Narada-bhakti-sutra

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Value of Devotion Narada-bhakti-sutra

SUTRA 1*

TEXT

athato bhaktim vyakhyasyamah

SYNONYMS

atha--now; atah--therefore; bhaktim--devotional service; vyakhyasyamah--we shall try to explain.

TRANSLATION

Now, therefore, I will try to explain the process of devotional service.

PURPORT

Devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is explained in the Bhagavad-gita, where the Lord says that a self-realized person is always in the transcendental state known as brahma-bhuta, which is characterized by joyfulness . When one is self-realized he becomes joyful. In other words, he is free from t he material contamination of lamentation and hankering. As long as we are in mat erial existence, we lament for the losses in our life and hanker for that which we do not have. A self-realized person is joyful because he is free from materia l lamentation and hankering. A self-realized person also sees all living entities equally. For him, there is no distinction between the higher and lower species of life. It is also state

d that a learned man does not distinguish between a wise brahmana and a dog beca use he sees the soul within the body, not the external bodily features. Such a p erfected, self-realized person becomes eligible to understand bhakti, or devotio nal service to the Lord. Bhakti is so sublime that only through bhakti can one understand the constitu tional position of the Lord. That is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gita (18.55) : bhaktya mam abhijanati. "One can understand the Supreme Lord through devotiona l service, and by no other process." There are different processes of understand ing the Absolute Truth, but if a person wants to understand the Supreme Lord as He is, he has to take to the process of bhakti-yoga. There are other mystic proc esses, such as karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, and dhyana-yoga, but it is not possible t o understand the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, except through His de votional service. This is confirmed in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita ( 4.3), where we learn that Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna simply because he was the Lord's devotee and friend. The Bhagavad-gita teaches the process of bhakti-yoga, and therefore Lord Krsna explained it to Arjuna because he was a gr eat devotee. As far as spiritual life is concerned, becoming a devotee of the Lo rd is the high-est perfection. People are generally misled by the spell of the illusory energy of material n ature. There are innumerable living entities within the material nature, and onl y some of them are human beings. According to the Vedic literature, there are 8, 400,000 species of life. In the Padma Purana it is said that there are 900,000 s pecies of life in the water, 2,000,000 species of plants, 1,100,000 species of i nsects and reptiles, 1,000,000 species of birds, 3,000,000 species of beasts, an d only 400,000 species of human beings. So the humans are the least numerous spe cies of all. All living entities can be divided into two divisions: those that can move an d those that are stationary, such as trees. But there are also many further divi sions. Some species fly in the air, some live in the water, and some live on the ground. Among the living entities who live on the ground, only 400,000 are huma n species, and out of these 400,000 human species, many are uncivilized or uncle an; they are not up to the standard of proper civilization. From the historical point of view, the Aryans are the most civilized section of human beings, and am ong the Aryans, the Indians are especially highly cultured. And among the Indian s, the brahmanas are the most expert in knowledge of the Vedas. The Vedic culture is respected all over the world, and there are people every where eager to understand it. The highest perfectional stage of understanding Ve dic culture is explained in the Bhagavad-gita, in the Fifteenth Chapter (15.15), where the Lord says that the purpose of all the Vedas is to understand Him (Lor d Krsna). Fortunate are those who are attracted to the Vedic cultural life. The Hindus call themselves followers of the Vedas. Some say they follow the S ama Veda, and some say they follow the Rg Veda. Different people claim to follow different sections of the Vedas, but in fact for the most part they are not fol lowers of the Vedas because they do not follow the rules and regulations of the Vedas. Therefore Lord Caitanya says that since the so-called followers of the Ve das perform all kinds of sinful activities, the number of actual followers of th e Vedas is very small; and even among this small, exclusive number, most are add icted to the processes described in the Vedas' karma-kanda section, by which one can elevate oneself to the perfectional stage of economic development. The strict followers of the karma-kanda portions of the Vedas perform various sacrifices for worship of different demigods in order to achieve particular mat erial results. Out of many millions of such worshipers, some may actually engage in the process of understanding the Supreme, the Absolute Truth. They are calle d jnanis. Perfection for a jnani lies in attaining the stage of brahma-bhuta, or

self-realization. Only after self-realization is attained does the stage of und erstanding devotional service begin. The conclusion is that one can begin the pr ocess of devotional service, or bhakti, when one is actually self-realized. One who is in the bodily concept of existence cannot understand the process of devot ional service. It is for this reason that the Narada-bhakti-sutra begins, "Now, therefore, I shall try to explain the process of devotional service." The word "therefore" i ndicates that this process of devotional service is for the self-realized soul, one who is already liberated. Similarly, the Vedanta-sutra begins athato brahmajijnasa. The word brahma-jijnasa refers to inquiry into the Supreme Absolute Tru th, and it is recommended for those who have been elevated from the lower stage of addiction to the karma-kanda portion of the Vedas to the position of interest in the jnana-kanda portion. Only when a person is perfectly situated in the rea lization that he is not the body but a spirit soul can he begin the process of b hakti, or devotional service.

SUTRA 2*

TEXT

sa tv asmin parama-prema-rupa

SYNONYMS

sa--it; tu--and; asmin--for Him (the Supreme Lord); parama--highest; prema--pure love; rupa--having as its form.

TRANSLATION

Devotional service manifests as the most elevated, pure love for God.

PURPORT

As stated before, after attaining the highest stage of self-realization, one becomes situated in devotional service to the Lord. The perfection of devotional service is to attain love of God. Love of God involves the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotee, and the process of devotional service. Self-realization , the brahma-bhuta stage, is the beginning of spiritual life; it is not the perf ectional stage. If a person understands that he is not his body and that he has nothing to do with this material world, he becomes free from material entangleme nt. But that realization is not the perfectional stage. The perfectional stage b

egins with activity in the self-realized position, and that activity is based on the understanding that a living entity is eternally the subordinate servitor of the Supreme Lord. Otherwise, there is no meaning to self-realization. If one is puffed up with the idea that he is the Supreme Brahman, or that he has become o ne with Narayana, or that he has merged into the brahmajyoti effulgence, then he has not grasped the perfection of life. As the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.32) stat es,

ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah

Persons who are falsely puffed up, thinking they have become liberated simply by understanding their constitutional position as Brahman, or spirit soul, are fac tually still contaminated. Their intelligence is impure because they have no und erstanding of the Personality of Godhead, and ultimately they fall down from the ir puffed-up position. According to the Bhagavatam (1.2.11) there are three levels of transcendental ists: the self-realized knowers of the impersonal Brahman feature of the Absolut e Truth; the knowers of the Paramatma, the localized aspect of the Supreme, whic h is understood by the process of mystic yoga; and the bhaktas, who are in knowl edge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engage in His devotional service. Those who understand simply that the living being is not matter but spirit soul and who desire to merge into the Supreme Spirit Soul are in the lowest transcen dental position. Above them are the mystic yogis, who by meditation see within t heir hearts the four-handed Visnu form of the Paramatma, or Supersoul. But perso ns who actually associate with the Supreme Lord, Krsna, are the highest among al l transcendentalists. In the Sixth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita (6.47) the Lord confirms this:

yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yukta-tamo matah

"And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of M e within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me--he is the mos t intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinio n." This is the highest perfectional stage, known as prema, or love of God. In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.4.15-16), Srila Rupa Gosvami, a great author ity in the devotional line, describes the different stages in coming to the poin t of love of Godhead:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya

tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

The first requirement is that one should have sufficient faith that the only pro cess for attaining love of Godhead is bhakti, devotional service to the Lord. Th roughout the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna teaches that one should give up all other processes of self-realization and fully surrender unto Him. That is faith. One w ho has full faith in Krsna (sraddha) and surrenders unto Him is eligible for bei ng raised to the level of prema, which Lord Caitanya taught as the highest perfe ctional stage of human life. Some persons are addicted to materially motivated religion, while others are addicted to economic development, sense gratification, or the idea of salvation from material existence. But prema, love of God, is above all these. This highes t stage of love is above mundane religiosity, above economic development, above sense gratification, and above even liberation, or salvation. Thus love of God b egins with the firm faith that one who engages in full devotional service has at tained perfection in all these processes. The next stage in the process of elevation to love of God is sadhu-sanga, ass ociation with persons already in the highest stage of love of God. One who avoid s such association and simply engages in mental speculation or so-called meditat ion cannot be raised to the perfectional platform. But one who associates with p ure devotees or an elevated devotional society goes to the next stage--bhajana-k riya, or acceptance of the regulative principles of worshiping the Supreme Lord. One who associates with a pure devotee of the Lord naturally accepts that perso n as his spiritual master, and when the neophyte devotee accepts a pure devotee as his spiritual master, the duty of the spiritual master is to train the neophy te in the principles of regulated devotional service, or vaidhi-bhakti. At this stage the devotee's service is based on his capacity to serve the Lord. The expe rt spiritual master engages his followers in work that will gradually develop th eir consciousness of service to the Lord. Therefore the preliminary stage of und erstanding prema, love of God, is to approach a proper pure devotee, accept him as one's spiritual master, and execute regulated devotional service under his gu idance. The next stage is called anartha-nivrtti, in which all the misgivings of mate rial life are vanquished. A person gradually reaches this stage by regularly per forming the primary principles of devotional service under the guidance of the s piritual master. There are many bad habits we acquire in the association of mate rial contamination, chief of which are illicit sexual relationships, eating anim al food, indulging in intoxication, and gambling. The first thing the expert spi ritual master does when he engages his disciple in regulated devotional service is to instruct him to abstain from these four principles of sinful life. Since God is supremely pure, one cannot rise to the highest perfectional stag e of love of God without being purified. In the Bhagavad-gita (10.12), when Arju na accepted Krsna as the Supreme Lord, he said, pavitram paramam bhavan: "You ar e the purest of the pure." The Lord is the purest, and thus anyone who wants to serve the Supreme Lord must also be pure. Unless a person is pure, he can neithe r understand what the Personality of Godhead is nor engage in His service in lov e, for devotional service, as stated before, begins from the point of self-reali zation, when all misgivings of materialistic life are vanquished. After following the regulative principles and purifying the material senses,

one attains the stage of nistha, firm faith in the Lord. When a person has attai ned this stage, no one can deviate him from the conception of the Supreme Person ality of Godhead. No one can persuade him that God is impersonal, without a form , or that any form created by imagination can be accepted as God. Those who espo use these more or less nonsensical conceptions of the Supreme Lord cannot dissua de him from firm faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna stresses in many verses that He is the Suprem e Personality of Godhead. But despite Lord Krsna's stressing this point, many so -called scholars and commentators still deny the personal conception of the Lord . One famous scholar wrote in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita that one does not have to surrender to Lord Krsna or even accept Him as the Supreme Personalit y of Godhead, but that one should rather surrender to "the Supreme within Krsna. " Such fools do not know what is within and what is without. They comment on the Bhagavad-gita according to their own whims. Such persons cannot be elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead. The may be scholarly, and they may be elev ated in other departments of knowledge, but they are not even neophytes in the p rocess of attaining the highest stage of perfection, love of Godhead. Nistha imp lies that one should accept the words of Bhagavad-gita, the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as they are, without any deviation or nonsensical comme ntary. If a person is fortunate enough to vanquish all misgivings caused by material existence and rise up to the stage of nistha, he can then rise to the stages of ruci (taste) and asakti (attachment for the Lord). Asakti is the beginning of l ove of Godhead. By progressing, one then advances to the stage of relishing a re ciprocal exchange with the Lord in ecstasy (bhava). Every living entity is etern ally related to the Supreme Lord, and this relationship may be in any one of man y transcendental humors. At the stage called asakti, attachment, a person can un derstand his relationship with the Supreme Lord. When he understands his positio n, he begins reciprocating with the Lord. By constant reciprocation with the Lor d, the devotee is elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead, prema.

SUTRA 3*

TEXT

amrta-svarupa ca

SYNONYMS

amrta--immortality; svarupa--having as its essence; ca--and.

TRANSLATION

This pure love for God is eternal.

PURPORT

When a person attains to the perfectional stage of love of Godhead, he become s liberated even in his present body and realizes his constitutional position of immortality. In the Bhagavad-gita (4.9), the Lord says,

janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so 'rjuna

Here the Lord says that any person who simply understands His transcendental act ivities and His appearance and disappearance in this material world becomes libe rated, and that after quitting his present body he at once reaches His abode. Th erefore it is to be understood that one who has attained the stage of love of Go d has perfect knowledge, and even if he may fall short of perfect knowledge, he has the preliminary perfection of life that a living entity can attain. To conceive of oneself as being one with the Supreme is the greatest misconce ption of self-realization, and this misconception prevents one from rising to th e highest stage of love of God. But a person who understands his subordinate pos ition can attain the highest stage of loving service to the Lord. Although the L ord and the living entities are qualitatively one, the living entities are limit ed, while the Lord is unlimited. This understanding, called amrta-svarupa, makes one eligible for being eternally situated. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.87.30) the personified Vedas pray to the Lord, " O supreme eternal, if the living entities were equal with You and thus all-perva ding and all-powerful like You, there would be no possibility of their being con trolled by Your external energy, maya." Therefore, the living entities should be accepted as fragmental portions of the Supreme. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-g ita (15.7) when the Lord says, mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah: "The living entities are My fragmental portions, eternally." As fragmental portions, they are qualitatively one with the Supreme, but they are not unlimited. One who is convinced that he is eternally a servitor of the Supreme Lord is c alled immortal because he has realized his constitutional position of immortalit y. Unless one can understand his position as a living entity and an eternal serv itor of the Lord, there is no question of immortality. But one who accepts these facts becomes immortal. In other words, those who are under the misconception t hat the living entity and the Supreme Lord are equal in all respects, both quali tatively and quantitatively, are mistaken, and they are still bound to remain in the material world. They cannot rise to the position of immortality. Upon attaining love of God, a person immediately becomes immortal and no long er has to change his material body. But even if a devotee of the Lord has not ye t reached the perfectional stage of love of Godhead, his devotional service is c onsidered immortal. Any action in the stage of karma or jnana will be finished w ith the change of body, but devotional service, even if not executed perfectly, will continue into the next life, and the living entity will be allowed to make further progress.

