Śrī Bhāgavatera Punarāvṛtti - "The Reiteration of Śrī Bhāgavata"

(For the occasion of Vyāsa-pūjā, February 26, 1927. Originally published on page 473 of Vol. 5, Issue 28 of the Gauḍīya.) 

The followers of Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipāyana Veda-Vyāsa, the crest-jewel of self-realized masters, say: “That Being whom the tattva-vid seers of the truth indicate to be the aggregate of jñāna (knowledge), jñeya (that which is knowable), and jñātā (the knower) … He whom they indicate to be beyond the knowledge that is accessible to the senses … He whom they address with the Upaniṣadic word “Parabrahma” in order to convey proper understanding of the nature of vāstava-vastu (the one true reality)—that Being who, as the all-pervading inner and outer presence, challenges His own pūrṇāpurṇa-bhāva (full, but also incomplete state of being) which is comprised of intertwined indivisibility and individuation, but who is in reality determined to be Paramātmā, a special expansion of His bhagavad-bhāva (His ultimate state as the Supreme Lord) that reveals vaiśiṣṭya (speciality)—that Śrī Nanda-nandana, who is known is such ways, is the subject of the kīrtana resonating from the lotus face and heart of the personification of audārya-maya-līlā (pastimes of sheer magnanimity): Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is furnished with infinite and wondrously variegated virtues, adorned with forms, pastimes, and associates of pure existence, cognition and bliss (saccidānanda) and illuminated with such nāma, rūpa, and guṇa, fully fixed on advaya-jñāna (the Absolute Truth), endowed with a form manifest of pure transcendence (nairguṇya), and who is playfully sported with by cit-śakti itself. The humble request of destitute individuals like myself, who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of that Vaiṣṇava gurudeva who is absorbed in the service of that Śrī Nanda-nandana is this: I am a worshipper who is utterly unworthy of performing Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā and therefore my ceremonial attempts to perform kīrtana of hari-kathā are extremely feeble. Nevertheless, today I nurture a great hope in my heart and follow the path shown by great personalities. Today, in the company of many noble souls who are followers of Śrī Vyāsa, with all our united efforts, I am taking a vow of rendering service to Bhagavān.”

The tattvas illuminated in the heart of Caturmukha (Brahmā) were reflected into the life led by Śrī Nārada. As successors to the efforts of the vaiṣṇava-guru Śrī Veda-Vyāsa, we obtain detailed knowledge of all āmnāya (Vedic knowledge handed down in  proper disciplic succession). This path has become renowned as the śrauta-patha (the path of what has been heard). Those who are indifferent to the guidance of Śrī Vyāsa become intoxicated with their own sensory knowledge and give up the śrauta-patha, resorting to devious logic, demonstrating their own efforts to discuss āmnāya, and thus conjure up various doctrines. Then certain people accept those doctrines to be the śrauta-patha and succumb to vivartta (delusion). The path of following the mahājanas as given to the world by Śrī Gaurasundara, in order to reveal the beauty and refinement of the path spoken of by Śrī Vyāsa, is the one and only wealth of all the sādhya and sādhana of the Gauḍīyas. The service-oriented nature central to the tattva of sādhya and sādhana as seen in the sevā-praṇāli practiced by Śrī Gaurasundara’s followers has become changed over the course of time by the association of devious logicians and so-called theists, which has given rise to endeavours that are rooted in abhakti, the opposite of bhakti. The path of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā, Nārada, and Vyāsa gained renown in the world with the aid of the two sātvata-tattvas: the bhāgavata and the pāñcarātra. The nirasta-kuhaka truth itself, which is forever free from illusion, has today assumed many forms in this world due to the utter freneticism of false information and is thus poised to more or less endanger the path of āmnāya. Instead of following, people become swayed by false knowledge, and thus the path of following becomes the path of imitation.

This is why, for the benefit of those who oppose Bhagavān and go against the āmnāya, Śrī Gaurasundara has loudly proclaimed:

“śrīmad-bhāgavatam purāṇam-amalaṁ yad-vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ
yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate |
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviskṛtaṁ
tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa-paro bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ ||”

