bhakti/saranagati: 'the drama and the stage' [sanga]

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

S a n g a Thursday, July 19, 2001

 

Friday, July 20, Amavasya [dark moon]. Disappearance of Srila Bhakti

Rakshak Sridhar Deva Goswami.

 

"This is what saranagati (surrender) means: retiring that which is

unfavorable and accepting that which is favorable. The drama of bhakti is

performed on the stage of saranagati. This foundation must be in place."

 

Q&A discussion with Swami B.V. Tripurari.

 

Q. Although I am regularly chanting the holy name I haven't developed any

love for Radha Krsna. Because of this I am often attracted to material

things and become bewildered.

 

A. It is natural in the early stages that those on the path of bhakti may

get distracted by material desires. One should strive by right means to

control and overcome these desires, dovetailing and ultimately transcending

them. This is what yoga is all about.

 

As we advance our conditioning becomes more apparent. Then we must deal

with it appropriately, especially by taking steps to retire habits and

thoughts that are not conducive to progress. This is what saranagati

(surrender) means for the neophyte: retiring that which is unfavorable and

accepting that which is favorable for spiritual progress. The drama of

bhakti is performed on the stage of saranagati. So this foundation must be

in place.

 

Service to Radha Krsna should be focused on service to Sri Guru and the

Vaisnavas, who have come to tell us about this service and represent them.

Try to always stay in good company. Nothing will be more conducive to

spiritual progress.

 

Q. In this month's Audarya Darshan you wrote, "We are to be in the world,

but never of it. The only thing we can change in life is our orientation to

it." What do you mean?

 

A. We (being consciousness) are to be in the world but should not think

ourselves to be of it (matter). We should not be ruled by matter, but

rather by God. We should move in the world knowing that matter also belongs

to God, and thus not objectify people and things thinking them to be ours

to do with as we like.

 

Krsna says it this way in the Gita, "One who works without attachment

ascribing his actions to God is not tainted by evil, just as a lotus leaf

while in the water is not touched by it." This month's Audarya Darshan can

be viewed at http://www.audarya.org/editorial

 

Q. I am 62 years old and have struggled with Krsna consciousness for many

years and failed mostly. What is the best way for this soul to make some

progress?

 

A. Find a sadhu who inspires you and live in his association.

 

Q. I read in Gaura-lila where Caitanya Mahaprabhu, upon seeing Lord

Nityananda naked, told those present to take a piece of Nityananda's

kaupina (loin cloth), put it on their heads and worship it with care. How

does one worship Nityananda's kaupina? If I know this will I not surely get

the mercy of Lord Nityanada?

 

A. You can wear the cloth as an armlet or neck band. However, please don't

think that by doing this you can forego important devotional practices,

saranagati, and so on and still make spiritual progress. If you have such

faith in Nityananda Prabhu and what Mahaprabhu said about him, you should

act in such a way that you will endear yourself to them. Mahaprabhu said

these kinds of things about Nitai in order to bring attention to his

spiritual stature. The natural result of understanding the significance of

Nityananda Prabhu's appearance is taking shelter of his precepts.

 

Don't think that Mahaprabhu said 'wear the kaupina of Nitai and you will

conquer over lust' for any other reason than to draw attention to the

greatness of Nitai and thus all that he stands for. His statement is not to

be taken as a magical short cut to spiritual life. However sincere your

intentions may be, please don't delude yourself, especially not in the name

of Gaura and Nityananda.

 

Q. I have a bramachari friend in Rishikesha, India who wants to know if

you have an ashrama there. He would like to meet you.

 

A. I do not have an ashram in Rishikesha, but I warmly invite your friend

to visit me here at Audarya, which in many ways reminds me of Rishikesha.

 

Q. I've never been able to follow the spiritual path very well. Is there

hope for me? How can a person in the grihasta ashram (householder) pursue

the spiritual life that was so easy in the monastic ashram (brahmacari)? I

fear I may lose whatever spiritual gain I've made in this life.

 

A. The key to remaining enthusiastic in any ashram is association with

advanced devotees and service under their guidance. According to

Bhagavad-gita, one's progress in spiritual life is never lost, and if one

is unsuccessful, he or she will pick up where they left of in the next

life.

 

The followng are some excerpts from chapter six of my new Gita commentary

which I hope sheds some light on your question.

 

Chapter Six, Verses 37-39

"Arjuna said: O Krsna, what destination befalls one who, although possessed

of faith, is nevertheless uncontrolled? What happens to one whose mind has

fallen away from yoga practice without having achieved perfection? O

mighty-armed, is he not lost in his pursuit of transcendence like a riven

cloud with no solid footing in either world? These are my doubts, O Krsna!

