TEXT 6
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.7.4–6) it is stated:
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
With a pure heart Śrī Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vedavyāsa became absorbed in meditation through the process of bhakti-yoga. He thus saw the Supreme Person, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, along with His external energy (māyā), which was far away from Him but under His control. Due to this māyā, the conditioned living entity (baddha-jīva) forgets his service to Kṛṣṇa and becomes affected by anarthas. Although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, the living entity who is bewildered by māyā considers himself a material product. He thus identifies himself with this body and considers that which is related to it to be his. The infini-tesimal living entity can only be delivered by kṛṣṇa-bhakti-yoga, but the mass of people in the material world are ignorant of this fact. Understanding this, Śrī Vyāsa manifested Bhāgavatam through bhakti-yoga.
kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-māyā, jīva ei tina tattva
māyā-mohe māyā-baddha jīvera anartha
citkaṇa jīvera kṛṣṇa-bhakti-yoga-bale
anartha vinaṣṭa haya kṛṣṇa prema-phale
ei tattva nāma-samādhite pāile vyāsa
bhāgavate bhakti-yoga karila prakāśa
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
Śrī Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vedavyāsa manifested all the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Purāṇas and so forth. Even though he had realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth and His sound incarnation (śabda-brahma), he remained dissatisfied, feeling an inner lack. He enquired from Śrī Nārada about this, who answered, “You have not described Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweet pastimes and spotless glories. You should do so, and by this your heart will become satisfied.” By the mercy of Śrī Nārada and by the means of bhakti-yoga, Vedavyāsa, with a pure heart, became absorbed in meditation and received darśana of all Bhagavān’s pastimes. He then manifested the Bhāgavatam, the fully ripened fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literature.
The essential teaching of this incident is that when the mind of the living entity becomes pure through the practice of bhakti, then by the combined mercy of the saṁvit- and hlādinī-śaktis, he can experience Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s internal potency (Yogamāyā) and his own constitutional nature (svarūpa). The object of bhajana will manifest in the heart naturally through bhakti-yoga. Those who desire liberation through jñāna and karma are deprived of realisation of the complete, eternally conscious object.
The words puruṣaṁ pūrṇam in this Text refer to Svayam Bhagavān Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara, who is the possessor of all potencies (sarva-śaktimān), and to all the residents of Vraja, including the gopīs.
By means of bhakti-yoga, Śrīla Vyāsadeva saw Bhagavān’s various manifestations and His three śaktis: svarūpa-śakti, māyā-śakti and jīva-śakti. Through His svarūpa-śakti, Bhagavān is performing eternal transcendental pastimes. Māyā-śakti has two functions to control the jīvas who are averse to Bhagavān: āvaraṇātmikā (to cover real knowledge) and vikṣepātmikā (to hurl the living entity down into the ocean of material existence). Those jīvas who are controlled by material activities are moved by the desire to gratify their senses, and Māyā-devī makes them dance like puppets.
An argument can be raised in this connection. When Vyāsadeva received darśana of Bhagavān’s form, qualities, pastimes and so forth, what was the purpose of his also having received darśana of māyā? The answer is that Vyāsadeva was not an ordinary living being, so he had no familiarity with the suffering of conditioned souls ensnared by māyā. How, then, could he help them? For this reason he also received darśana of the illusory energy.
The ācāryas write that the living entities who are controlled by māyā are absorbed in the three modes, devoured by the great disease of material existence and unable to taste the sweetness of Bhagavān. The liberation of the living entities bound by māyā is possible only when māyā’s coverings are removed. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains in his commentary on this Text that to cure a sick patient, an expert doctor prescribes both medicine and a good diet. The remedial measure for the conditioned living entities is the process of bhakti. The medicine is hearing hari-kathā and chanting harināma, and the diet is to stay in the association of devotees and avoid offences.