The constitutional position of the living entity as a fragment of the Supreme Lord is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Upanisads. The Svetasvatara Upanisad (5.9) states,

balagra-sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya ca bhago jivah sa vijneyah sa canantyaya kalpate

"If the tip of a hair were divided into one hundred parts, and if one of those p arts were again divided into a hundred parts, that one ten-thousandth part of th e tip of the hair would be the dimension of the living entity." As already menti oned, this position of the living entity as a fragment of the Supreme Lord is de clared in the Bhagavad-gita (15.7) to be eternal; it cannot be changed. A person who understands his constitutional position as a fragment of the Supreme Lord a nd engages himself in devotional service with all seriousness at once becomes im mortal.

SUTRA 4*

TEXT

yal labdhva puman siddho bhavaty amrto bhavati trpto bhavati

SYNONYMS

yat--which; labdhva--having gained; puman--a person; siddhah--perfect; bhavati-becomes; amrtah--immortal; bhavati--becomes; trptah--peaceful; bhavati--becomes.

TRANSLATION

Upon achieving that stage of transcendental devotional service in pure love o f God, a person becomes perfect, immortal, and peaceful.

PURPORT

The part-and-parcel living entities are entangled in the conditioned life of material existence. Because of their diverse activities they are wandering all o ver the universe, transmigrating from one body to another and undergoing various

miseries. But when a fortunate living entity somehow comes in contact with a pu re devotee of the Lord and engages in devotional service, he enters upon the pat h of perfection. If someone engages in devotional service in all seriousness, th e Lord instructs him in two ways--through the pure devotee and from within--so t hat he can advance in devotional service. By cultivating such devotional service , he becomes perfect. Lord Krsna describes this form of complete perfection in the Bhagavad-gita (8 .15):

mam upetya punar janma duhkhalayam asasvatam napnuvanti mahatmanah samsiddhim paramam gatah

"The great souls who engage in My devotional service attain Me, the Supreme Lord , and do not come back to this miserable material life, for they have attained t he highest perfection." Both while in the material body and after giving it up, a devotee attains the highest perfection in service to the Lord. As long as a de votee is in his material body, his probational activities in devotional service prepare him for being transferred to the Lord's supreme abode. Only those who ar e one hundred percent engaged in devotional service can achieve this perfection. In material, conditioned life a person always feels the full miseries caused by the transmigration of the soul from body to body. Before taking birth, he und ergoes the miseries of living in the womb of his mother, and when he comes out h e lives for a certain period and then again has to die and enter a mother's womb . But one who attains the highest perfection goes back to Godhead after leaving his present body. Once there, he doesn't have to come back to this material worl d and transmigrate from one body to another. That transfer to the spiritual worl d is the highest perfection of life. In other words, the devotee achieves his co nstitutional position of immortality and thus becomes completely peaceful. Until a person achieves this perfection, he cannot be peaceful. He may artifi cially think he is one with the Supreme, but actually he is not; therefore, he h as no peace. Similarly, someone may aspire for one of the eight yogic perfection s in the mystic yoga process, such as to become the smallest, to become the heav iest, or to acquire anything he desires, but these achievements are material; th ey are not perfection. Perfection means to regain one's original spiritual form and engage in the loving service of the Lord. The living entity is part and parc el of the Supreme Lord, and if he performs the duties of the part and parcel, wi thout proudly thinking he is one in all respects with the Supreme Lord, he attai ns real perfection and becomes peaceful.

SUTRA 5*

TEXT

yat prapya na kincid vanchati na socati na dvesti na ramate notsahi bhavati

SYNONYMS

yat--which; prapya--having attained; na kincit--nothing; vanchati--hankers for; na socati--does not lament; na dvesti--does not hate; na ramate--does not rejoic e; na--not; utsahi--materially enthusiastic; bhavati--becomes.

TRANSLATION

A person engaged in such pure devotional service neither desires anything for sense gratification, nor laments for any loss, nor hates anything, nor enjoys a nything on his personal account, nor becomes very enthusiastic in material activ ity.

PURPORT

According to Srila Rupa Gosvami, there are six impediments to the discharge o f devotional service, and also six activities favorable to progress in devotiona l service. The first impediment is atyahara, overeating or accumulating more wealth than we need. When we give free rein to the senses in an effort to enjoy to the high est degree, we become degraded. A devotee should therefore eat only enough to ma intain his body and soul together; he should not allow his tongue unrestricted l icense to eat anything and everything it likes. The Bhagavad-gita and the great acaryas, or spiritual masters, have prescribed certain foods for human beings, a nd one who eats these foods eats in the mode of goodness. These foods include gr ains, fruits, vegetables, milk products, and sugar--and nothing more. A devotee does not eat extravagantly; he simply eats what he offers to the Supreme Lord, K rsna. He is interested in krsna-prasadam (food offered to the Lord) and not in s atisfying his tongue. Therefore he does not desire anything extraordinary to eat . Similarly, a devotee does not wish to accumulate a large bank balance: he sim ply earns as much as he requires. This is called yavad-artha or yuktahara. In th e material world everyone is very active in earning more and more money and in i ncreasing eating and sleeping and gratifying the senses; such is the mission of most people's lives. But these activities should be absent from the life of a de votee. The next impediment Srila Rupa Gosvami mentions is prayasa, endeavoring very hard for material things. A devotee should not be very enthusiastic about attain ing any material goal. He should not be like persons who engage in fruitive acti vities, who work very hard day and night to attain material rewards. All such pe rsons have some ambition--to become a very big businessman, to become a great in dustrialist, to become a great poet or philosopher. But they do not know that ev en if their ambition is fulfilled, the result is temporary. As soon as the body is finished, all material achievements are also finished. No one takes with him anything he has achieved materially in this world. The only thing he can carry w ith him is his asset of devotional service; that alone is never vanquished.

The next impediment to devotional service is prajalpa, talking of mundane sub ject matter. Many people unnecessarily talk of the daily happenings in the newsp apers and pass the time without any profit. A devotee, however, does not indulge in unnecessary talks of politics or economics. Nor is a devotee very strict in following ritualistic rules and regulations mentioned in the Vedas. Becoming ena mored of these rituals is the next impediment, called niyamagraha. Because a dev otee fully engages in the supreme service of the Lord, he automatically fulfills all other obligations and doesn't have to execute all the details of Vedic ritu als. As the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.41) says,

devarsi-bhutapta-nrnam pitrnam na kinkaro nayam rni ca rajan sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam gato mukundam parihrtya kartam

