Third Stage of Bhakti | Bhajan Kriya | Sri Vinod Babaji Maharaj

The attraction to worldly pleasures is not a fault, but has become a habit of the jivatma due to the Samskaras of innumerable previous births. Through the association of highly enlightened sadhus, when the sadhak starts realizing that there is a higher reason to take birth as humans rather than living for food and mating like animals, they worship God. Slowly, they rise the ladder of Bhakti:

1. Shraddha (faith),
2. Sadhusanga (association of elevated sadhus),
3. Bhajan kriya (practicing the forms of Bhakti),
4. Anartha nivritti (the emergence and winning over the obstacles of Bhakti),
5. Nishtha (diligence in bhajan),
6. Ruchi (the first signs of love of Krishna),
7. Asakti (the stage when sadhak starts forgetting his identification with body due to continuous contemplation of Krishna),
8. Bhava (the stage when the sadhak realizes his Bhava deha in spiritual world) and
9. Prem (the full maturity of Bhava and realizing darshan of Radha Krishna in person).

The sadhak must not feel disheartened at his shortcomings in this long path of Bhakti. "Krishna will definitely shower mercy on me" – should be the attitude of a sadhak who has taken shelter in Krishna's lotus feet. Persevering with his bhajan slowly but steadily, the sadhak will one day reach the blissful and divine stage of Prem. Initially, the sadhak tries to do bhajan but is unable to do so due to his materialistic Samskaras. This stage of Bhakti is known as Bhajan Kriya or Anishthita bhajan (the kind of bhajan without full dedication of mind). There are various stages within this Anishthita bhajan through which a sadhak gradually matures towards Nishthita (bhajan with full dedication of mind): Utsahmayi, Ghana tarala, Vishay sanghara, Vyudha vikalpa, Niyamakhyama and Tarang rangini.

• Utsahmayi - When a sadhak receives Diksha (initiation), he gets excited about bhajan. He thinks he will overcome the obstacles of Bhakti in no time and realize his eternal Swarupa (transcendental body in Goloka's pastimes) soon. This initial excitement for bhajan doesn't last long. The path of bhakti is so complex and difficult (due to Aparadhas), our innermost desires and longings is so difficult to overcome and the play of Maya is so strong that at a point of time the sadhak feels defeated by all. The path of Bhakti is said to be the simplest way of achieving the Supreme Godhead, but that is possible only with the mercy of Guru and Govind, and not by the efforts of the sadhak himself. That is why, slowly, the sadhak starts drifting back towards worldly pleasures. His initial excitement subdues.

• Ghana Tarala – When worldly matters disturb him, he gets so wrapped up in them that he forgets his bhajan. Since he has realized through Satsanga that worldly pleasures are not worth pursuing, he feels very disturbed by them and springs back to persevering with bhajan. This is called Ghana tarala (the literal meaning is "the thick and thin"). Sometimes he perseveres with bhajan and sometimes gets attracted to worldly pleasures. Sometimes he dedicates his whole mind to bhajan, but the next day, some obstacle pops up and he is unable to do bhajan with full dedication.

• Vishay Sanghara - In this stage, the sadhak experiences the re-emergence of the materialistic Samskaras of the previous lives. The five senses - Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch – attract the mind towards themselves. This is not same as the attraction to worldly pleasures of a materialistic person. Such a person enjoys worldly pleasures without a thought, while a sadhak regrets seeing such inclinations of the mind and has to fight with these desires to progress in bhajan. The sadhak thinks he will never again look, touch, talk or think about worldly pleasures, but after a few days, he drifts back to them. Again, a little Satsang pulls him back to bhajan. By mentally fighting with these desires, he swipes off the materialistic Samskaras of previous lives and the spiritual Samskaras become more powerful than them. In other words, this fight with Samskaras is vital for the spiritual growth of a sadhak.

• Vyudha vikalpa - The term means whimsical wills. When the sadhak mentally fights with his attachment to worldly pleasures, he decides to leave his home & family and reside in Vraj Dham to purely do bhajan, but then he falters at the thought of living the difficult life of a renunciate the next day. In this case, the sadhak neither wants (intellectually) to lead a materialistic life nor is he ready to abandon the comforts of home life. Sometimes he thinks of becoming a renunciate, then after some time, he thinks 'Oh, scriptures have said that one can do bhajan in Grihastha ashram also. Let's stay at home and fulfil our duties'. (Indeed, one must not leave Grihastha unless he reaches a stage where he just cannot concentrate on worldly matters anymore. Regardless, these stages come in the life of householder devotees too. This does not mean that every sadhak has to leave householder life to progress in Bhakti. It is simply a psychology that since it is very difficult to end attachments to family and worldly pleasures, let’s leave the family and go elsewhere. This is not the way of developing true detachment.)