The jīvanmukta-sampradāya, or the host of personalities who have reached the stage of liberation from material existence while still living amid the world, will and should adopt bhakti to attain their sādhya, or spiritual goal. Furthermore, those jīvanmuktas should strive personally and engage others to bestow auspiciousness upon those still situated in the stage of sādhana, thus manifesting Śrī Gaurasundara’s audārya-līlā (pastime of magnanimity). In reality, the āmnāya scriptures are heard, read, and deliberated according to the divisions created by three different subjects. Pareśānubhūti, or direct experience of Bhagavān, while one is situated fully in one’s svarūpa (eternal, constitutional nature) establishes the bhāgavata’s relationship with Bhagavān. As soon as that sambandha is established, sādhya-tattva enters and abhidheya is conducted with the aim of attaining the sādhya, or prayojana. Although the sādhanābhidheya, or means of sādhana, and the sādhyābhidheya, or means of attaining the goal, may appear to be situated on the same level from a material perspective, they retain unique, eternal specialities. In its fully ripened state, the means of sādhana manifests another unique tendency, a means that is focused on the state of bhāva, and later, by the force that is prema-bhakti itself, it demarcates the form of the sādhya, of bhāva-bhakti, via the bestrewn rays of unnata-ujjvala-rasa. In deliberating prayojana-tattva, we see mention only of prema-bhakti as mukti (liberation) in the form of “viṣṇvāṅghri-lābha – the attainment of Viṣṇu’s lotus feet”. The Prakṛtivādīs, or Māyāvādīs, with a materialistic lens, establish a false sense of identification in false material designations and, in the realm of sādhana, think that the efforts that originate in the perception of what is not the soul, in the gross and subtle bodies, are the main means of sādhana. Thus, thinking that apavarga, or the soul’s release from the physical body, is the goal of their practice, they succeed only in stunting the unique functions of what is jaḍa, or inert. In reality, however, this manner of endeavour rises from false, limited knowledge and is fully incapable of deserving the title sādhya. The perception of mukti felt by the five types of Māyāvādīs is experienced prior to the dissolution of the triad of existence (knower, known, and knowledge). Hence, all that happens is vivartavāda, or belief in a delusion, concerning the definition of one’s eternal identity, which washes away the truth of cit-śakti-pariṇāma-vāda (understanding the transformation of spiritual energy) in processes of devious logic. Then the soul’s awareness of the arṇava-traya, or “three oceans” (the perceiver, perception, and the perceived), disappears and consideration of the total material energy (mahat-tattva) and other material factors takes prominence. Under Gauḍapāda’s guidance, “dharmeṇa gamanam-urddhvaṁ – upward momentum via dharma” and other aphorisms of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa [4^th century Sāṅkhya philosopher] end up used otherwise as resources for the Kevalādvaita-vādīs’ ṣataka-sādhana [a reference to Gauḍapāda’s Māṇḍukya-kārikā, which, influenced by Buddhist concepts, formed the basis of Śaṅkara’s ideas]. Vedāntācārya Śrīpāda Baladeva has drawn attention to all these points in the words of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya-candra. In Prameya-ratnāvalī, in verses discussing Śrī Caitanya-deva’s adoption of Śrī Madhva’s philosophy, he says:

śrī madhvaḥ prāha viṣṇuṁ paratamam-akhilāmnāya-vedyañca viśvaṁ
satyaṁ bhedañca jīvān hari-caraṇa-juṣas-tārtamyañca teṣām |
mokṣaṁ viṣṇvañghri-lābhaṁ tada-amala bhajanaṁ tasya hetuṁ pramāṇaṁ
pratyakṣādi-trayañcetyupadiśati hariḥ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-candraḥ ||

śrīman-madhva-mate hariḥ paratamaḥ satyaṁ jagat tattvato
bhedo jīva-gaṇā harer anucarā nīcocca-bhāvaṁ gataḥ |
muktir-naija-sukhānubhūtir amalā bhaktiś ca tat sādhanam
akṣādi-tritayaṁ pramāṇam-akhilāmnāyaika-vedyo hariḥ ||

In other words, Śrī Madhva states: (1) Viṣṇu is the supreme entity; (2) Viṣṇu is knowable through the Vedas; (3) The world is real; (4) the jīvas are different from Viṣṇu; (5) the jīvas are servants of Śrī Hari; (6) there are two types of jīvas: liberated and conditioned; (7) attaining the lotus feet of Viṣṇu is mukti for the jīvas; (8) performing transcendental bhajana of Viṣṇu is the cause of the jīvas attaining mukti; (9) pratyakṣa (firsthand experience), anumāna (inference), and śruti (the Vedas) are acceptable forms of pramāṇa.

According to Śrī Madhva’s philosophy, Bhagavān Śrī Hari is the supreme principle; the world, though real, is essentially different from Bhagavān; the jīvas are many in number and all are Śrī Hari’s eternal servants; according to the sādhana they engage in, there are differences between them and they attain higher or lower states of being; when they give up the deformity brought about by the avidyā developed in the course of forgetting Kṛṣṇa’s service, they attain mukti and become situated in their pure, spiritual forms and experience the bliss of serving Bhagavān; immaculate, pure bhakti that is not covered by the filth of anyābhilāṣa, jñāna, karma, and other things is the sole means to attain this mukti; pratyakṣa, anumāna, and śabda—these three are pramāṇa and Bhagavān Śrī Hari alone is the subject of all the Vedas, describe therein as the Supreme Person.