Please cut through them, for other than you, no one is capable of

destroying them completely." Bg 6.37-39

 

Comment:

 

Arjuna's question is thoughtful. Should a person leave the karma-marga, he

will not attain heaven or material success in the next life. That is Þne if

in doing so he embraces yoga in pursuit of liberation. However, should he

be unsuccessful in yoga practice, what will his position be then? It would

seem that he attains neither heaven nor liberation, neither material nor

spiritual perfection.

 

Arjuna has implicit faith in Krsna, and his holy name and its efficacy.

Here he addresses his friend as Krsna and implies that all success in yoga

can be achieved by invoking the name of Krsna, the most complete

nomenclature for the Absolute. Krsna responds to Arjuna's sincere inquiry

with great affection.

 

Verse 40

"The Lord of Sri said: O son of Partha, neither here in this world nor in

the next is he vanquished. Anyone who is sincere, my dear friend, walks not

the road of misfortune." Bg. 6.40

 

Comment:

 

Here the all-compassionate Krsna replies, his heart going out to Arjuna and

all of his devotees. His assurance is that "sincerity is invincible," 'na

hi kalyana-krt kascid durgatim tata gacchati.' Anyone who does good is

never overcome by evil. With this assurance one should practice yoga,

difÞcult though it may be. The use of the word 'tata' indicates great

affection on the part of Krsna, who speaks here as fatherly guru to his

son-like disciple. Although Krsna's words are relevant for yoga

practitioners in general, this verse is intended for his devotees in

particular.

 

Verses 41-42

"He who has fallen from the path of yoga attains heaven and dwells there

for what seems an eternity. Then he is born again in a pious or

aristocratic family. Or he may be born directly into a family of wise

transcendentalists. Rare is such a birth in this world." Bg. 6.41-42

 

Comment:

 

Contrary to Arjuna's thinking, Krsna reveals that the unsuccessful yogi

attains both material happiness and eventually liberation. Here we are

reminded of Krsna's Þrst instruction on the nature of yoga-dharma found in

chapter two, verse forty, wherein he taught that efforts on the path of

yoga never go in vain. The immature yogi or devotee attains material heaven

where he is free to enjoy without karmic repercussion that sense pleasure

that distracted him from his practice.

 

This, however, does not include distractions that lead the practitioner off

the path - deviations from pious, scripturally regulated life. It refers to

distractions such as the desire to visit heaven itself. When the neophyte

yogi has exhausted this propensity, he again takes birth on earth in a

family that provides him the economic freedom or pious situation from which

to pick up where he left off in his spiritual practice.

 

The advanced yogi referred to in verse forty-two who falls from his

practice need not go to heaven to exhaust his enjoying propensity. He takes

birth directly in a family that is involved in yoga practice, receiving

instruction in yoga from his very birth. Both the mature and immature yogis

are assisted by efforts spent on the spiritual path, as the yogic tendency

again asserts itself in their life. Krsna afÞrms this in the following

verses.

 

Verses 43-46

"Thereupon he regains the yogic intelligence cultivated in his previous

life and once again strives for perfection, O son of Kuru. Due to his prior

practice, he is carried along spontaneously. Even one who merely inquires

about yoga transcends the ritualistic recitation of the Vedas. In this way,

by persevering and restraining his mind, the yogi, completely cleansed of

all evil tendencies and perfected through many births, Þnally attains the

supreme goal. The yogi is superior to the ascetic, superior to the jnani,

and superior to the ritualist as well. Therefore, Arjuna, be a yogi!" Bg.

6.43-46

 

Comment:

 

Here Krsna summarizes his teaching thus far: "Become a yogi, Arjuna." He

addresses his disciple as Arjuna, indicating his purity. In the concluding

verse of this chapter, Krsna tells Arjuna that of all types of yogis, his

devotee is the best.

 

Verse 47

"Of all yogis, he who abides in me with full faith, worshipping me in

devotion, is most intimately united with me and considered the best of

all." Bg. 6.47

 

Comment:

 

After the considerable discussion of yoga that began in the second chapter

(Bg. 2.39), Krsna concludes his yoga discourse with this verse. Here he

places his devotees on the highest rung of the ladder of yoga. Devotion to

Krsna is the last word on yoga. Krsna indicated this throughout the Þrst

six chapters and at the end of chapters two through six he has indicated

that it is bhakti that Arjuna is to attain if he is to be the person Krsna

wants him to be. The perfectly integrated person that Krsna has been

teaching Arjuna about is his devotee.

 

He is dutiful and responsible in all his actions. His actions are informed

by higher knowledge, and he has realized the fruit of this detached action

in the form of inner wisdom. His action is integrated with knowledge, and

thus he is renounced even while acting. He is absorbed in meditation on

God, and his heart swells with love for God and love for all beings. He has

realized the cessation of material suffering, and he knows God as Brahman,

Paramatma, and Bhagavan. Arjuna is spellbound at what it means to be

Krsna's devotee!