The relationship between a jivatma and Sri Bhagwan is eternal. Due to the illusory powers of Maya, the jivatma has forgotten this relationship. To free oneself from the cycle of birth and death, the jivatma must realize that he is a part and parcel of Sri Bhagwan and that he will find the eternal bliss he seeks constantly only by serving the lotus feet of Sri Bhagwan with loving devotion. Realizing this “Sambandha” (relationship) with Sri Bhagwan is the prime goal of a sadhak.
“Sambandha loiya bhaje, taare Krishna nahi tyaje, aar sab more akaran”
(Prem Bhakti Chandrika)
Meaning: Whoever worships Krishna by developing a loving relationship with him, Krishna does not leave him in any situation. All other kinds of worshippers die for nothing. (They don’t achieve anything valuable.)
A sadhak must keep this eternal relationship in mind and then do bhajan. (Otherwise, although he might seem to do a lot of bhajan physically, his mind might get entangled in Maya in various subtle ways).
A sadhak whose ego is still one with bodily identity, his mind follows the senses. Therefore, whatever actions he performs with his senses, the mind focuses only on those senses for that period of time. For example, when a person plays an instrument and sings kirtan, his mind focuses on Harinaam, music and playing the instrument correctly. When he does pooja, his mind focuses on the details of performing pooja in the right way. The physical aspects of bhajan (like Japa, pooja, kirtan) are only a medium to help the mind to focus on the contemplation of Radha Krishna. However, when the mind starts getting naturally immersed in the contemplation of Radha Krishna, these physical actions and instruments become non-essential. At that time, the sadhak is always immersed in the contemplation of Radha Krishna and Their pastimes. Harinaam also becomes Ajapa (a stage where the sadhak doesn’t have to try to chant Harinaam. Harinaam plays through his mind like a recording on an infinite loop). And the divine quality of Harinaam reveals itself to the sadhak by emerging before him as Sri Radha Krishna and Their pastimes.
(In “Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu”, Shri Rupa Goswami has compared the stage of Prem Bhakti with a new sunrise after a dark night, where darkness indicates the pitiful state of a jivatma entangled in illusory Maya). This material world is full of darkness. The jivatma is delving deeper and deeper into the darkness without a clue whether he would ever see a ray of light towards spiritual awakening in this lifetime or not. And yet, the jivatma tries to take pleasure in eating, sleeping, wandering about and various other worldly matters. But unfortunately, he has no interest in Hari Katha. He doesn’t take pleasure in the nectarine pastimes of Radha Krishna, instead, seeks pleasure where there is none. When will the jivatma see the light of spiritual awakening and take interest in bhajan?
In the stage of Ruchi, the mind starts taking pleasure in bhajan, instead of worldly things. Therefore, the stage of Ruchi is like the break of dawn when the eastern sky turns reddish in hue from pitch black. When people see the reddish hue of the eastern sky, they understand that the Sun will rise soon from the eastern horizon; the night will end and the Sun will shine its light on all. Similarly, when the sadhak starts taking pleasure in bhajan and Hari Katha, it can be understood that the light of Prem Bhakti will shine soon in his life.
In Asakti dasha, the sadhak's mind gets naturally immersed in the contemplation of Radha Krishna to the extent that he cannot perform his daily activities properly. His mind doesn’t want to leave the contemplation of Radha Krishna, which is the origin of all auspiciousness. Therefore, this stage is like the illumination of the eastern sky from its reddish hue to a light bluish hue. This causeless, natural immersion of mind is the beginning of Shuddha Bhakti.
“Madguna sruti matrena mayi sarva guhashaye l
Mano gatiravicchinna yatha Gangambhaso ’mbudhau ll
Lakshanam bhaktiyogasya nirgunasya hyudahritam l
Ahaituki avyavahita ya bhaktih purushottame ll”
(Srimad Bhagvatam 3.29.11-12)
Meaning: The emergence of pure Bhakti is demonstrated when the sadhak's mind gets immediately immersed in His contemplation on hearing the qualities of Sri Bhagwan, who is residing in everyone’s heart. Just like the water of the Ganga River which flows naturally towards the ocean uninterrupted.
Ahaituki means causeless. The sadhak does not think, ‘I must do bhajan because this is the goal of human birth.’ The Bhakti happens naturally and spontaneously, without any specific cause. Although Shuddha Bhakti emerges at the stage of Prem, its glow appears gradually from the Ruchi stage, just like the illumination of sky before sunrise. In the stage of Asakti, even if all kinds of worldly or heavenly pleasures come before the sadhak, his mind doesn’t waver for a single moment from the contemplation of Radha Krishna. This kind of immersion of mind and true detachment from all worldly or heavenly pleasures is the very ambit of auspiciousness.
Asakti matures into the stage of Bhav Bhakti. It is as if the whole sky has illuminated just before the sunrise and the world is fully visible because there is no darkness. In the Bhav dasha, the sadhak is able to see glimpses of the divine pastimes of Radha Krishna and his mind is always fixed in Their contemplation. The Sadhak is always in the state of Sphurti (vision of the divine pastimes).
“Krishna priti atyantiki, sharir priti gandha matra.”
Meaning: The affection towards Krishna becomes extreme, while the attachment to the body is minimal.
In the stage of Prem, the Sun rises and shines its light on all i.e., the sadhak finally realizes the divine love of Radha Krishna in full bloom. The knot of ignorance dissolves and the sadhak becomes free from Maya forever. Radha Krishna appear before the sadhak personally (not in Sphurti) and the sadhak realizes his Siddha deha (divine form in the pastimes of Goloka).