Ṭhākura Śrī Bhaktivinoda has put into writing the three principles of sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana as preached by Śrī Gaurasundara as follows in ‘Daśa-mūla’:

āmnāyaḥ prāha tattvaṁ harim iha paramaṁ sarva-śaktiṁ rasābdhiṁ
tad bhinnāṁśāṁśaś ca jīvān prakṛti-kavalitān tad vimuktāṁś ca bhāvāt |
bhedābheda prakāśaṁ sakalam api hareḥ sādhanaṁ śuddha-bhaktiṁ
sādhyaṁ tat-prītim evety upadiśati janān gauracandraḥ svayaṁ saḥ || 1 ||

svataḥ-siddho vedo hari-dayita-vedhaḥ-prabhṛtitaḥ
pramāṇaṁ sat-prāptaṁ pramiti-viṣayān tān nava-vidhān |
tathā pratyakṣādi-pramiti-sahitaṁ sādhayati naḥ
na yuktis tarkākhyā praviśati tathā śakti-rahitā || 2 ||

haris tv ekaṁ tattvaṁ vidhi-śīva-sureśa praṇamitaḥ
yad evedaṁ brahma prakṛti-rahitaṁ tat-tanumaḥ |
parātmā tasyāṁśo jagad anugato viśva-janakaḥ
sa vai rādhā-kānto nava-jalada-kāntiś-cid-udayaḥ || 3 ||

parākhyāyāḥ śakter apṛthag api sa sve mahimani
sthito jīvākhyāṁ svām acid-abhihitāṁ tāṁ tri-padikām |
sva-tantrecchaḥ śaktiṁ sakala-viṣaye preraṇa-paro
vikārādyaiḥ śūnyaḥ parama-puruṣo 'yaṁ vijayate || 4 ||

sa vai hlādinyāś ca praṇaya-vikṛter hlādana-ratas
tathā samvic-chakti-prakaṭita-raho-bhāva-rasitaḥ |
tathā śrī-sandhinyā kṛta-viśada-tad-dhāma-nicaye
rasāmbodhau magno vraja-rasa-vilāsī vijayate || 5||

sphuliṅgāḥ ṛddhāgner iva cid-aṇavo jīva-nicayāḥ
hareḥ sūryasyaivāpṛthag api tu tad-bheda-viṣayāḥ |
vaśe māyā yasya prakṛti-patir eveśvara iha
sa jīvo mukto 'pi prakṛti-vaśa-yogyaḥ sva-guṇataḥ || 6 ||

svarūpārthair hīnān nija-sukha-parān kṛṣṇa-vimukhān
harer māyā-daṇḍyān guṇa-nigaḍa-jālaiḥ kalayati |
tathā sthūlair liṅgair dvi-vidhāvaraṇaiḥ kleśa-nikarair
mahā-karmālānair nayati patitān svarga-nirayau || 7 ||

yadā bhrāmaṁ bhrāmaṁ hari-rasa-galad-vaiṣṇava-janaṁ
kadācit saṁpaśyan tad-anugamane syād-rucir iha |
tadā krṣṇāvṛttyā tyajati śanakair māyika-daśāṁ
svarūpaṁ vibhrāṇo vimala-rasa-bhogaṁ sa kurute || 8 ||

hareḥ śaktiḥ sarvaṁ cid-acid-akhilaṁ syāt pariṇatiḥ
vivarttaṁ no satyaṁ śrutim iti viruddhaṁ kali-malam |
harer bhedābhedau śruti-vihita-tattvaṁ suvimalaṁ
tataḥ premnaḥ siddhir bhavati nitarāṁ nitya-viṣaye || 9 ||

śrutiḥ kṛṣṇākhyānaṁ smaraṇa-nati-pūjā-vidhi-gaṇāḥ
tathā dāsyaṁ sakhyaṁ paricaraṇam apyātma-dadanam |
navāṅgānyetānīha vidhi-gata-bhakter-anudinaṁ
bhajana śraddhā-yuktaḥ suvimala-ratiṁ vai sa labhate || 10 ||