"Every human being born in this world is immediately indebted to the demigods, t he great sages, ordinary living entities, the family, society, and so on. But a person who surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Lord and engages fully in His s ervice is no longer indebted to anyone. In other words, he has no obligations to fulfill except executing devotional service." Finally, a devotee should not be greedy (laulyam), nor should he mix with ord inary materialistic men (jana-sanga). These are six negatives, or "do-nots," for the devotee; therefore one who wan ts to attain the perfectional stage of love of Godhead refrains from these thing s. Similarly, there are six positive items for advancing in devotional service. First, while one should not be enthusiastic to attain material achievements, one should be very enthusiastic to attain the perfectional stage of devotional serv ice. This enthusiasm is called utsaha. A living entity cannot stop acting. So wh en he is forbidden to become enthusiastic about material achievements, he should at once be encouraged to be enthusiastic about spiritual achievements. Enthusia sm is a symptom of the living entity; it cannot be stopped. It is just like a po werful engine: if you utilize it properly, it will give immense production. Ther efore enthusiasm should be purified. Instead of employing enthusiasm for attaini ng material goals, one should be enthusiastic about achieving the perfectional s tage of devotional service. Indeed, enthusing His devotees in devotional service is the purpose for which Krsna descends to this material world. The next item favorable for devotional service is niscaya, confidence. When o ne becomes disappointed in his service to the Supreme Lord, that disappointment must be rejected and replaced with confidence in attaining the ultimate goal, lo ve of Godhead. The devotee should patiently follow the rules and regulations of devotional service so that the day will come when he will achieve, all of a sudd en, all the perfection of devotional service. He should not lament for any loss or any reverse in his advancement in spiritual life. This patience (dhairya) is the third positive item for advancing in devotional service. Furthermore, a pure devotee is not envious, hateful, or lazy in the discharge of devotional service. Confident of his advancement, he continually performs hi

s prescribed devotional duties. This is called tat-tat-karma-pravartana. The last two items are sanga-tyaga, giving up the association of nondevotees, and sato-vrtti, following in the footsteps of the previous acaryas. These pract ices greatly help the devotee remain fixed on the path of devotional service and avoid the tendency to enjoy temporary, material things. Thus the activities of a devotee remain always pure and without any contamination of the material world .

SUTRA 6*

TEXT

yaj jnatva matto bhavati stabdho bhavaty atmaramo bhavati

SYNONYMS

yat--which; jnatva--having known; mattah--intoxicated; bhavati--becomes; stabdha h--stunned (in ecstasy); bhavati--becomes; atma-aramah--self-content (because of being engaged in the service of the Lord); bhavati--becomes.

TRANSLATION

One who understands perfectly the process of devotional service in love of Go dhead becomes intoxicated in its discharge. Sometimes he becomes stunned in ecst asy and thus enjoys his whole self, being engaged in the service of the Supreme Self.

PURPORT

The Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.7.10) states,

atmaramas ca munayo nirgrantha apy urukrame kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim ittham-bhuta-guno harih

"Although those who are atmarama, self-satisfied, are liberated from all materia l contamination, they are still attracted by the pastimes of the Supreme Lord, a

nd thus they engage themselves in His transcendental service." When Lord Caitany a explained this atmarama verse to Srila Sanatana Gosvami, He described sixty-on e meanings, and all of them point toward the devotional service of the Lord. How one becomes intoxicated in devotional service is very nicely described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.40):

evam-vratah sva-priya-nama-kirtya jatanurago druta-citta uccaih hasaty atho roditi rauti gayaty unmada-van nrtyati loka-bahyah

"A person engaged in the devotional service of the Lord in full Krsna consciousn ess automatically becomes carried away by ecstasy when he chants and hears the h oly name of Krsna. His heart becomes slackened while chanting the holy name, he becomes almost like a madman, and he does not care for any outward social conven tions. Thus sometimes he laughs, sometimes he weeps, sometimes he cries out very loudly, sometimes he sings, and sometimes he dances and forgets himself." These are the signs of becoming intoxicated in devotional service. This stage, called the atmarama stage, is possible when the Lord bestows His mercy upon a devotee for his advanced devotional activity. It is the highest perfectional stage becau se one cannot reach it unless one has attained pure love of God. Neither formal religious rituals, economic development, sense gratification, nor liberation can compare with this sweet stage of perfection of love of Krsna, love of the Supreme Lord. The Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi-lila 7.97) describes thi s stage of ecstasy and intoxication as being far above the ecstasy of realizing oneself as Brahman, or the supreme spirit. Lord Caitanya says that the ecstasy o f bhakti (love of Godhead) is so vast that it is like an ocean compared to the d rop of pleasure derived from understanding oneself as one with Brahman. In all V edic literature, the highest perfectional stage is said to be the state of intox ication of devotional service. It is not achieved by ordinary persons, the nonde votees. In the stage of perfection, one's heart becomes slackened and one becomes mor e and more attached to attaining the lotus feet of the Lord. Srila Rupa Gosvami, a great acarya in the line of devotional service, has described this stage as f ollows: "Although appearing just like a madman, a person in the ecstasy of devot ional service is not mad in the material conception of the term; this ecstasy is the manifestation of the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord." The Lord has va rious potencies, one of which is called ahladini-sakti, His internal pleasure po tency. Only one who becomes a little conversant with this potency can taste such ecstasy. The Vedanta-sutra (1.1.12) states, ananda-mayo 'bhyasat: "By nature th e Lord is always joyful." This joyfulness of the Lord is due to His pleasure pot ency. One who becomes affected by the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord manifest s various symptoms of ecstasy, such as slackening of the heart, laughing, crying , shivering, and dancing. These symptoms are not material. However, exhibiting s uch ecstatic symptoms just to get credit from the public is not approved by pure devotees. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada says, "Persons without att ainment of the highest perfectional stage of loving service cannot achieve any a uspiciousness simply by artificially laughing, crying, or dancing without any sp

iritual understanding. Artificial movement of the body... must always be rejecte d. One should wait for the natural sequence within devotional service, and at th at time, when one cries or dances or sings, it is approved. A person artificiall y showing symptoms of the pleasure potency creates many disturbances in the ordi nary way of life." One who attains the perfectional stage of devotional service under the guidan ce of a bona fide spiritual master may preach the science of devotion as Lord Ca itanya did. When Lord Caitanya preached, He danced and showed other symptoms of ecstasy. Once, in Benares, a Mayavadi sannyasi named Prakasananda Sarasvati obje cted to these activities. He said that since Lord Caitanya had taken sannyasa, t he renounced order of life, He should not act in such an intoxicated way. The Lord explained that these symptoms of intoxication had automatically aris en when He had chanted the Hare Krsna mantra, and that upon seeing this His spir itual master had ordered Him to preach devotional service all over the world. Wh ile speaking with Prakasananda, Lord Caitanya quoted an important verse from the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (14.36):

tvat-saksat-karanahlada-visuddhabdhi-sthitasya me sukhani gospadayante brahmany api jagad-guro

"My dear Lord, O master of the universe, since I have directly seen You, my tran scendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Thus I now regard the hap piness derived from understanding impersonal Brahman to be like the water contai ned in a calf's hoofprint."." In this way, one who reaches the perfectional stage of devotional service bec omes so satisfied that he does not want anything more, and thus he always engage s in pure devotional service.

SUTRA 7*

TEXT

sa na kamayamana nirodha-rupatvat

SYNONYMS

sa--that devotional service in pure love of God; na--not; kamayamana--like ordin ary lust; nirodha--renunciation; rupatvat--because of having as its form.

TRANSLATION

There is no question of lust in the execution of pure devotional service, bec ause in it all material activities are renounced.

