At
first, the sadhak is not able to do bhajan with determination. Sometimes he gives
priority to other things in his life, resulting in no fixed time and amount of
bhajan in his life. If some other work crops up, bhajan takes a backseat.
Hence, he might do only few rounds of Harinaam that day, that too while
worrying incessantly about the work at hand and hardly thinking of Radha
Krishna at all. (This is Namabhas and it causes purification of heart
gradually, but it takes a lot of time, maybe several births, to reach Prem
Bhakti.)
On
reaching the stage of Nishtha (the meaning of the word
is determination), the sadhak gives utmost
priority to only bhajan. Then he never fails to complete his daily rounds,
whatsoever the situation in his life. He realizes that all things in the world
can be done by others, but his spiritual upliftment lies only in his hand. He
has been given this human birth as a golden opportunity to free himself from
this cycle of birth and death. Therefore, he must give his utmost priority to
only bhajan, even if he incurs some worldly losses.
If
such a sadhak is unable to complete his rounds or other devotional services one
day, due to various problems or disasters in life, they become very angry with
themselves. They punish themselves as “I must not eat
anything until I complete my rounds” or “yesterday I have not completed my
rounds, but today I will complete those as well as today’s rounds. Only then I
will eat.” This kind of mind-set is called Nishtha. Bhajan is their utmost
priority, just like a diligent worker becomes irritated if he hasn’t completed
an important work in time at the office.
A
sadhak must strive to do bhajan with such determination, whether he likes it or
not. Many people say that my mind wanders, I am unable to focus on
Harinaam. Still, they must sit routinely and complete their rounds. This
exercise will attract their mind to bhajan gradually. It will be a painful
struggle at first, but one has to command his mind to obey. Gradually, they
will also find happiness in chanting Harinaam. Henceforth, the yearning to
chant more will only increase, taking the sadhak through Ruchi, Asakti, Bhav
and Prem.
Many
people lose interest in bhajan because their mind wanders too much. They say
“What is the use of sitting with the Japa mala when the mind is elsewhere?” But
Bhagavat Naam (Harinaam), Bhagavat Anushthan (a devotional event like Ekadashi,
Kartik vrata, etc.) and Bhagavat Karma (pooja, arati, reading scriptures) are
Amogha (the results of such actions cannot be destroyed. Aparadhas can delay
or put a veil on the results of such actions, but once the Aparadhas are
vanquished, they will reappear).
Suppose,
you do not like your job, but you are going to work anyway. Does that mean you
will be paid less? No, you will be paid all the same. Yes, it is better if you
like your job and are always trying to improve your status at work. Then your
boss will be happier with you and promote you to higher position.
Similarly,
if you do bhajan, pooja, read devotional scriptures, etc. without actually
enjoying it or your mind wandering, still they will purify your heart. Eventually,
you will find happiness in them so much that all worldly matters will seem to
be a misery and only hurdles in the path of devotion to Radha Krishna. Your
mind will also become your servant, not your instructor.
When
Krishna sees that my devotee is trying so hard to please me, but is bound in
Maya hopelessly, his heart melts in compassion. He knows
that this Maya of mine is too powerful for a jivatma to overcome. No scripture
has said that the jivatma is able to overcome the Maya with his bhajan.
Instead, they have said that this Maya cannot be overcome by a jivatma. In Shrimad
Bhagwat Geeta (7.14), Krishna says to Arjuna:
||Mam eva prapadyante mayam etam taranti te||
Meaning: My
Maya is divine, made of the three modes of nature and is very difficult to
overcome (by a jivatma). Only one who surrenders to me, is able to overcome
this Maya.
Devotional
service and Harinaam are the solution for ignorance. Therefore, whether you
like it or not, make a routine of devotional services and number of rounds of
Harinaam, fix a time for your bhajan so that nothing can disturb your schedule
and you can be sure how much bhajan you have done today. If you find more
time, then do more bhajan, but nothing should cause less bhajan. This is not
easy. This is an austerity. But your determination will be appreciated and Krishna's
mercy will melt and come to you.
As
sadhak engages in rigorous bhajan, mercy is attracted towards the sadhak. If
the bhajan stops, mercy also stops. When the bhajan of the sadhak and mercy of
Krishna meets, the sadhak is washed in true divine love of Krishna. That is
called Purna Kripa (full mercy). Therefore, the sadhak
must not lose hope. Krishna is Antaryami (one who resides in the heart and
knows everything, including our thoughts). He will surely shower His mercy, but
one needs to engage in bhajan with determination.