Śrī Gaurasundara’s exposition of the shortcomings in the Tattva-vāda branch [of Madhva’s sampradāya], which He demonstrated in His talks with the ekadaṇḍīs of that Tattva-vādi śākhā, are well-recorded in the text of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. As Śrī Gaurasundara roamed through South India, he visited Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra and manifested various discussions in the course of His pastimes to improve the sādhana of the Gauḍīyas and to make viśiṣtādvaita-vāda whole and complete. Accounts of this are mentioned in various places throughout Śrī Caritāmṛta. All the shortcomings in the books of Śrī Niyamānanda Muni, like Pārijāta, Daśa-ślokī, and other texts, which would have been considered an obstacle to performing kṛṣṇa-bhajana for the sampradāya following him, so Śrī Gaura-kṛṣṇa remedied those shortcomings during the course of His debate with Keśavācārya from Kāśmīra. Thirdly, the pastime of Śrīman Mahāprabhu addressing the shortcomings in the Subodhinī commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Śrī Vallabhācārya, who appeared in the disciplic succession of the Viṣṇusvāmī sampradāya is also included in its entirety in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

The accounts of the four sampradāyas founded by Śrī, Brahma, Rudra, and Sanaka are mentioned in a host of sacred texts, led by the Vedas, Purāṇas, and Mahābhārata. The history gleaned from the Mahābhārata and other historical texts is accepted as evidence in this regard. There are few topics that briefly explained in this context:

In Brahmā’s seven different births, that vāstava-satya (the real truth) has been revealed again and again. By the influence of time, that truth more or less disappears and, in the age of Kali, has ushered in various avenues of doubt and debate.

(1) In Brahmā’s first birth, his mānasa-janma, or mental advent, the vāstava-satya was first imparted by Śrī Nārāyaṇa to the Pheṇapas, who passed it to the Vaikhānasas, who imparted it to Candra. In Brahmā’s (2) second birth, his cākṣuṣa-janma, or visual birth, by the mercy of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, that truth passed to Brahmā and Rudra, and from Rudra to the Bālikhilyas. (3) In Brahmā’s third birth, his vācika-janma, or verbal birth, Suparṇa [Garuḍa] obtained the collected mantras of the Ṛg Veda. In that age, the Vighaśāsis received knowledge of that one-pointed dharma from Vāyu, and from them it passed to Mahodadhi (Ratnākara). In the Brahmā’s fourth birth, his śrauta-janma, or auditory birth, the sātvata-dharma was preached in the Vedas along with the Āraṇyakas. In that age, Brahmā taught sātvata-dharma to Svārociṣa Manu, Manu taught his son Śaṅkhapada, who taught his own son Suvarṇābha. In Brahmā’s aforementioned four births—the mānasa, cākṣuṣa, vākya-ja, and śravaṇa-ja—it was the dharma of Satya-yuga that was preached. In those days, the propagation of varṇāśrama-dharma and Vedic karma-kāṇḍa had not yet begun, as it would in Tretā-yuga. Pheṇapa, Vaikhānasa, Soma, Rudra, Bālikhilya, Suparṇa, Vāyu, Mahodadhi, Svārociṣa Manu, Śaṅkhapada, Suvarṇābha and other harijanas of the earliest age were all ekāyana-śākhīs. As there were no divisions between the śākhās, or branches, of Vedic knowledge, the Vedic Ṛṣis were known as ekāyana-śākhīs. The aforementioned Pheṇapas, Vaikhānasas, Balikhilyas, and later the Auḍumbaras followed the previous four lineages and, even when varṇāśrama-dharma had been established, transformed into a type of vānaprastha branch. (5) In Tretā-yuga, Brahmā’s fifth birth, his nāsatya-janma, or olfactory birth, it was from Śrī Nārāyaṇa’s teachings that Sanat-kumāra entered the ekāntika-dharma. From Sanat-kumāra, these teachings of dharma came to Vīraṇa, from Vīraṇa to Raibhya, and from Raibhya to Kukṣi. (6) Then, in Brahmā’s sixth birth, his aṇḍaja-janma, or ovum birth, entrance into this ekāntika-sātvata-dharma passed from Brahmā to Bahiṣmat and his elder sibling Avikampana and others. In Brahmā’s seventh birth, his pādma-janma, or lotus birth, these teachings passed from Śrī Nārāyaṇa to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Dakṣa, down to Aditya, Vivasvān, Manu, Ikṣvāku, and other various Vaiṣṇavas who became situated in bhāgavata-dharma and became well-renowned.

The Śrī-sampradāya originates from Ratnākara. Ratnākara comes from the ancient Vighaśāsi Sampradāya, which in turn originates from Vāyu and manifested during Brahmā’s third birth, his vākyaja-janma.

The Brahma-sampradāya and Rudra-sampradāya received the mercy of Śrī Nārāyaṇa during Brahmā’s cākṣuṣa-janma. Their descendants, the Balikhilyas safeguarded the lineages of Brahmā and Rudra.