After receiving the above-mentioned darśana, Śrīla Vyāsa manifested Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the eternal authoritative scripture that is filled with all truths. He did this for the benefit of ignorant people who are devoured by the great disease of material existence. By hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the living entities can become free from their anarthas and ignorance, and thus obtain kṛṣṇa-prema. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental pastimes with the vraja-devīs, which are filled with prema, are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. By hearing these narrations with faith, the living entities can again become established in their eternal dharma.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.36) states: “yāḥ śrutvā tat-paro bhavet – upon hearing such pastimes, one becomes dedicated to Him.” To become established in service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, which consists of the mellows of prema that are saturated with sweetness, is the purpose of life. This is achieved following the removal of one’s anarthas through the process of bhakti-yoga, the essence of all truths.
TEXT 7
Anarthas, or misfortune, are of four kinds. This is described in the Āmnāya-sūtra:
māyā-mugdhasya jīvasya
jñeyo ’narthaś catur-vidhaḥ
hṛd-daurbalyaṁ cāparādho
’sat-tṛṣṇā tattva-vibhramaḥ
The anarthas of the living entities enchanted by māyā are of four kinds: (1) illusion about one’s real identity (svarūpa-bhrama), (2) hankering for that which is temporary (asat-tṛṣṇā), (3) offences (aparādha) and (4) weakness of heart (hṛdaya-daurbalya). They bind the living entity to the material world and entangle him in its miseries.
māyā-mugdha jīvera anartha catuṣṭaya
asat-tṛṣṇā, hṛdaya-daurbalya viṣamaya
aparādha svarūpa-vibhrama ei cāri
yāhāte saṁsāra-bandha vipatti vistāri
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
The living entities seized by māyā and derailed from pure dharma wander in this material existence, falsely thinking they are its enjoyers. Four anarthas are noticed in these living entities: svarūpa-bhrama, asat-tṛṣṇā, aparādha and hṛdaya-daurbalya. The word anartha means “to collect that which has no purpose”. The jīva’s only goal is service to Kṛṣṇa, but in this material existence he is engaged in māyā’s service – hence, this is an anartha.
Svarūpa-bhrama – The pure living entity is a tiny transcendental particle (cid-aṇu) and the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Just as the conditioned living entity experiences form, taste, smell, touch and so on through his material senses, the pure living entity experiences transcendental form, taste and so forth through his transcendental senses. Forgetting that “I am an infini-tesimal particle of spiritual consciousness and Kṛṣṇa’s servant”, the jīva becomes conditioned and wanders about in this material existence. The primary anartha of the living entity is his failure to realise his true svarūpa.
Asat-tṛṣṇā – To consider the material body to be “me”, to consider perishable objects in relation to the body to be “mine”, and to desire happiness from perishable objects, is called asat-tṛṣṇā.
Aparādha – Apagata-rādho yasmād ity aparādhaḥ. Rādha means affection (prīti), so that action which causes affection to vanish is called aparādha (offence). Aparādha at the lotus feet of Bhagavān and at the lotus feet of His devotees decreases prīti. One should avoid the ten nāma-aparādhas, the thirty-two seva-aparādhas and all the dhāma-aparādhas.
Hṛdaya-daurbalya – When the heart experiences illusion and distress upon the attainment or loss of that which is perishable, it is called hṛdaya-daurbalya, weakness of heart. This anartha appears naturally in the living entity due to ignorance, and it vanishes by the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the association of pure devotees.
TEXT 8
Svarūpa-bhrama is of four types, as stated in the Āmnāya-sūtra:
sva-tattve para-tattve ca
sādhya-sādhana-tattvayoḥ
virodhi-viṣaye caiva
tattva-bhramaś catur-vidhaḥ
The conditioned living entity is subject to four kinds of bhrama, illusion: (1) jīva-svarūpa-bhrama, (2) paratattva-bhrama, (3) sādhya-sādhana-tattva-bhrama and (4) bhajana-virodhi-viṣaya-bhrama.
tattva-bhrama catuṣṭaya baḍai viṣama
svīya-tattve bhrama āra kṛṣṇa-tattve bhrama
sādhya-sādhanete bhrama, virodhī viṣaye
cārividha tattva-bhrama baddha-jīva-caye
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
Jīva-svarūpa-bhrama – The jīva cannot realise his own transcendental form due to ignorance of it. He has forgotten his real svarūpa, that he is the servant of Kṛṣṇa, because he thinks himself to be the enjoyer.
