person who is
born in a poor family is always struggling for money or is anxious about
money. They're always in anxiety: "How am I going to get money?" But,
the person who is born in a rich family never thinks about money.
Similarly, a devotee who is in touch with Kṛṣṇa is in an ocean of
happiness. He's not anxious about happiness and he doesn't think about

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happiness. He just assumes that he's going to be happy because he's
always happy. It's not something you have to go out and get, it's just a
natural part of life: "Oh happiness? Oh yeah." He's so secure and so
confident of being happy, that he doesn't even strive or try for happiness.
He doesn't even think about or make plans for happiness. He doesn't even
hesitate to give up his own happiness for Kṛṣṇa because he has the
confidence that Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other, will make everything come out
alright and he will be happy in the end, even if he has to do something that
he might not like to do.

I don't like taking care of business. Since we got to India, it seems like
every other move is some kind of business or about money: taking care of
the house, getting this or getting that, trying to incorporate a trust, and so
many other things. It seems like every other thing we do is about some
kind of business. I don't like business at all even though I had my own
business for twenty-five years. I was a professional writer and my whole
business was my checkbook. [laughs] Later on it was my debit card.
[laughs] I would say: "Oh, you want to give me some work? Just go to my
PayPal account and pay me some money, and it'll show up on my debit
card. That's great." At the end of the year I would just do a printout and
that was my financial report. [laughs] I supported myself quite well by that
business for twenty-five years. I guess you can figure out that I'm not
really into business.

But it seems now that I'm so much involved in business. This is not really
what I would like to do. I'd really like to just play music and read
scriptures all day, but I have to be responsible for my students. They took
the risk of following this madman halfway across the world to some
obscure place, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of India. [laughs]
Now here we are and somehow or other I've got to take care of them, but I
don't mind. Even though I have to do so many things that I don't like to do,
I'm so happy by my devotional service that I don't worry about it. It's not a
big deal: "Oh yeah, I gotta do this, OK." I'm not going to be grumpy
because of it.

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When a devotee is engaged properly in devotional service, he's
automatically happy. He doesn't think about getting happiness for himself
because he trusts Kṛṣṇa, and that Kṛṣṇa's going to take care of him. This
works really, really well; it's very, very reliable. There are millions of
people here in India who have no job, no home, and practically no
possessions. All they do is wander around as sādhus, chanting mantras,
and going to different places of pilgrimage. Somehow or other, Kṛṣṇa
takes care of all of them. I've seen it. If you go to Kumbha Mela, or a
similar place of pilgrimage, you will see millions of people like that.
Where do they all come from? Who takes care of them? They don't have
anything; they just wander around. They sometimes even walk around
barefoot. How do they eat? How do they live? Somehow or other, by
Kṛṣṇa's mercy.

We've also seen it ourselves in our own experience. We thought we were

going to have to do some kind of business to maintain our āśrama in all
these different places around the world. We tried this, that and the other
thing, and then finally we just said: "Ah, the heck with it. Let's just
preach." As soon as we took that attitude, we made more money. [laughs]
We have money and it's still coming. I don't know where it comes from.
Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other, just arranges that money comes to us; more
money than we can spend. The cure for all these material problems is
simply do bhakti-yoga and preach. Kṛṣṇa loves it when we preach. Kṛṣṇa
says in the eighteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā:

"For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional
service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There
is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there
ever be one more dear." [Bhagavad-gītā 18.68-69 ]

If you want happiness, and if you want a secure position in this life, or in
this world, learn the Esoteric Teaching and then preach it to others.
Believe me, Kṛṣṇa will take of you. Kṛṣṇa will give you so much, you
won't know what to do with it. Your reaction will be: "What are we going

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to do with all this money?" Maybe He won't give you money. Maybe He
will give you lots of friends, or a nice piece of property somewhere, or an
old temple. Who knows? Kṛṣṇa has all kinds of ways of taking care of His
devotees. Your situation might not look exactly like ours, but somehow or
other, Kṛṣṇa will take care of you. That's His promise, and Kṛṣṇa is good
to His word.

If you want happiness, and I know you do because everybody does, then
take up this performance of devotional service as your full-time
engagement. There is a way to do it. Read the third and the fifth chapter of
Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa describes how to turn your ordinary working
activities into devotional service. The devotees here all did this, that's why
they are here. They turned their ordinary work into devotional service, and
the next thing they knew they were on the plane going to meet Bābājī.
[laughs] This is how Kṛṣṇa works. Kṛṣṇa is extraordinarily powerful and
He can do anything just by desiring it. He doesn't personally create the
material world. He just desires that the material world should be created,
and then automatically all these things happen by His internal potency. Try
to understand Kṛṣṇa. If you love Kṛṣṇa, He will respond to you:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante

tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham

"All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. "

[Bhagavad-gītā 4.11]

Kṛṣṇa doesn't make any conditions on how you should approach Him. You
can approach Him in neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parenthood, or
conjugal love. You can approach Him by hearing, by chanting, by
remembering, by doing worship, and so many different processes. All
these ways are valid; they are all acceptable to Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa will
respond. Take up this path and experience it for yourself. I can talk about
it; I can rave on it for weeks or years. But, you won't have the actual
experience until you try it, and then you'll see everything I'm talking about
is true.