Sanat-kumāra received the ekāntika-dharma from Śrī Nārāyaṇa during Brahmā’s fifth birth, or nāsatya-janma, at the beginning of Tretā.

The Lord of the fourteen worlds, Śrī Gaurasundara preached the true conclusion of the Vedas, which is comprised of the principles of sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana. Over the course of time, fourteen formidable doctrines opposed to that siddhānta of the Vedas were propagated. They have been mentioned in in Śrī Sāyana Mādhava in the section titled Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha (“A collection of all philosophies”). In brief, they are:

(1) The ‘Cārvāka’-sampradāya consists of those who are inimical to the Vedas (veda-vidveṣī), focused on fickle material desires (anyābhilāṣī), preoccupied with the senses (ādhyātmika), infatuated with the modes of material nature (guṇopāsaka), and atheistic (nāstika).

(2) The Bauddha-sampradāya consists of those who are Kṣaṇika-vādīs (“Momentary-ists” who believe that everything is a fleeting, perishable occurence). They are also guṇopāsakas and are tārkikas (shrewd dialecticians relying on fallacious argument).

(3) The Jain Ārhat-sampradāya consists of syād-vādīs (indeterminists or theorists of conditioned predication), who are also guṇopāsakas and tārkikas.

(4) The sāṅkhya-vādī Kāpila-sampradāya consists of those who are nirīśvara (“Godless”), nirguṇātma-vādīs (those who believe that the soul has no attributes), and are also tārkikas.

(5) The Pātañjala-sampradāya is seśvara, meaning it acknowledges the existence of God, but it believes the soul is without quality (nirguṇātma-vādī) and its members are also essentially tārkikas.

(6) The Śāṅkara-sampradāya, which consists of cij-jaḍa-samanvaya-vādīs (those who profess the harmonization of conflicting elements, like matter and spirit, thinking spirit becomes matter or engrossed in matter). They are śrauta-bruva (“bogus among those who have heard” or pseudo-revelationists), stringent monists, rationalistic (and inimical to Hari).

(7) The Mīmāṁsakas are vākyārtha-vādīs (“textual exegetists” who are concerned primarily with orthopraxy and philology). They are also pseudo-revelationists and are saguṇopāsakas (worshippers of God as possessed of material qualities).

(8) The Naiyāyika-sampradāya are utpatti-sādhanāḍṛṣta-vādīs (profess a primal beginning (utpatti), the process of effort (sādhana), and an unseen force). They recognize the authority of śabda (the word of the Vedas), but also accept other forms of pramāṇa. They are also saguṇopāsakas, worshipping God as a material deity.

(9) The Vaiśeṣika-sampradāya is also comprised of utpatti-sādhanāḍṛṣta-vādīs, but ones who do not accept another form of pramāṇa other than śabda. They are also saguṇopāsakas.

(10) The Vaiyākaraṇa-sampradāya (“the grammarians”) are padārtha-vādīs (materialists) and are also śrauta-bruva saguṇopāsakas.

(11) The Raseśvara-sampradāya (“the mercurial school”) are Śaivas who have done away with tarka. They are bhoga-sādhanādṛṣṭa-vādīs, meaning they profess worldly enjoyment, process of effort, and the unknown factor. They believe in being jīvanmukta, or liberated while still living in this world. They are rationalistic saguṇopāsakas [who believe in the use of mercury to make the body immortal].

(12) Members of Pratyabhijña-sampradāya are also bhoga-sādhanādṛṣṭa-vādīs, but believe in liberation after leaving the physical body (videha-mukti-vādī). They are also atmyaika-vādīs (believers that all souls are one). They are saguṇopāsakas as well.

(13) The Nakulīśa Pāśupata Śaiva-sampradāya also consists of bhoga-sādhanādṛṣṭa-vādīs, but they believe that all souls are separate and individual (ātma-bheda-vādī). They do believe in liberation after leaving the physical body and believe in god as unrelated to fruitive work. They are also saguṇopāsakas.

(14) The Śaiva-sampradāya are bhoga-sādhanādṛṣṭa-vādī, videha-mukti-vādī, ātma-bheda-vādī saguṇopāsakas who believe God is karma-sāpekṣa, or related to fruitive work.