PURPORT

In pure devotional service there is no question of sense gratification. Some people mistake the loving affairs between Krsna and the gopis (cowherd girls) fo r activities of ordinary sense gratification, but these affairs are not lustful because there is no material contamination. As Rupa Gosvami states in his Bhakti -rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.285),

premaiva gopa-ramanam kama ity agamat pratham ity uddhavadayo 'py etam vanchanti bhagavat-priyah

"Although the dealings of the gopis with Krsna are wrongly celebrated by many as lust, great sages and saintly persons like Uddhava hanker for such loving affai rs with Krsna." Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja, the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, has therefore said,

kama, prema,--donhakara vibhinna laksana lauha ara hema yaiche svarupe vilaksana

"As there is a difference between iron and gold, so there is a difference betwee n material lust and Krsna's loving affairs with the gopis" (Cc. Adi 4.164). Alth ough such loving affairs may sometimes resemble material lust, the difference is as follows:

atmendriya-priti-vancha--tare bali 'kama' krsnendriya-priti-iccha dhare 'prema' nama

"The desire to satisfy one's own senses is called lust, while the desire to sati sfy the senses of Krsna is called prema, love of God" (Cc. Adi 4.165). The impersonalists cannot understand the principle of satisfying Krsna's sens es because they reject the personality of Godhead. Thus they think God has no se nses and therefore no sense satisfaction. But the devotees simply want to satisf y the senses of the Supreme Lord, and so they take part in the pure activities o f love of Godhead. There is no question of lust in that category of pure transce

ndental love. Lust leads to fruitive activity for sense gratification. There are different kinds of duties for the human being, such as political obligations, performance of Vedic rituals, obligations for maintaining the body, and social formalities a nd conventions, but all such activities are directed toward satisfying one's own senses. The gopis, however, simply wanted to satisfy Krsna's senses, and thus t hey completely gave up the conventional path of social restriction, not caring f or their relatives or the chastisement of their husbands. They gave up everythin g for the satisfaction of Krsna, showing their strong attachment to Krsna to be as spotless as washed white cloth. It is said that when conjugal affection between a lover and beloved comes to the point of being destroyed and yet is not destroyed, such a relationship is pu re love, or prema. In the material world it is not possible to find this kind of love, for it exists only between Krsna and His intimate devotees, such as the g opis. The sentiment between the gopis and Krsna was so strong that it could not be destroyed under any circumstances. Krsna praises the gopis' pure love in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.32.22):

na paraye 'ham niravadya-samyujam sva-sadhu-krtyam vibudhayusapi vah ya mabhajan durjaya-geha-srnkhalah samvrscya tad vah pratiyatu sadhuna

"My dear gopis, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even w ithin a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Ther efore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation."

SUTRA 8*

TEXT

nirodhas tu loka-veda-vyapara-nyasah

SYNONYMS

nirodhah--renunciation; tu--moreover; loka--of social custom; veda--and of the r evealed scripture; vyapara--of the engagements; nyasa--renunciation.

TRANSLATION

Such renunciation in devotional service means to give up all kinds of social customs and religious rituals governed by Vedic injunction.

PURPORT

In a verse in the Lalita-madhava (5.2), Srila Rupa Gosvami describes renuncia tion in devotional service:

rddha siddhi-vraja-vijayita satya-dharma samadhir brahmanando gurur api camatkarayaty eva tavat yavat premnam madhu-ripu-vasikara-siddhausadhinam gandho 'py antah-karana-sarani-panthatam na prayati

"Activities such as mystic trance, becoming one with the Supreme, and the religi ous principles of brahminism, such as speaking the truth and tolerance, have the ir own respective attractions, but when one becomes captivated by love of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all attraction for mystic power, monistic p leasure, and mundane religious principles becomes insignificant." In other words, by discharging pure devotional service one attains the highes t stage of love of Godhead and is freed from all other obligations, such as thos e mentioned in the karma-kanda, jnana-kanda, and yoga-kanda sections of the Veda s. One who engages in pure devotional service has no desire to improve himself-except in the service of the Lord. In such devotional service there cannot be an y worship of the impersonal or localized features of the Supreme Lord. The devot ee simply performs activities that satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead an d thus attains pure love for the Lord. Only by the combined mercy of the pure devotee--the bona fide spiritual maste r--and the Supreme Lord Himself can one attain pure devotional service to the Lo rd. If someone is fortunate enough to find a pure devotee and accept him as his spiritual master, then this spiritual master, out of his causeless mercy, will i mpart the knowledge of pure devotional service. And it is the Lord, out of His c auseless mercy, who sends His most confidential servitor to this world to instru ct pure devotional service. By the divine grace of the spiritual master, the seed of pure devotional serv ice, which is completely different from the seed of fruitive activities and spec ulative knowledge, is sown in the heart of the devotee. Then, when the devotee s atisfies the spiritual master and Krsna, this seed of devotional service grows i nto a plant that gradually reaches up to the spiritual world. An ordinary plant requires shelter for growing. Similarly, the devotional plant grows and grows un til it takes shelter in the spiritual world, without taking shelter on any plane t in the material world. In other words, those who are captivated by pure devoti onal service have no desire to elevate themselves to any material planet. The hi

ghest planet in the spiritual world is Krsna-loka, or Goloka Vrndavana, and ther e the devotional plant takes shelter. The Narada Pancaratra defines pure devotional service as follows:

sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate

"Devotional service to the Supreme Lord means engagement of all the senses in Hi s service. In such service there are two important features: First, one must be purified of all designations, and second, the senses should be engaged only in t he service of the Supreme Lord, the master of the senses. That is pure devotiona l service." Everyone is now contaminated by various designations in Everyone is thinking, "I belong to such-and-such country; society; I belong to a certain family." But when a person pure devotional service, he knows that he does not belong e service of the Lord. relation to the body. I belong to a certain comes to the stage of to anything except th

The symptom of unflinching faith in pure devotional service is that one has o vercome the many disruptive desires that impede pure devotional service, such as (1) the desire to worship the demigods, (2) the desire to serve someone other t han Krsna, (3) the desire to work for sense gratification, without understanding one's relationship with Krsna, (4) the desire to cultivate impersonal knowledge and thereby forget the Supreme Lord, and (5) the desire to establish oneself as the Supreme, in which endeavor there is no trace of the bliss of devotional ser vice. One should give up all these desires and engage exclusively in the loving devotional service of the Lord. Except for the service of the Lord, anything don e is in the service of illusion, or maya. One should try to get out of illusion and be engaged in the factual service o f Krsna. Service to Krsna utilizes all the senses, and when the senses are engag ed in the service of Krsna, they become purified. There are ten senses--five act ive senses and five knowledge-acquiring senses. The active senses are the power of talking, the hands, the legs, the evacuating outlet, and the generating organ . The knowledge-acquiring senses are the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, a nd the sense of touch. The mind, the center of all the senses, is sometimes cons idered the eleventh sense. One cannot engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord with these senses in their present materially covered state. Therefore one should take up the process of devotional service to purify them. There are sixty-four items of regulative devotional service for purifying the senses, and one should strenuous ly undergo such regulative service. Then one can enter into the transcendental l oving service of the Lord. (See Sutra 12 for a full discussion of these sixty-fo ur items of devotional service.)