• Niyamakhyama - In this stage, the sadhak is unable to maintain a routine of bhajan. One day the sadhak thinks he will complete 3 lakhs Harinaam and then only drink water, read such and such books in the daytime and not go to sleep until chanting so many rounds of Harinaam. But after a few days, some illness or some preoccupations occurs and disturb the whole timetable. The sadhak completes 3 lakhs of Harinaam one day and only 16 rounds the other day. That day he feels very irritated and keeps on trying to find time for completing his routine rounds of Harinaam, but is unable to do so.This yearning to maintain a routine makes him mindful of how much time he gives to bhajan and how much time is wasted in worldly actions. Hence, the sadhak consistently tries to reduce his time for other things (cuts off worldly associations, useless talk and gossip, unnecessary sleep or lazy time) and increase his bhajan time. (Seva of Vaishnavas is the fruit of all of one's bhajan. Inability to maintain routine due to Vaishnav Seva is not a part of this stage.) More than the actual number of rounds of Harinaam, these efforts and mental engagement save the sadhak from getting distracted to useless thoughts and fault finding in others, and when he fails to maintain the routine, he prays to Guru and Govind with great humility to help him. 

But if a sadhak is not able to maintain a routine at all, then they must not despair. They must not wait for a time when all their problems will fade away and then they will do bhajan. No. They must try to chant Harinaam verbally and do all the necessary works with their hands. The mothers at home can chant Harinaam while cooking, those engaged in jobs can chant whenever they are not speaking. A sadhak must not waste his time, but always chant Harinaam. With every minute that passes by, every day that closes, we are nearing our death. No one knows when one will have to face death, how many days or breaths are left. Do not waste time. Chant Harinaam. There are nine main forms of Bhakti:

1. Shravanam – Hearing the names and glories of the Lord
2. Keertanam – Chanting His glories
3. Smaranam – Remembering the Lord
4. Paada sevanam – Serving the Lord’s feet
5. Archanam – Worshiping the Lord
6. Vandanam – Offering obeisance unto the Lord
7. Daasyam – Serving the Lord as His servant
8. Sakhyam – Developing friendship with the Lord
9. Aatma Nivedanam – Total surrender of oneself to the Lord

Choose whichever you like. Worship Krishna in whichever way that suits you. But chant Harinaam by mouth. That is the most important part of Bhakti. Harinaam is the body of Bhakti, the other forms of Bhakti are body parts of Bhakti. That is why along with any form of Bhakti you engage in, chant Harinaam continuously.

• Tarang rangini – In this stage, the sadhak experiences alternating waves of inspiration for bhajan and lack of inspiration. The sadhak sets his routine of bhajan and engages himself vigorously in bhajan for a few months or years, even conquers the obstacles in his path, but then slowly he gets fed up of striving so hard and seemingly achieving nothing. The wave of inspiration for bhajan subsides and the sadhak, though unlikely to get attracted towards Maya, continues his routine of bhajan only mechanically. He feels very sad and lost in his heart. Then on association with elevated sadhus or other forms of mercy, he regains his hope and vigour for bhajan. 

The wave of hopelessness subsides and the wave of inspiration follows again. The sadhak must remember that the path of bhakti is that of humility and submission. When a traveller crosses a forest to get to his destination, from the start till end he sees only dense forest all around. It is very difficult to approximate how much of the forest path has been traversed and how much is left. Even when the forest path is about to end, the traveller sees only dense locks of trees all around. Similarly, the sadhak always finds faults within himself since Bhakti maharani blesses him with humility. The more he progresses, the more he is convinced that he is the most fallen soul on Earth. Srila Narottam Das Thakur says,

"Mo sam patit nahi, tribhuvan dekho chahi, Narottam paban naam dharo".

Meaning: Search the three worlds. You will find that there is no fallen soul like me. O Lord, you must take up the name “the purifier of Narottam” (by salvaging me).

Such is the state of the heart of the sadhak. But he must not feel disheartened or hopeless. Krishna has said in Shrimad Bhagvat Gita,

"Kaunteya prati janihi na me bhaktya pranashyati"

Meaning: O Arjun, know that my Bhakta never fails.

A sadhak may stagger, deviate from the path of Bhakti for some time or try to accumulate Maya, but once he has taken shelter in the lotus feet of Guru and Govind, through Anukul Kripa (mercy that seems favourable) or Pratikul Kripa (mercy that seems unfavourable), They will pull him to themselves and give him the nectarine fruit of Prem Bhakti. Therefore, one must never think that since I am fallen, Krishna will never accept me.

The bond between Krishna and his devotees is so strong, invincible and eternal that even Krishna himself cannot break or become indifferent to it. And, the fruit of one Krishna Naam is Amogha (invincible), whether pure or only Namabhas. So, have faith and never lose hope. One day, you will achieve Krishna's Prem Bhakti and the divine mood of Braj Bhav.