The compiler of Śrī Caitanya’s pastimes, Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī Prabhu, who enacted pastimes as a Paramahaṁsa renunciate, has advised materialistic tarka-panthis (dialecticians) to secure the guidance of Śrī Vyāsa in the following śloka: “nānā-mata-grāha-grastān dākṣiṇātya-jana-dvipān kṛpāriṇā vimucyaitān gauraś cakre sa vaiṣṇavān – Śrīman Mahāprabhu liberated the South Indians, a people who were as formidable as elephants, yet caught in the jaws of various crocodile-like philosophies. He set them free by the disc of mercy and converted them into Vaiṣṇavas.” In the garb of an āśramī (a sannyāsī within the varṇāśrama  system) tridaṇḍipāda Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī became a world teacher for those following daiva-varṇāśrama-dharma, showing them how to adopt the dharma of the Paramahaṁsas. As we go about bearing his victory flag, it is the anxious, heartfelt prayer of this sampradāya of preachers under the shelter of Śrī Caitanya that no one succumb to a vivarta (mistaken perception)  in the course of identifying us as Śrī Rūpānuga.

The ceremonial practices of the servants of the servants of the Vaiṣṇavas under the guidance of the Paramahaṁsas ought  not to pose a hindrance to anyone’s vision the truth due to being influenced by external, worldly preconceived notions. The purport of saying this is that the sādhana-tattva manifested by Śrī Gaurasundara is not trapped by anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna, but in more or less all sampradāyas, these things are revered as sādhana. The anyābhilāṣīs’ reaping of worldly rewrds, the karmīs’ fleeting attainments in the afterlife, the efforts of self-destruction made by seekers of nirbheda-brahma in order to achieve an absence of knowledge, the knowable, and the knower, and various other sādhya-vastu (goals) cannot be compared to bhagavat-premā. To some, bhagavat-premā does not appear to be the everlasting sādhya-vastu, but instead something that is subject to change. Their concept of sādhya is in the same category as worldly, or aupādhika (limited, materially designated), ignorance. The discourse of such deliberation on sādhya and sādhana has been put into writing by the narrator of Śrī Caitanya’s pastimes, the previous guru of the Pāramahaṁsya-sampradāya, Śrī Kavirāja Gosvāmī, in the form of his upāsya-vastu (worshipful object)—the sacred textual form of līlā as Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

The sādhaka’s efforts to attain his sādhya are called ‘sādhana’. The present condition of the sādhaka’s svarūpa-jñāna, or knowledge of self, is covered by the prapañca (the world of five elements) and the five koṣas [annamaya, prāṇamaya, etc.]. If the lifting of these five coverings is not sādhita (achieved), one cannot gain any true inkling of the platform of sādhya. Moreover, if the blunder of considering the sādhya-vastu to be something of this material world appears, one will become keenly aware of its imprudent application to the sādhyābhidheya [sādhana]. Therefore, although the devotee’s efforts of anartha-nivṛtti may, to general eyes, seem to be part of karma-kāṇḍa, sādhana-bhakti is not simply a matter of mental restraint characterized by a connection to material conditioning (aupādhika). It is constituted of a nirupādhika (unconditional) inclination toward service, and as a result of that, secondarily, it is characterized by mental restraint that is devoid of any association with atad-vastu (material objects) born of dvitīyābhiniveśa (absorption in that which is secondary). For this reason, it is written in the Pañcarātra:

“surarṣe vihitā śāstre harim-uddiśya yā kriyā |
saiva bhaktir iti proktā yayā bhaktiḥ parā bhavet ||

“laukikī vaidikī vāpi yā kriyā kriyate mune |
hari-sevānukūlaiva sā kāryā bhaktim icchatā ||

“ihā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā |
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvanmuktaḥ sa ucyate ||”

“O godly sage, that which is prescribed in scripture for the satisfaction of Śrī Hari is called bhakti (sādhana-bhakti), whereby one can attain parā-bhakti (prema). O sage, whether worldly or Vedic, one should engage only in those activities which are favorable to the service of Śrī Hari. One who acts in such service of Hari by actions, mind, and words is considered liberated while living under any and all conditions in this world.”

And, to describe the nature, or svarūpa, of bhakti, the Pañcarātra says:

“sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate”

“Bhakti entails the employment of all one’s senses in the service of Śrī Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses, which has two results: (1) one becomes free from material conditioning and (2) one’s senses become purified.”

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam expresses the same idea via the statements of (1) Śrī Prahlāda:

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

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ |
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te ’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ ||

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

“The senses of those who are dedicated to materialistic life are uncontrolled and so they enter the darkest realms of existence, repeatedly chewing the chewed. Their minds cannot be turned towards Kṛṣṇa either by the endeavours of others, by their own endeavours, or by a combination of both. Not knowing their own real interest, which is to attain Viṣṇu, persons who are compelled by futile desires and attached to external sensual pleasures are like blind men following other blind men, bound by the strong cords of fruitive work. Until they bathe in the footdust of exalted devotees who are completely detached, such persons cannot become inclined to the lotus feet of Urukrama (Śrī Kṛṣṇa). Taking refuge at the feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in this manner is the only way to be rid of anarthas.”