SUTRA 11*

TEXT

loka-vedesu tad-anukulacaranam tad-virodhisudasinata

SYNONYMS

loka--in society and politics; vedesu--and in the Vedic rituals; tat--for that; anukula--of what is favorable; acaranam--performance; tat--for that; virodhisu-for what is opposed; udasinata--indifference.

TRANSLATION

Indifference toward what stands in the way of devotional service means to acc ept only those activities of social custom and Vedic injunction that are favorab le to devotional service.

PURPORT

Material existence is a life of revolt against the Supreme Personality of God head. There are many ways in which the living entities can manifest this spirit of revolt, such as engaging in fruitive activities, mental speculation, or mysti c yoga to achieve material perfections. Generally, all conditioned souls desire to lord it over the material nature. Everyone wants to become a demilord, either by social or political activities or by Vedic rituals. Everyone wants to elevat e himself to a higher status of existence or, out of frustration, become one wit h the Supreme. All these desires are different types of materialism; they are no t favorable for devotional service. A pure devotee rejects demigod worship and worships only Lord Krsna or His Vi snu expansions. Until a person is completely free of material contamination, he might want to worship God in hope of fulfilling material desires. But even if a person has material desires, if he scrupulously worships the Supreme Lord he wil l very soon become purified of all such desires. On the other hand, persons whos e activities are dictated by material desires and who are also addicted to worsh iping the demigods cannot become pure devotees at any stage of their lives. The Lord, situated within everyone's heart, fulfills the desires of the demigod-wors hipers--but in the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says that such demigod-worshipers are of small intelligence (alpa-medhasah). In other words, as long as one is control led by the modes of nature, one will be prone to worship the demigods for materi al purposes, but one who curbs this tendency and worships Krsna exclusively can rise above the modes and attain pure devotional service. One cannot be situated on the platform of pure devotional service, however, u nless one is freed from all kinds of sinful reactions. To counteract various sin ful reactions, there are prescribed duties in the ritualistic section of the Ved as, and those in the lower stage of life can become freed from all sinful reacti ons by strictly following the Vedic ritualistic processes. Then they can become

situated in pure devotional service. Thus it should be understood that a person who is situated in pure devotional service must have in his past life already ex ecuted all the Vedic rituals with great determination. In other words, after rea ching the stage of devotional service, a person does not have to execute any pro cess of atonement mentioned in the ritualistic section of the Vedas. He is alrea dy sinless.

SUTRA 12*

TEXT

bhavatu niscaya-dardhyad urdhvam sastra-raksanam

SYNONYMS

bhavatu--let there be; niscaya--of certainty; dardhyat--the firm fixing; urdhvam --after; sastra--of scripture; raksanam--the observance.

TRANSLATION

One must continue to follow scriptural injunctions even after one is fixed up in determined certainty that devotional service is the only means for reaching the perfection of life.

PURPORT

When a person becomes firmly convinced about the importance of devotional ser vice, he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord. There are six symptoms of surrender: (1) One should perform only those actions favorable for devotional service to Kr sna. (2) One should give up everything unfavorable for discharging devotional se rvice. (3) One should firmly believe that Krsna will protect one in all circumst ances and that no one is a better protector than Krsna. This conviction should b e distinct from the monistic philosophy that one is as good as Krsna. Rather, on e should always think that Krsna, or God, is great and that one is always protec ted by Him. (4) One should have the conviction that Krsna is one's maintainer, a nd one should not take shelter of any demigod for maintenance. (5) One should al ways remember that one's activities and desires are not independent. In other wo rds, the devotee should feel completely dependent on Krsna, and thus he should a ct and think as Krsna desires. (6) One should always think himself the poorest o f the poor and feel totally dependent on the mercy of Krsna. A devotee who follows these six principles of surrender always thinks, "O Lor

d, I am Yours in every respect; I am Your eternal servant." In this way a pure d evotee becomes cleansed. There is a nice verse in this connection in the SrimadBhagavatam (11.29.34):

martyo yada tyakta-samasta-karma niveditatma vicikirsito me tadamrtatvam pratipadyamano mayatma-bhuyaya ca kalpate vai

"A person who gives up all fruitive activities and offers himself entirely unto Me, eagerly desiring to render service unto Me, achieves liberation from birth a nd death and is promoted to the status of sharing My own opulences." To be eleva ted to such a point of devotional life, one has to execute the directions of the scriptures. But even after becoming elevated in devotional life, one should not think, "Oh, I am already elevated to the highest stage; therefore I may violate the scriptural regulations for executing devotional service." Devotional service is dormant in every living being, for by nature every livi ng being is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and it is the healthy condition of the part to serve the whole. It is just like the situation of the parts of th e body. The hand and the leg serve the body; similarly, as part and parcel of th e Supreme Lord, every living entity is bound to serve the Supreme Lord in his he althy condition. When he is not thus engaged, he is in a diseased condition, but as soon as he engages all his senses in the transcendental loving service of th e Lord, he is in his normal, healthy condition. The devotee should engage his senses in the Lord's service according to the d irections of the authoritative scriptures and under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. The beginning of one's devotional training is to engage the ea r in aural reception of the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagav atam. There are many authoritative books of spiritual knowledge, but all of them are more or less supplements to the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Even t he Narada-bhakti-sutra is a summary of the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavat am. Therefore the beginning of devotional service is to hear these two important transcendental books of knowledge. Simply by aural reception of these two books from the bona fide spiritual master, one becomes enlightened about devotional s ervice, which is dormant within the heart. Devotional service executed under the guidance of the spiritual master and ac cording to scriptural injunctions is called vaidhi-bhakti, a part of sadhana-bha kti, or devotional service in practice. The other division of sadhana-bhakti is raganuga-bhakti, spontaneous devotional service. One who wishes to advance to the platform of raganuga-bhakti must follow the injunctions of the authoritative scriptures under the direction of the spiritual master. According to Sutra 12, even a person on a highly elevated platform of d evotional service must execute the rules and regulations of the scripture, what to speak of persons who are not elevated. In other words, neophytes in devotiona l service must strictly and scrupulously follow the rules and regulations of the scriptures to rise to the platform of unalloyed devotional service. As mentioned above, a devotee who strictly practices regulative devotional se rvice, or vaidhi-bhakti. The prime principle of vaidhi-bhakti is stated in the S

rimad-Bhagavatam (2.1.5):

tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro harih srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyas cecchatabhayam

"A person serious about making progress in devotional service must always think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must always chant His glories, and must a lways hear about His activities." These are the preliminary principles of follow ing the scriptural rules and regulations. The Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.2) states,

mukha-bahuru-padebhyah purusasyasramaih saha catvaro jajnire varna gunair vipradayah prthak