At
first, this Nishtha will not come naturally. The sadhak must strive and toil to
reach such a mind-set where he is not ready to abandon his bhajan whatever the
circumstances in his life. It is only normal for the sadhak to feel
disheartened when his mind does not stop wandering off. Sometimes the
sadhak feels like watching television or mobile, visit his relatives or just
wander around aimlessly because his mind is not ready to immerse itself in
bhajan. The mind wants to do anything but bhajan! This is because the mind is
full of material Samskaras and has believed that there is some happiness or
'entertainment' in watching the television or go out with your friends and
family.
It
is just not accepting the fact that these are only what we think that
give us happiness, but actually there is happiness only in Radha Krishna and
their pastimes. The mind is not ready to accept these spiritual Samskaras.
Sometimes the sadhak cries while chanting Harinaam, “Why I am not able to
concentrate on Harinaam? My Samskaras are so bad! He Radharani, please shower
your mercy on me!” Sometimes they feel very irritated and think that they must
abandon bhajan and go somewhere else. But then again, they think “No, no, I
will not go anywhere. I will cry and fight till the last breath, but I will not
abandon bhajan. Whether my mind wanders or not, I will not wander off.”
Radha
Krishna see that this devotee is struggling with Maya but still trying to do
bhajan. So, they shower their mercy. On practicing chanting of Harinaam and
devotional services everyday, whether the mind likes it or not, you create
spiritual Samskaras. Once these Samskaras are more powerful than the material
ones, the mind will accept and take interest in devotion to Radha Krishna
willingly and even yearn for it more and more.
There
was a king in the Bankura district of Bengal. At that time, kings ruled their
kingdoms and they used to fight each other to win over the other kingdom. The
kings never had any peaceful life, contrary to the general belief. They were
always worried about who might attack their kingdom and kill them. This was
especially true for the smaller kingdoms and weaker kings.
At
such a time, the king of Bankura, who was a devotee, told his ministers that he
would engage in bhajan at a fixed time and nobody should call or disturb him in
any way during that time. He had Nishtha in bhajan. The ministers were bound to
obey him.
One
enemy king sent his spy to find out when was the right time to attack his
kingdom. The spy returned to report him the exact time the king would
engage in bhajan and nobody could call him to retaliate against their army.
Without the king, the ministers would be direction less and they could capture
the kingdom easily.
So,
the enemy king surrounded the kingdom and attacked. The ministers saw that
their castle has been surrounded by the enemy army and they were trying to get
in. Accordingly, they closed the entrances to the castle and tried to call
their king once or twice. But no answer came from the locked doors of the king’s
chambers. They were all very worried. What should they do?
Just
then they heard blasts from the rooftop of the castle as if someone was
shooting cannonballs to destroy the enemy army. Everyone was puzzled. Who was
firing the cannon? They were all clueless without the direction of the king and
had not done anything. After a long time, the king emerged from his chambers.
He had heard the firing of the cannon at the rooftop. He asked them “Who fought
the war? Who fired the cannon?” “We don’t know, your majesty. We were all
clueless and expecting your directions, when suddenly we heard the cannon
firing.” the ministers said. The king saw that the ground around the castle was
covered with dead bodies of the enemy army and the rest of them had run
away.
Nishtha hoile upjoye premer taranga.”
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.22.134)
Meaning:
Mahaprabhu says that whether a devotee engages in only one of the nine forms of
Bhakti or several of them, when the sadhak develops Nishtha in that form of
Bhakti, he starts experiencing waves of the divine love of Radha Krishna.
There are nine main forms of Bhakti:
- Shravan (listening to scriptures and pastimes of Radha Krishna),
- Kirtan (chanting or singing of Harinaam and the divine qualities of Radha Krishna),
- Smaran (contemplation of Harinaam and pastimes of Radha Krishna),
- Padaseva (serving the Lotus feet of Guru and Radha Krishna),
- Archana (performing pooja with flowers and tulsi leaves and arati),
- Vandana (prostrating before the deity),
- Dasya (serving the deity),
- Sakhya (entertaining and playing with the deity), and
- Atma nivedan (surrendering yourself to Radha Krishna).
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