Paratattva-bhrama – Who is paratattva, the Absolute Truth? Not knowing this, the living entity becomes illusioned. Sometimes he worships Śiva, sometimes Brahmā and sometimes another demigod or goddess. The inability to correctly ascertain the Absolute Truth is called paratattva-bhrama.
Sādhya-sādhana-bhrama – According to the scriptures, kṛṣṇa-prema is the only goal (sādhya) and bhakti the only practice (sādhana). The conditioned living entity, however, is unable to decide which is his goal among sense enjoyment, liberation and kṛṣṇa-prema, and which is his practice among karma, jñāna and bhakti. This is sādhya-sādhana-bhrama, illusion about the goal and the process to attain it. If one cannot ascertain the goal, it is not possible to ascertain the practice, and without the practice it is not possible to attain the goal. It is only by the mercy of Vaiṣṇavas that one can obtain the fortune to understand that bhakti is the only auspicious sādhana, and prema is the only sādhya. Prema is of two kinds: aiśvarya-para (full of opulence) and mādhurya-para (full of sweetness). The ācāryas have determined that the topmost goal is sweet, loving service to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa under the guidance of the vraja-gopīs.
Bhajana-virodhi-viṣaya-bhrama – Doctrines other than Vaiṣṇavism oppose bhajana and cause bewilderment (virodhi-bhrama). This especially applies to impersonalism (māyāvāda), which contaminates the heart and thus renders the living entity unable to discriminate.
TEXT 9
Asat-tṛṣṇā is of four kinds, as described in the Āmnāya-sūtra:
aihikeṣvaiṣaṇā pāra-
trikeṣu caiṣaṇā ’śubhā
bhūti-vāñchā mumukṣā ca
hy asat-tṛṣṇāś catur-vidhāḥ
The four types of asat-tṛṣṇā are: (1) desire for objects of this material world, (2) desire for heavenly pleasures, like those of Svarga, (3) desire for mystic powers and (4) desire for liberation.
pāra-trika aihika eṣaṇā bhūti-kāma
mukti-kāma ei cāri asat-tṛṣṇā nāma
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
The desire to obtain that which is unrelated to Kṛṣṇa is known as asat-tṛṣṇā. This desire is of four kinds: (1) Desire for worldly, material objects and the various endeavours to obtain them. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.3.18) states: “karmāṇy ārabhamāṇā duḥkha-hatyai sukhāya ca – the conditioned living entity endeavours to obtain pleasure for the senses but receives only misery.” (2) Desire to obtain the pleasures of the heavenly planets and the worship of various demigods and goddesses. (3) Desire to obtain mystic powers in order to bewilder people by material wonders and thereby attain wealth, worship, prestige and so forth.
Human beings are attracted to aṣṭāṅga-yoga and to mystic powers like aṇimā and laghimā. (4) Desire for liberation.
These four desires are all opposed to bhajana, and therefore devotees of Bhagavān never accept them.
TEXT 10
Aparādha is of four kinds, as mentioned in the Āmnāya-sūtra:
kṛṣṇa-nāma-svarūpeṣu
tadīya-cit-kaṇeṣu ca
jñeyā budha-gaṇair nityam
aparādhāś catur-vidhāḥ
The four kinds of aparādha are: (1) offences to Kṛṣṇa’s name (nāma-aparādha); (2) offences to Kṛṣṇa’s deity form (seva-aparādha); (3) offences to that which belongs to Kṛṣṇa, or in other words to Girirāja-Govardhana, the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā, the dhāma or the lotus feet of the devotees; and (4) offences to other living entities, who are all infinitesimal particles of spirit belonging to Kṛṣṇa.
kṛṣṇa-nāme, svarūpe o bhakte, anya nare
bhrama haite aparādha catuṣṭaya smare
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