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Question from Uddhava dāsa: I have a question on verse 1.1.31:

Thus it is said in the Tantras:

“Astounding mystic powers, material enjoyment, eternal happiness in
the realization of brahman, and eternal bliss from service to the Lord all
appear from bhakti to Govinda.” [Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.31]

We sometimes see mystic powers present in demons, like Hiraṇyakaśipu.

How is this explained in terms of bhakti?

Bābājī: Hiraṇyakaśipu's mystic powers were obtained by a blessing from

Lord Brahmā after severe austerities. But, why should you have to go
through severe austerities, and why should you have to worship anyone
other than Kṛṣṇa when, if you perform bhakti to Kṛṣṇa, you'll get all these
things? The verse mentions mystic powers, material enjoyment, eternal
happiness, and eternal bliss. Eternal happiness from Brahman realization
and from bhakti. Hiraṇyakaśipu's practice only gave him one thing: mystic
powers. Then he had to go forth and conquer the demigods to get the
material happiness that he was craving. His one process didn't give
everything. But, when you perform bhakti, one process is giving
everything. It's giving mystic powers, material happiness, spiritual
happiness, realization, knowledge, bliss, and more. Everything you could
ever want, just from one practice. Not that you have to do this for a while
and then you do something else. When Hiraṇyakaśipu attained his mystic
powers, he stopped his practice. But, bhakti never stops; bhakti never
ends. The process of bhakti that we're doing now is the same thing that
we're going to be doing in the spiritual world eternally: hearing, chanting,
serving and so on. Bhakti is eternal from the very beginning. The
processes or practices of bhakti are not some kind of stepping stone to the
higher practice. The same practice that we begin bhakti-yoga with is the
same practice that we continue in the higher stages, and it's the same
practice that we perform even after realization in the spiritual world. It's
just that here in the material world we're in separation from Kṛṣṇa, and
then after we go to the spiritual world we're in meeting with Kṛṣṇa all the

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time; we're in association with Kṛṣṇa all the time. This is the proof of the
absolute nature of the practice of bhakti:
• It gives all the benefits of one practice.
• The practice is eternal and it stays the same throughout all the
different stages.

Question from Don: You were discussing women's mentality in the

previous class. Is it not that most men are of such mentality since they are
basically female in relation to Kṛṣṇa?

Bābājī: Most men have a female mentality these days, and this is because
of too much association with females. 'The powers that be' do this by
arranging the school system so that the male and female children are
educated in the same classroom. From a very early age, males get a lot of
association with females, especially immature females of their own age.
Naturally they pickup many qualities from the female mentality by
association. In the old days, you never had male and female students in the
same classroom. The boys had a male teacher and the girls had a female
teacher. This increased the qualities of the men and women separately so
that the men developed more masculine qualities, and the women
developed more feminine qualities.

Nowadays it's all merged together. The women are manifesting a lot of
male qualities and the men are manifesting a lot of female qualities. And
of course, this is very, very bad. This is very dangerous for the society. It
leads to all kinds of nonsense like homosexuality, divorce, and so many
things. This nonsense 'Women's Liberation' is actually just a technique to
get more women in the workplace so that there will be more competition
to drive down wages. That's the only reason for it. All this talk about how
women are equal, and all this stuff, is propaganda. Women aren't equal.
They even look different. [laughs] If men and women were raised
separately, the way they should be, they would also think very differently;
even more differently than they already do. That would be a good thing.

Bhakti Master Class Part 1: Eastern Ocean, First Wave Page 353
That would help the stability of the whole society. It would greatly drive
down the divorce rate. Men and women would appreciate one another
more for their unique qualities, and not have this artificial idea that
everyone's the same. Everyone isn't the same.

That's the whole point of Vedic society. That's why Vedic society is
structured in the way it is with four social classes and four spiritual
classes. Everyone is different and those unique qualities should be
enhanced, so the society is divided and the association is regulated to help
that process. Nowadays men have become so female that sometimes
they're more female than the females. It's a shame because that means in
their next life they become women. I guess the women in their next life
become men. This is a big problem.

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