(2) But also via the statements of the best of brāhmaṇas, Bharata:

rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā
na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair vinā mahat-pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekam

“O Rahūgaṇa, one cannot gain this knowledge neither by austerities, deity worship, taking sannyāsa, living as a gṛhastha, studying the Vedas and observing celibacy, nor by submerging oneself in water or scorching oneself in the sun. The only way to realize this knowledge is to bathe in the footdust of exalted devotees.”

And, (3) the statements of Śrī Brahmā:

tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ
śokaḥ spṛhā paribhavo vipulaś ca lobhaḥ
tāvan mamety asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ
yāvan na te ’ṅghrim abhayaṁ pravṛṇīta lokaḥ

“As long as the people of the world do not wholly choose Your lotus feet, they are consumed by concern for wealth, body, friends and family, by lamentation at their loss, by repeated desire to gain them, then ridicule for their behavior, but still they experience an intense thirst to fulfill their material desires, and when they gain such pleasures, there remains the material attachment that causes suffering, the false ego of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.”

In these and other verses, the utility of bhakti as a sādhana has been irrevocably established as the abhidheya, or means of expressing the goal of premā, of prema-bhakti, which is characterized by unnata-rasa, the exalted mellows of divine love.

All the ācāryas who have appeared in this world have described bhagavad-vastu (objects related to Bhagavān) as ‘sambandha’, bhagavat-sevā (service to Bhagavān) as ‘abhidheya’, and bhagavat-prīti as the ‘phala’ (fruit). Then, afterwards, because their successors accepted service mixed with anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna, as the sādhana-characterized abhidheya, they pretend to have forgotten the basis of eternal bhakti. In truth, because the soul’s immaculate tendency, bhakti, becomes covered, then the teachings Śrī Vyāsadeva [in the Vedas regarding karma and jñāna] do not align with the instructions of his own guru. This is why in the first chapter of the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we come to know of Śrī Vyāsadeva’s immaculate vision of the vāstava-vastu:

“bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite ’male
apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayām
yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam
paro ’pi manute ’narthaṁ tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate
anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṇāyāṁ kṛṣṇe parama-pūruṣe
bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā”

“By thus focusing his mental faculties via the perfect execution of bhakti-yoga free from any material contamination, he beheld the Supreme Person along with the illusory energy of māyā under His full control. Bewildered by that māyā, the jīva thinks of himself as material, though superior to those three modes of māyā, and thus he suffers material miseries. People do not know that these anarthas, these pointless vices and the ensuing suffering, can be directly removed by bhakti-yoga for the transcendental Lord Adhokṣaja. Therefore, Śrī Vyāsadeva compiled this sātvata-saṁhitā. Just hearing this narration causes bhakti for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person, to arise, whereby all lamentation, illusion, and fear are extinguished.”

In Śrī Gaurasundara’s conceptual praṇāli, or formula, regarding sādhya and sādhana, we find this same supreme truth of Bhāgavatam. This is why one of our previous ācāryas follows Śrī Gaurasundara’s teachings in writing the following:

“ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas-tad-dhāma vṛndāvanaṁ
ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā |
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalaṁ premā pumartho mahān
śrī caitanya mahāprabhor matam idaṁ tatrādaro naḥ paraḥ ||”

Śrī Gaurasundara’s conception of sādhya and sādhana is presented in this verse. Kṛṣṇa-premā is the greatest achievable object of all that is worthy of being sought. If one is to attain that goal, one has to utilize the assitance of the senses. In the present conditioned state, the knowledge that arises from our senses is our only resource. For the whole time from our birth till our death, this sensory knowledge is our only aid. It is by the assistance of this indriyaja-jñāna that we gain the capacity to roam this world that is a transformation of Bhagavān’s acit-śakti (material energy). This transformation of acit-śakti acts in an unfavorable manner and increases our absorption [in māyā] and it becomes increasingly evident that we cannot detect any sign of anything other than objects that are transformations of that acit-śakti. However, the personification of audārya-līlā (pastimes of magnanimity), Śrī Gaurasundara, in order to convey our true welfare unto us, has first orchestrated the threefold miseries in this boundless, fragmented saṁsāra that is agitated by the force of time, and has then personally provided the song of Śrī Bhāgavata as told by Vyāsadeva in order to uproot those threefold miseries. Then, again, in order to fill the lackings in the sampradāyas taught by His associates, He has come Himself in the guise of an ācārya and freely distributed His own esoteric practice of bhajana. Therein we come to see that from among thousands of aṅgas (limbs) of bhakti, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu selected in writing sixty-four types of sādhana-bhakti aṅgas, and of those, the nine types of bhakti maintain their prominence; then again, of those, five types of service are more rewarding, and among those, śrī nāma-saṅkīrtana alone is the one topmost, indispensable limb of bhakti.  Though the other limbs of bhakti must be practiced, śrī nāma-kīrtana alone is glorious above all. The kīrtana that is expressed in Śrī Bhagavān’s own vāṇī, or utterances, which take shape as service to śrī nāma are such that as soon as they are heard, they enter the caverns of the ears and, through hearing, etc., situate us within two types of wondrous, eternal activities by way of receiving darśana of Bhagavān’s śrī rūpa (beautiful form), grasping His divine guṇa (qualities), appreciating the specialities of His associates, and becoming situated in His pastimes. We then forget the perishable names, forms, qualities, and acitivities and transcend the kingdom of material energy, becoming situated in the regions of Vaikuṇṭha and Goloka, etc. We do not take our present perishable bones, flesh, marrow, and related possessions to that place. The sole sādhana to attain this total perfection is vaikuṇṭha-nāma-kīrtana. Though the śrī nāma of Vaikuṇṭha may appear to be of a comparable categorization as the māyika-nāma (illusory name), there is a difference of heaven and hell between them.

