Bhakti

In authoritative scriptures, bhakti has been delineated as being strictly for Śrī Bhagavān. It is said in the Pañcarātra:

surarṣe vihitā śāstre harim uddiśya yā kriyā ।
saiva bhaktir iti proktā tayā bhaktiḥ parā bhavet ॥

[O sage among demigods, all activities performed for the sake of Hari according to scriptural injunctions are referred to as bhakti, whereby one attains parā-bhakti (prema-bhakti).]

Therefore, it is certainly worth deliberating whether or not the word bhakti, as used in reference to various gods and goddesses or to one’s parents, country, or that nation’s inhabitants, actually expresses the real meaning of the word bhakti.

Bhakti, prīti, and sevā—all share the same meaning. “Bhagavān is my one and only beloved.” Only the buddhi (cognitive disposition) that impels one to serve Bhagavān lovingly with this sort of spontaneous pull of the heart is what is meant by the word bhakti. The word bhakti is defined in Śrī Nārada Pañcarātra as follows:

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam ।
hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate ॥

Completely relinquishing the mundane ego of being a man or a woman and giving up all illusory lusts and desires to serve the Lord of the senses with all of one’s senses is bhakti. There is no question of this sevā, or bhakti, being difficult or needing a hiatus from it. And no desire for the gratification of one’s own senses will remain. The only thing that will remain is a most formidable desire to bring joy to Bhagavān, to satisfy Him. This is why a bhakta has sung:
 

tava sukha jāhe,            karibo jatana,
haye pade anurāgī ।
tomāra sevāya,            duḥkha haya jata,
 sei to’ parama sukha ।
sevā-sukha-duḥkha,            parama sampada,
nāśaye avidyā duḥkha ॥

[I will endeavor for that which gives You happiness in expression of my attachment to You. Whatever sorrow occurs in the course of service to You is actually the greatest joy for me. The joy and sorrow that occurs in the course of service is the greatest wealth for both destroy the sorrow of ignorance.]

Since time immemorial the living entity bewildered by māyā has established a relationship of “I” and “my” with the perishable, destructible, illusory objects within the world of māyā and is suffering day and night from the threefold miseries. “Kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha । ataeva māyā tā’re deya saṁsārādi duḥkha ॥” By some fortune, in the company of sādhus, the jīva can know that his interest in his own gratification and aversion to the service of Kṛṣṇa is the cause of his sorrow, and that his ultimate and supreme wellbeing lies in performing bhajana of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. If the jīva develops faith in the words of the pure devotees, then he becomes engaged in sādhana-bhajana.

kono bhāgye kā’ro saṁsāra kṣayonmukha haya ।
sādhu-saṅge tare kṛṣṇe rati upajaya ॥

Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.45)

[By good fortune, a person’s material existence comes to an end as he associates with saintly personalities and experiences the awakening of divine love for Kṛṣṇa.]

Without the association of pure devotees, attaining bhakti is never possible. Because—

“kṛṣṇa-bhakti janma-mūla haya ‘sādhu-saṅga’ ।
kṛṣṇa-bhakti janme, tẽho punaḥ mukhya aṅga ॥”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.83)

[The root cause of the appearance of devotion for Kṛṣṇa is the association of saintly personalities. Even when one has devotion for Kṛṣṇa, such association is still the primary limb of that devotion.]

“bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta saṅgena parijāyate ।”

(Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa)

[Bhakti arises from association with bhagavad-bhaktas.]

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām ।
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām ॥

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [7.5.30], Śrī Prahlāda Mahārāja says: “All those engrossed in materialistic life are entering the darkest regions of hellish existence by giving in to their uncontrolled senses and repeatedly chewing the chewed of material pleasures and sorrows. Their minds will never be turned towards Kṛṣṇa by their own efforts or by the instructions of one who is similarly under the control of his senses.” He has also said:

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ ।
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat ॥

Bhāgavatam (7.5.32)

Until the conditioned soul accepts the foot dust of genuinely detached saints, his consciousness does not become absorbed in Bhagavān.

In the preliminary stage of bhajana-sādhana, the kind of bhakti that is forcibly channeled towards Bhagavān does not have the spontaneous moods or love of the heart. Gradually, as one’s bhajana-sādhana reaches a ripened state, that same bhakti thickens more and more until prema is produced. The unconquerable independent Bhagavān becomes conquered by prema and becomes dependent, coming under the control of the bhakta. “Kevala bhaktira vaśa caitanya gosā̃i । – Caitanya Gosā̃i is only compelled by devotion.” Prema has many unique specialities depending on its thickness or intensity:

“premā krame bāḓi’ haya sneha, māna, praṇaya ।
rāga, anurāga, bhāva, mahābhāva haya ॥”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 23.42)

Mahābhāva is present only in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

The ārādhya-tattva (supreme object of worship), Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, is worshipped via prema-bhakti. Never is it possible to attain prema for Bhagavān via karma, jñāna, and yoga-miśra bhakti. Bhagavān grants karmīs, jñānīs, and yogīs their cherished objectives and keeps His prema-bhakti hidden. “Let there be millions of obstacles to my bhajana. Let ruin befall me. Let me go to hell due to offenses. I will even welcome lust, but I will not give up bhakti. If even Brahmā himself comes and offers boons, I will not take to jñāna, karma, etc.” This sort of firm, definitive mood is referred to as a dṛḍha-niścayātmikā-buddhi and this is only possible via bhakti. Only bhakti takes the bhakta to Bhagavān. Only bhakti can grant the bhakta Bhagavān’s darśana, and Bhagavān is compelled by bhakti. “Bhaktir evainaṁ nayati, bhaktir evainaṁ darśayati, bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣo, bhaktir eva bhūyasī ।” Bhakti cannot be obtained by any material virtue.

vyādhasyācaraṇaṁ dhruvasya ca vayo vidyā gajendrasya kā
kubjāyāḥ kim u nāma-rūpam-adhikaṁ kim tat sudāmno dhanam ।
vaṁśaḥ ko vidurasya yādava-pater ugrasya kiṁ pauruṣaṁ
bhaktyā tuṣyati kevalaṁ na ca guṇair bhakti-priyo mādhavaḥ ॥

[Śrī Padyāvalī 8]

[What moral principles did the hunter have? How old was Dhruva? What education did Gajendra have? What great reputation or beauty did Kubjā have? What wealth did Sudāmā have? What caste did Vidura belong to? What prowess did the Yādava king Ugrasena have? Mādhava, who is fond of bhakti, is only pleased by bhakti, not by assorted virtues.]

Bhagavān has infinite potencies, among which only hlādinī-śakti supplies Bhagavān with bliss, and Bhagavān utilizes that śakti to bestow bhakti, or prīti-dharma, unto the living entities. Moreover, He becomes bound by the bhaktas’ love for Him and nourishes their love.

Bhagavān is āptakāma (self-satisfied), svarāṭa (sovereign), svatantra (independent), and fully content in the bliss of His self. Nevertheless, that Ajita (undefeatable) Bhagavān becomes controlled by the love of His devotees and loses His independence, becoming dependent. The devotees give bliss to that Bhagavān who is fully content in His own bliss. Bhagavān accepts with great honor the things the devotees give Him with love. That Bhagavān who is satisfied in His own bliss gives so much to His devotees but still thinks He has not been able to give them anything. Bhagavān accepts the prema-bhāva (the loving moods) of His devotees and becomes bound by their love. He finds rest and respite in the hearts of His desireless devotees. “Bhaktera hṛdaye sadā govinda viśrāma – Govinda rests forever in the heart of the devotee.” The bhakta binds Bhagavān with the rope of prema. This pastime of the bhakta and Bhagavān can only be grasped or realized through bhakti.

—Śrīmatī Umā-rāṇī Devī, Bhakti-mādhurī

 Translated from Śrī Gauḍīya Patrikā, Year 38, Issue 6 (1986–87), page 406