(The Stage of Prem will be discussed later in future articles)
There are two characteristics of Bhav Bhakti – Moksha laghutakrit and Sudurlabha.
Moksha laghutakrit: The bliss of uniting with the Brahma (the attribute-less, enlightening and blissful form of Sri Bhagwan) seems to be inferior in comparison to the bliss of serving Radha Krishna with loving devotion. The sadhak experiences an incredible amount of divine bliss in the contemplation of Radha Krishna & Their pastimes which is inexplicable by words and language, and that is realizable only by those who have reached the stage of Bhav dasha by the mercy of Guru & Radha Krishna.
Sudurlabha: This stage of Bhav Bhakti is rarely achieved by a sadhak, wherein the sadhak has almost realized the mood of his Siddha deha in full bloom and is always immersed in that divine mood. Only one in a million sadhaks reaches such a high stage of Bhakti. At that time, since he experiences various divine revelations, externally his behaviour becomes very erratic and unnatural. Sometimes, he keeps laughing for hours and at other times, he thinks, ‘Krishna must be at Govardhan at this time,’ and he runs like a madman towards Govardhan. There, he finds nothing. So, he sits there and cries for hours after hours. Sometimes, he hears the divine sound of Krishna’s flute by the mercy of Radha Krishna. Sometimes, he hears the divine sound of Radharani's anklets. At that time, he becomes very restless and wanders hither & thither without a clue where he is going. This is an incredible stage of Bhakti and sadhaks of such a high stage of Bhakti are rare.
When the seedling of Bhav Bhakti germinates in the heart of the sadhak, he gets adorned by some extraordinary qualities:
“Kshanti avyarthakalatvam viraktir manshunyata l
Ashabandhah samutkantha naam gane sada ruchih ll
Asaktistad gunakhyane pritistad vasatisthale l
Iti adayo anubhavah syurjat bhavankure jane ll”
- Kshanti: The sadhak doesn’t get distressed in any situation. Even if someone dies, some valuable things get lost or the house catches fire, the sadhak remains calm and detached. His sense of belonging to the worldly things and people becomes absolutely extinct since his mind remains immersed in the contemplation of Radha Krishna. He simply has nothing to do with the body and the material world.
- Avyarthakalatvam: The sadhak doesn’t waver from the contemplation of Radha Krishna for even a single moment. It has been described as the cohesive flow of oil whose drops don’t scatter like water but maintain a single string of flow.
- Virakti: The sadhak becomes absolutely detached from the body and material world. In the initial stages of Bhakti, the sadhak finds charm in worldly pleasures but he avoids them in order to protect the mind from getting attached to the body. But in the stage of Bhav, the sadhak simply doesn’t find charm in anything related to the body and material world.
- Manshunyata: The sadhak doesn’t expect respect from anyone and doesn’t care if anyone disrespects him. The desire for respect stems from ego. The more a person is sensitive to disrespectful behaviour, the greater is the ego. In the stage of Bhav, since the sadhak's bodily identity becomes almost extinct, respect and disrespect become equal for him.
- Ashabandha: The sadhak develops firm faith that Radha Krishna will bestow mercy on him in this very lifetime. In the initial stages of Bhakti, the sadhak loses motivation very easily if he fails any kind of trials and tribulations. He thinks, ‘I don’t have the qualities to please Radha Krishna, neither have I performed much pious and devotional services. Also, I don’t have good samskaras to do bhajan. Maybe I will not be able to achieve the divine love of Radha Krishna in this lifetime.’ But in the stage of Bhav Bhakti, the sadhak never loses motivation and has firm faith that Radha Krishna will come soon to bestow mercy.
- Samutkantha: The sadhak becomes very anxious to meet Radha Krishna. He becomes restless and wanders hither and thither in search of Radha Krishna. Sometimes, he runs to Priya Kunda, thinking, “Radharani must be seated there.” Sometimes, he falls asleep for a short time and wakes up abruptly thinking, “Today Radharani will definitely give darshan to me.” He seeks Radha Krishna everywhere all day, thinking, “Here I will definitely meet Them”, “Today They will definitely come to me.” He doesn’t care about eating, sleeping or any worldly activity. Where will I find Them? When will I see Them? These are his only musings.
- Naam gane sada ruchi: The sadhak always (sada) takes immeasurable pleasure (ruchi) in singing and chanting Harinaam. In other words, Harinaam repeats in his mind continuously on an infinite loop (Ajapa).
- Asaktistad gunakhyane: The sadhak takes pleasure in describing the divine qualities of Radha Krishna and Their pastimes. Although his mind gets immersed in the contemplation of Radha Krishna most of the time, whenever he speaks, he describes Radha Krishna and Their pastimes. He never speaks on any worldly matter.
- Pritistad vasatisthale: Priti = affection. Tad = Their. Vasatisthale = the place where they reside. Where do Radha Krishna reside?
- “Vrindavanam parityajya padam ekam na gacchati”
They reside in Vrindavan Dham.
- They also reside in the hearts of Their devotees.
- “Madbhakta yatra gayanti tatra tishthami Narada” (Padma Purana 6.92.22)
They reside where Their devotees sing Their praises and describe Their pastimes.
The sadhak takes pleasure in all these three places i.e., association of devotees, Hari katha and Vrindavan Dham.
This is the extraordinary stage of Bhav Bhakti. The sadhak seems like a mad person to the layman. While people of good nature think someone must have given him psychoactive substances in his food, people who like to find faults in others think he must have committed great Vaishnava Aparadhas and therefore, lost his mind. However, the sadhak becomes very respectable and worthy of obeisance for the people who recognize the stage of Bhav Bhakti.
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