Every person, whatever he may be, emanates from some part of the universal form of the Supreme Lord, the virat-purusa. The brahmanas (intelligentsia) emanate fr om the face, the ksatriyas (warriors and administrators) emanate from the arms, the vaisyas (farmers and merchants) emanate from the thighs, and the sudras (lab orers) emanate from the feet. But wherever we may be situated, we have some part icular function to execute in the service of the Supreme Whole, the Personality of Godhead. If we do not, therefore, engage our particular propensities in the s ervice of the Lord, then we are fallen, just like a useless limb amputated from the body. According to the Padma Purana, the sum and substance of all the regulative pr inciples of the scripture is that Lord Visnu, or Krsna, should always be remembe red and should never be forgotten. We should therefore mold our lives in such a way that in every activity we shall be able to remember the Supreme Lord. Any ac tivity that reminds one of the Supreme Lord is a regulative principle in devotio nal service, and any activity that makes one forget the Supreme Lord is a forbid den activity for a devotee. In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.115-28), Lord Caitanya lists sixty-four regulative principles one must follow to be elevated to the highest platform of devotional service. And, as stressed here in Sutra 12, even after being elevate d to the highest platform of devotional service, one must continue following the scriptural injunctions for devotional life. The sixty-four regulative principle s are as follows: (1) To accept a bona fide spiritual master. (2) To become initiated by the sp iritual master. (3) To engage oneself in the service of the spiritual master. (4 ) To receive instructions from the spiritual master and inquire about advancing on the path of devotional service. (5) To follow in the footsteps of previous ac aryas and follow the directions given by the spiritual master. (6) To give up an ything for the satisfaction of Krsna, and to accept anything for the satisfactio n of Krsna. (7) To live in a place where Krsna is present--a city like Vrndavana or Mathura, or a Krsna temple. (8) To minimize one's means of living as much as one can, while living comfortably to execute devotional service. (9) To observe fasting days, such as Ekadasi. (10) To worship cows, brahmanas, Vaisnavas, and

sacred trees like the banyan. These ten principles of devotional service are the beginning. Additional prin ciples are as follows: (11) One should avoid committing offenses against the hol y name, the Deity, etc. (12) One should avoid associating with nondevotees. (13) One should not aspire to have many disciples. (14) One should not unnecessarily divert his attention by partially studying many books so as to appear very lear ned. For devotional service, it is sufficient to scrutinizingly study books like the Bhagavad-gita, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the Caitanya-caritamrta. (15) One should not be disturbed in either loss or gain. (16) One should not allow onese lf to be overwhelmed by lamentation for any reason. (17) One should not blasphem e the demigods, although one should not worship them. Similarly, one should not criticize other scriptures, although one should not follow the principles therei n. (18) One should not tolerate blasphemy of the Supreme Lord or His devotees. ( 19) One should not indulge in idle talks, such as those about relationships betw een men and women. (20) One should not unnecessarily disturb any living being, w hatever he may be. The above-mentioned twenty items are the doorway to devotional service. And a mong them, the first three--namely, acceptance of the spiritual master, initiati on by the spiritual master, and service to the spiritual master--are the most im portant. Then come the following items: (21) To hear about the Lord. (22) To cha nt His glories. (23) To remember Him. (24) To serve and meditate upon the lotus feet of the Lord and His devotees. (25) To worship Him. (26) To pray to Him. (27 ) To think of oneself as the Lord's eternal servant. (28) To become the Lord's f riend. (29) To offer everything to the Lord. (30) To dance before the Deity. (31 ) To sing before the Deity. (32) To inform the Lord of everything about one's li fe. (33) To bow down to the Lord. (34) To offer respect to the spiritual master and the Supreme Lord by standing up at the appropriate time. (35) To follow the spiritual master or the Supreme Lord in procession. (36) To visit places of pilg rimage and temples of the Supreme Lord. (37) To circumambulate the temple. (38) To recite prayers. (39) To chant the Lord's name softly to oneself. (40) To chan t the Lord's name loudly in congregation. (41) To smell incense and flowers offe red to the Deity. (42) To eat the remnants of food offered to the Deity. (43) To regularly attend the arati offered to the Deity, as well as special festivals. (44) To regularly look upon the Deity. (45) To offer one's dearmost possessions to the Supreme Lord. (46) To meditate on the Lord's name, form, pastimes, etc. ( 47) To water the tulasi plant. (48) To serve the Lord's devotees. (49) To try to live in Vrndavana or Mathura. (50) To relish the topics of the Srimad-Bhagavata m. (51) To take all kinds of risks for Krsna. (52) To always expect the mercy of Krsna. (53) To observe ceremonies like Janmastami (the appearance day of Lord K rsna) and Rama-navami (the appearance day of Lord Ramacandra) with devotees. (54 ) To fully surrender to Krsna. (55) To observe special regulations like those fo llowed during the month of Kartika (Oct.-Nov.). (56) To mark the body with Vaisn ava tilaka (clay markings). (57) To mark the body with the holy names of God. (5 8) To accept the remnants of garlands that have been offered to the Supreme Lord . (59) To drink caranamrta, the water that has washed the lotus feet of the Deit y. Among these fifty-nine items, five are considered so important that they are mentioned again separately, thus completing the sixty-four items of devotional s ervice. These five are (60) associating with devotees, (61) chanting the holy na me of the Lord, (62) hearing the Srimad-Bhagavatam, (63) residing at a place of pilgrimage like Mathura, and (64) worshiping the Deity with faith and veneration .

SUTRA 13*

TEXT

anyatha patitya-sankaya

SYNONYMS

anyatha--otherwise; patitya--of falling down; sankaya--because of anticipating t he possibility.

TRANSLATION

Otherwise there is every possibility of falling down.

PURPORT

If a diseased person is being cured of the symptoms of his disease but does n ot care for the principles of healthy living, there is every possibility of a re lapse. Similarly, the neophyte devotee serious about advancing in devotional ser vice must carefully follow the principles of regulative devotional service; othe rwise there is every possibility of his falling down. Strictly speaking, if a de votee ignores the regulative principles and acts according to his whims--if, for example, he does not eat krsna-prasadam but eats anywhere and everywhere, such as in restaurants--there is every possibility of his falling down. If he accumul ates money without spending it for devotional service, there is every possibilit y of his falling down. If he applies his energy not in the service of the Lord b ut in some material activity, there is every possibility of his falling down. If the devotee does not engage himself always in hearing and chanting the topics o f Krsna and His activities but instead indulges in idle talk, there is every cha nce of his falling down. If a neophyte devotee does not follow the orders of the spiritual master and simply officially sticks to the principles, or if he does not strictly follow the principles, there is every possibility of his falling do wn. To become greedy is another cause of falldown. And to associate with persons who are not in devotional service is the last word in maya's allurements for ca using a devotee to fall down. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.5), Krsna clearly states that sacrifice, charity, an d penance are never to be given up by a transcendentalist. If he is at all intel ligent he must continue these three activities, even if he is highly elevated. A devotee is naturally very humble, and even if he is highly elevated he does not consider himself to be so. A practical example is found in the life of the auth or of the Caitanya-caritamrta, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. He was a vastly learn ed scholar and a first-class devotee, yet he still referred to himself as the lo west of mankind, lower than the bacteria in the stool. He wrote that he was so s inful that no one should even utter his name, lest that person fall down! Of cou

rse, when a great devotee speaks this way, we should not believe that he is actu ally in the lower status of life; we should rather take it as evidence that out of humility a pure devotee never thinks he is elevated. He always thinks he is i n the lowest status of spiritual life. As stated above, in the Bhagavad-gita Krsna states that no one should give up the sacrificial portion of spiritual life. And the scriptures recommend that th e best sacrifice in this Age of Kali is to chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna K rsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Therefore, a devote e's prime duty is to continue chanting this maha-mantra, even if he is highly el evated. Otherwise, at any stage one can fall down.