Objects within the scope of the material energy, or names that come from titles that are providing information regarding this state of existence, and the nāma that points to Vaikuṇṭha—these two differ from each other according to the capabilities that originate from their inherent śakti. Vaikuṇṭha-nāma is non-different from the nāmī (He who is named). The multitudes of māyika-nāma (illusory names), however, are different from the entity that can be verified through states of being perceived via the eyes and other various senses. Vaikuṇṭha-nāma is eternal, pure, whole, liberated, the form of saccidānanda-rasa, and it is cintāmaṇi (a wish-fulfilling gem). And māyika titles are temporary, incomplete, ensared in material bondage, fragmented, impure, and segregated. Therefore, if someone thinks of vaikuṇṭha-nāma as simply a name that refers to a illusory, segregated, perishable object, then this conception will present as an obstacle to the performance of nāma-bhajana. This is precisely what Śrī Gaurasundara has referred to as ‘nāmāparādha’ or ‘vaiṣṇavāparādha’. Just an uneducated child ignores the words of a knowledgeable teacher and meets with suffering, those treading the path of bhakti may disregard the words of Śrī Gaurasundara and instead follow some other person, an individual who is absorbed in the secondary (dvitīyābhiniviṣṭa) and think them to be an ācārya. If that happens, then their path to auspiciousness will have been beset with thorns. Śrī Gaurasundara states:

“tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā |
amāninā mānadena kīrttanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ ||”

“One should be more humble than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree, without any desire for respect, but giving respect to all others. In this manner, one should constantly perform kīrtana of Hari.”

“niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya |
sandarśanaṁ viṣayinām atha yoṣitāñca
hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato ’py asādhu ||”

“Alas! Alas! For those who are without material ambition and inclined to perform bhagavad-bhajana, who truly seek to cross the vast ocean of material existence, seeing a man or woman engrossed in sense enjoyment is more detestable than drinking poison.”

Of all the inconveniences that appear at the time of performing śrī nāma-bhajana, the thirst for material enjoyment and the thirst for mukti, which represent a mentality that is directly contrary to the relationship between sevya and sevaka (servant and master), pose the main obstacle. That is why we must discuss and study in every way possible the pastimes enacted within this world by Śrī Gaurasundara and His associates, and it is that path of the mahājanas that we are to follow at all costs. It is written in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

“etāṁ samāsthāya parātma-niṣṭhām adhyāsitāṁ pūrvatamair maharṣibhiḥ
ahaṁ tariṣyāmi duranta-pāraṁ tamo mukundāṅghri-niṣevayaiva”

“I will cross the insurpassable ocean of material existence by becoming fully devoted to the lotus feet of Śrī Mukunda, as approved by the great sages of old who were firmly devoted upon Parātma, the Supreme Soul (Śrī Kṛṣṇa).”

Giving regard to any type of sādhana other than that described in this verse will simply be a waste of our time. We shall simply adopt the following sort of preaching presented by tridaṇḍipāda Śrī Prabodhānanda and progress along the path of kīrtana:

dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya
kṛtvā ca kāku śatam etad ahaṁ bravīmi |
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva vihāya dūrād-
gauraṅga-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam ||

“With a piece of straw between my teeth, I fall at your feet and beseech you in a hundred ways to say this, O saintly person: relinquish all that you have learnt and simply develop loving attachment for the feet of Gaurāṅga-candra!”