SUTRA 14*

TEXT

loke 'pi tavad eva bhojanadi-vyaparas tv a-sarira-dharanavadhi

SYNONYMS

loke--in social behavior; api--also; tavat--for that long; eva--indeed; bhojana-eating; adi--and so on; vyaparah--the activity; tu--and; a-sarira-dharana-avadh i--for as long as one still has this body.

TRANSLATION

For as long as the body lasts, one should engage minimally in social and poli tical activities and in such matters as eating.

PURPORT

Spiritual life begins when a person understands that he is not the body. In t he material world, all our connections--whether social or political or in the fi eld of eating, sleeping, defending, and mating--are due only to the material bod y. Unless one is completely conversant with the fact that one is not the body, i t is not possible to become self-realized. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.54), Lord Krsna describes self-realization as follow s:

brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param

"Self-realization [the brahma-bhuta stage] is symptomized by joyfulness. One nev er laments for any loss, nor is one very enthusiastic when there is some gain. O ne sees everyone on an equal level through spiritual understanding. These qualit ies are preliminary to entering into pure devotional service." Pure devotional service is so powerful, however, that one may at once take to it without acquiring the previous qualification of brahma-bhuta life. A sincere devotee who engages in the service of the Lord automatically becomes situated i n the brahma-bhuta stage. The devotee's duty is only to strictly follow the prin ciples of regulated devotional service, as previously mentioned. Therefore a dev otee should not be too concerned about social and political obligations, since a ll such activities belong to the body. He should similarly restrict his eating; this is essential to the execution of devotional service. A devotee cannot eat a nything and everything he likes; he must eat only foods that have been offered t o the Lord. The Lord clearly says (Bhagavad-gita 9.26) that He will accept a flo wer, a fruit, a leaf, or a little water if they are offered to Him with devotion al love. (One should note that the Supreme Lord accepts only foods from the vege table kingdom, as well as milk products. "Water" includes milk and its products. ) The Lord is not hungry or poor, in need of our offering. Actually, it is to ou r advantage to offer Him something to eat. If the Supreme Lord kindly accepts ou r offering, then we are benefited. The Lord is full, but to establish the univer sal principle that everyone can offer something to the Lord, He accepts even the most meager offering--when it is presented with love. Even the poorest of the p oor can collect a flower, a leaf, and a little water and offer them to the Supre me Lord. It is incumbent upon all devotees of Krsna to avoid eating anything that has not been offered to the Supreme Lord. A devotee who does not strictly follow thi s principle is sure to fall down. Similarly, one who refuses to accept prasadam, the remnants of food offered to Krsna, cannot become a devotee. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.3) Lord Rsabhadeva states that one who is deter mined to become a pure devotee avoids associating with the general mass of peopl e, who are simply engaged in the animal propensities of eating, sleeping, defend ing, and mating. The general mass of people mistake the body for the self, and t herefore they are always busy trying to maintain the body very nicely. A devotee should not associate with such people. Nor should he be overly attached to his family members, knowing that he has been accidentally thrown together with his w ife, children, and so on. Spiritually, no one is a wife, child, husband, or fath er of anyone else. Everyone comes into this world according to his past deeds an d takes shelter of a father and a mother, but actually no one is anyone's father or mother. While a devotee must know this, that does not mean he should neglect his family. As a matter of duty he should maintain his family members without a ttachment and instruct them in Krsna consciousness. So, whether in social life or political life, or in the matter of eating, sle eping, mating, and defending, a devotee should avoid performing any action taint ed by material attachment. The word used here is bhojanadi, which indicates the four propensities of eating, sleeping, defending, and mating. As the devotee doe s not eat anything that has not been offered to Krsna, so he does not sleep more than is absolutely necessary. In the lives of the great devotees Sanatana Gosva mi and Rupa Gosvami, we see that they did not sleep more than one and a half hou rs a day, and they were reluctant even to accept that. So sleeping is also restr icted. Naturally one who is always engaged in devotional service of the Lord has

very little time to sleep. Sleep is a necessity of the body, not the spirit sou l, and therefore as one advances in devotional service one's propensity to sleep decreases. Similarly, a devotee minimizes his defending propensity. A pure devotee knows he is under the shelter of the all-powerful Supreme Lord, and so he is not very anxious about defending himself. Although he should use his common sense in the matter of defending, he is sure that without being protected by Lord Krsna no o ne can defend himself, however expert he may be in the art of defense. In the same way, a devotee minimizes or eliminates sex. He does not indulge i ndiscriminately in sex, begetting offspring as the cats and dogs do. If he beget s any children at all, he takes charge of them to elevate them to Krsna consciou sness so that they may not have to suffer in material life again, in future live s. That is the duty of a devotee. In this material world, people in general engage in sense-gratificatory activ ities, which keep them bound up by the laws of the material modes of nature. Ind eed, the more a person engages in such activities, the more he expands his life in material existence. A devotee acts differently: he knows he is not the body a nd that as long as he is in his body he will have to suffer the threefold materi al miseries. Therefore to decrease his material entanglement and help his advanc ement in spiritual life, he always minimizes his social and political activities and his eating, sleeping, defending, and mating.

SUTRA 15*

TEXT

tal-laksanani vacyante nana-mata-bhedat

SYNONYMS

tat--of it (devotional service); laksanani--the characteristics; vacyante--are e nunciated; nana--various; mata--of theories; bhedat--according to the difference s.

TRANSLATION

Now the characteristics of devotional service will be described according to various authoritative opinions.

PURPORT

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.23), Prahlada Maharaja very clearly states what the essential activities of devotional service are:

sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam

"Devotional service consists of (1) hearing about the Lord, (2) chanting His glo ries, (3) remembering Him, (4) serving and meditating upon His lotus feet, (5) w orshiping Him, (6) praying to Him, (7) thinking oneself His eternal servant, (8) becoming His friend, and (9) surrendering everything to Him." One should surrender to the Lord as much as an animal purchased from the mark et surrenders to its master. Such an animal never thinks of his maintenance beca use he knows that his master will look after him. A soul totally surrendered to the Supreme Lord is similarly never anxious for his maintenance. Srila Sanatana Gosvami gives further symptoms of full surrender in his Hari-bhakti-vilasa (11.4 17):

anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam raksisyatiti visvaso goptrtve varanam tatha atma-niksepa-karpanye sad-vidha saranagatih

"The six divisions of surrender are: accepting those things favorable to devotio nal service, rejecting unfavorable things, the conviction that Krsna will give p rotection, accepting the Lord as one's guardian or master, full self-surrender, and humility." Narada will gradually explain these principles of devotion in the remaining sutras.

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada