Bhajana Rahasya by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura Pancama Yama Lecture originally spoken in Hindi by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana

Maharaja Mathura, 8.8.97 Bhajana Rahasya explains that nisanta bhajana signals the awakening of sraddha. Just as Krsna has early morning pastimes, similarly for the sadhaka the night of the jiva is finishing as he awakens with the dawning of his bhajana. Now he understands the necessity of doing krsna-bhajana. As he advances in sraddha, by sadhu sanga and by the action of his pious activities from this and previous births, slowly, slowly his anarthas go away. The second step then takes placeby sadhu sanga, anartha nivrti is going on. Now the sun has started to rise, heralding the morning. After this comes the third step, nistha. In this stage the sadhaka becomes fixed in bhajana. Now anarthas are very few. I already explained the characteristics of nistha in bhajana the other day. Fourth is ruci(taste), which comes at noontime and which brings many things with it. I also told you how many kinds of ruci there are. Then asakti, attachment for Krsna, comes in the fifth stage. The advent of asakti indicates that the sadhaka has advanced a lot, but still he has some anarthas in his heart. These anarthas, however, are not due to offenses. Although it is only after nistha that offenses go, still some anarthas are found. In saguna bhakti (bhakti within the material modes), some anarthas remain along with whatever fruits of bhakti that have come. For example, desiring fame is an anartha, as well as wealth, collecting thousands of disciples, and knowng many people. So if the sadhaka does not stay fixed in his practices, he will surely fall down. Krsna-asakti is of two kindsone is for bhajana and the second is for bhajaniya(the object of bhajanaGurudeva,Radha-Krsna, Mahaprabhu) As I was telling you this morning, sadhana sahastresu, hari bhakti sudurlabha. Hari bhakti is very rare. Even by performing sadhana for thousands and millions of births, one will not attain raganuga-bhaktiit is not possible. What is the meaning of sadhana? We are doing harinama and kirtana, but by these activities alone raganuga-bhakti will not come. When we stay with an elevated devotee and do sadhana under his guidance, ruci will develop. It is then that our practices become bhajana. There is a difference between sadhana and bhajana. Bhajana means bhaj dhatu sevya (the root bhaj meaning service), and bhava seva is included in that. Till now we have been practicing with the tongue and senses by forcethis is sadhana. And bhajana is done according to one's bhava, with the tendency for seva. This is called bhava seva. One sadhaka is doing worship(arcana) and another is sitting in the temple-room, watching him. The first devotee is ringing the bell, but while chanting mantras he is looking around and watching what is happening outside. His mind is going here and there. The other person, sitting in the temple-room, is thinking that the

pujari is doing so much service. This second devotee gets completely absorbed, and within his mind he is pulling the rope of[love and affection] for Thakuraji[Radha-Krsna], bringing water from Manasi Ganga and Pavana Sarovara in beautiful jars and taking it to Javat. He arranges a beautiful golden seat for Srimati Radharani and bathes Her under the direction of Rupa and Rati. He is meditating on Vilapa Kusumanjali and in his bhava seva he is thinking about performing various services. He is sitting quietly and doing his bhajana and arcana. So who is better? That person who is doing seva with bhava. Neither sastra nor Jiva Gosvami advise doing sadhana for millions of births. It will not give bhava bhakti. This bhava bhakti is very rare. Millions of births of vaidhi bhakti sadhana will not give us raganuga, or bhakti with spiritual greed. It will come only through the association of advanced Vaisnavas. Under their guidance it can come quickly. This is why bhava bhakti is superior. So this is asakti, attachment for bhajana. Without it the sadhaka cannot live. When that kind of greed comes, he will chant one lakha of names in every circumstance, no matter what. How? With full absorption, living or dying. He will offer pranamas thousands of times, do vandana, stava, stuti, perform kirtana, and study sastrabut it is not possible to perform all these activities without the association and direction of advanced devotees. Attachment for bhajana comes in the stage of asakti, bringing the realization that nama and nami are the same. And if one stays steady in his bhajana, attachment for bhajaniya will result. You understand? He will develop attachment for bhajana, and as it increases, his asakti for bhajaniya will also come. His sadhana is perfected when attachment for both bhajana and bhajaniya becomes equal. At that time his asakti will ripen. As asakti for bhajaniya increases and surpasses asakti for bhajana, bhava develops. Then pure goodness(suddha sattva) arises in the heart and one automatically does bhava-mayi-seva(internal love-laden seva). If one does this kind of bhajana, he can enter into bhava, otherwise not. Such people will enter into bhava completely. To achieve this, one may or may not have done vaidhi marga arcana. Now one performs sadhana with greed. Slowly, slowly he comes into pure goodness and starts that kind of service we just described. At this time he sees the asta kaliya lila(eight-fold pastimes) and receives his spiritual body. Before this, if one thinks about his spiritual body, he will be ruined. When all this happens by Krsna's and Guru's mercy, everything will manifest in the heart. This is called the spiritual body. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has said that if somebody does not do this kind of sadhana and goes to a guru who tells him, "You are Lalita Gopi," then just by thinking this he is ruined in this world and the next and goes to hell. So first we should try to come up to this point. How will it happen?only if we are thinking about and practicing that kind of bhajana twenty-four hours a day, being so absorbed that no scent or thought of the material world remains. When we don't even feel the air touching us, only then will this happen. But we are entangled in so many activities, so how will it happen?

Suppose one day we get the association of a Vaisnava who inspires us to do bhajana, but do not see him again for one year. What will happen? If someone performing bhajana becomes fixed, then he will surely attain asakti within a few days. This will definitely happen. There is no reason it will not. But unfortunately we don't do that kind of bhajana. Nor do we easily find such a person who can make us do this kind of bhajana. We may find some gurus but in Kali-yuga there is hardly one person who qualifies as a disciple. That is why Rupa Gosvami has said, "na sisyad anubandandhitvam"[BRS, "one who has not yet entered bhajana should not make many disciples"]. No one should entangle himself thus, otherwise he will be finished. An unqualified guru will make a disciple and right away they will fight. "Guruji, I collected so much but you did not give me any of it. You kept it all." Guruji answers, "I already told you that after some time I will give you a share." In this way they start fighting. They will also quarrel over name and fame. How can a disciple accept that kind of guru? So both have to be devoid of any desireslike Sukadevaji and his disciple Pariksit Maharaja, who was two fingers ahead of his guru; like Rupa Gosvami and his disciple Jiva Gosvami; or like Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, who appeared even a little more advanced in renunciation than his guru Rupa Gosvami. If one can be like this, then he is disciple. We can see the renunciation of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, but we don't see so much renunciation in Rupa Gosvami. Who will see Rupa's renunciation? Whoever is on the same level, whose renunciation is like his. Raghunatha dasa used to eat rotten food with a little salt. He did not accept his father's food and did not take prasada from the Jagannatha Mandira. His renunciation was very extreme. He was living only on one leafcup of buttermilk. This has not been written about Rupa Gosvami, but, as the guru, Rupa's renunciation is much higher than Raghunatha's. Yet who will understand this level of renunciation? Raghunatha dasa Gosvami will understand. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Jiva Gosvami will understand what kind of renunciation Rupa has because they have a special kind of attachment for Krsna. These people will understand, but who else can understand this? What condition will one be in when one gets bhava bhakti? Now we are reading about asakti, the pancama(fifth) yama of Bhajana Rahasya. In ruci and the beginning stage of asakti(attachment for bhajana), thoughts of Krsna's lilas come in one's heart as mantra-mayi, the vision of a single pastime or sloka at a time. Now, in this pancama stage the lilas will come in a continuous flow, or nairantrya vaji, also known as svarasiki. But we don't understand mantra-mayi upasana or svarasiki upasana, because we don't feel the need. Rather, we are busy counting bricks and bags of sand,and sometimes busy counting money. Only one with no material desire will

understand. No one else can understand. And if somebody who is advanced in this way asks others to join him, they will never come. Just as Indra invites someone to come from this world to Svarga, that person will ask if he will get gugali in heaven. Do you know what gugali are? They are water bugspeople catch them, take out the upper layer and eat that. So some people who eat meat say that Indraji is asking them to come to heaven, but they reply that if they can get gugali in heaven, then only will they go. Otherwise they don't want to go. "But you will get nectar there." "We don't know about any nectar, we only want that thing." Similarly, if we tell somebody not to do certain things in the service of the Bhagavan, he will not be able to understand, because he just wants that other thing. That is why Jagannatha dasa Babaji and Bhaktivinoda Thakura have recommended that karmis make a garden, keep a cow and a Tulasi plant, and offer fruits and milk to Thakuraji. It is difficult for such people to do harinama. They cannot easily advance,so instead these other activities are recommended for their benefit. But those few who understand, what will they do in their bhava seva? In the morning they will sit down and watch Radha and Krsna's nisanta lila, fully absorbed. They will see lilas in a flow, nisanta lila, morning, forenoon, and noon pastimes. There is no stop in their flow. That is why this is svarasiki lila, svabhaviki(naturally flowing) lila. Svarasiki lila is a garland of pastimes, with millions of flowers in this garland. Just a few days ago Teej[10-day festival in rainy season when married daughters return to their parents' house] took place. It is afternoon time. For some reason Srimatiji could not meet Krsna. Today She is sitting at home. Whenever She tries to go out, something goes wrong. Krsna, on His part, is also trying His best to meet Her. So they have to devise some scheme. Rupa Gosvami and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami are sitting there and watching this hariali lila(swing pastimes in the fresh, green rainy season), which took place during Teej. Tell me what is that lila? There are carts with two bulls and carts with four bulls. The carts with four bulls are used to carry their belongings, and the cart with two bulls is decorated very beautifully, just like a chariot. The bulls are also decorated. Sridama has brought that cart with him, all decorated with golden ruffles and he takes his sister Radhaji in it to Her parents' house. Till now somehow She remained patient, but as soon as She arrives at the outskirts of the city, She starts crying very loudly. Even now it is like this in the villageswhen sisters or daughters come they cry a lot. This is not artificial, it is natural. We might think it as artificial. Why? Because our hearts are hard. If there is love for one's sister and daughter, it will happen. [Even Maharaja Janaka fainted when he was sending Sita away with Rama, because he was crying so much, what to speak of all the others present.]

When Radhaji arrives in Varsana, She meets with Her mother and father, with the neighbors and with all of the girls who have come to see Her. After one or two days they put up a swing and begin swinging. Asad month has passed and it is now Sravana month, so there are swings everywhere. Radhaji is swinging in Her father's house. Where is Her father's house? In Varsana, but not in the location of the temple on the top of the hill, but closer to the bottom, looking towards Nandagaon. And where is Nanda Baba's house? That also is not on the hill where the temple is now. It is also lower down, facing Vrsabhanu Maharaja's palace. Where we now see the temple on Brahma Giri is Radhaji's playground. All these pastimes are performed on Brahmaji. There is Gahavar Van, Mayur Kuti, Dan Garh, Mana Garh, Vilasa Garhall are located on that hill. And this present temple is located in Vilasa Garh. One Teej Radhaji is swinging with all Her friends, but thinking about something else, and sitting in another place Krsna is worried. He cannot stay without meeting Radhaji for one whole Teej. Krsna has become almost mad. He does not feel like eatingnothing agrees with Him. He is just lying in a state of misery. Subala comes and sees His condition and Krsna tells him what is in His heart. Understanding Krsna's condition Subala becomes restless and, to make Him feel better, says, "OK, I will try to do something so that You can meet and be together." Immediately he goes to Javat, and in his Subala vesa is wandering around there. Jatila sees him and asks, "Why have you come here?" She knows he is Krsna's friend and must therefore be wandering about, looking to make some mischief, so she tells him to run away. He says, "O Mother, what shall I say? One of my calves is missing." "You lost your calf, so what is that calf doing here? How can he come here from Nandagram? Your calf is not here." Subala replies, "You have so many calves tied in your house. Maybe he wandered in and by chance got mixed up with them." Then Jatila says, "OK, you can go and check, but you'll see that your calf is not here." Subala goes inside and goes where? Straight into Radhaji's room where he sees that She is very disturbed in separation. As soon as She sees him, She becomes a little appeased. "Subala, why have you come?" He tells her that Krsna is suffering in separation from Her, and wants to know how they can arrange a meeting. He tells Her of the trick he played on Her mother-in-law. "I told Jatila that my calf got lost, and I wanted to look for him amongst all her calves." Subala then brings the smallest calf and disguises himself as Radhaji, and Radhaji puts on Subala's dress in order to look like a boy. Since their forms are very similar, disguised in Her cloth he can easily pass for Radhaji. He dresses Radhaji in his cloth with his turban and everything so that She looks just like him when he came. Then he puts one calf in Her arms. Why does he give that calf? You can imagine yourselfto hide Her womanly nature. She takes

that calf in Her arms so that nothing is showing, and off She goes holding the calf. Jatila sees Her and asks, "Lala, did you get your calf?" "Yes, Mother, I got it," replies Radha, speaking exactly in the same voice as Subala. For Radha and Krsna it is nothing difficult to imitate somebody's voice. "See, here is the calf and I am taking it with me." Saying this, Radhaji goes away with the calf and reaches the place where Krsna is awaiting Her for abhisara. Perhaps She has gone to Radha-kunda. In this transcendental land it is not difficult to imagine that She has gone there. When She arrives, Krsna says, "O friend,you could not bring Radhaji?" He thinks it is His friend. She says exactly in Subala's voice, "O friend, it is a big problem. Today She is not ready to meet you. Today Her mother-in-law and also Her husband are at home. They are guarding the house in such a way that even an ant cannot enter. I tried my best but could not succeed. So after a while I just came back. On the way back I found this calf. He was tired from playing and could not walk, so I carried him in my arms." Hearing this Krsna starts crying and now His condition becomes even worseHe starts trembling and all eight kinds of transformations begin to appear. When Radhika sees that Krsna is almost dying, then only She takes off her disguise, revealing Her real identity. Krsna becomes thoroughly delighted as do all Her friends,and They remain together for some time. Then slowly, slowly They again begin to separate, and in the same disguise Srimati Radhika goes back. Oh yes, before leaving They sit down on the swing and Their friends start to swing Them. Radhaji does not want to sit because of Her mana[sulky huff], but all convince Her saying, "Please don't do that mana," and sing, "Radhe jhulana padharo jhuki aye badara." In the last stage of asakti this kind of pastime comes in the heart. There is a little siddha bhava at this point, a little bit. But when somebody is only thinking of pastimes within his mind, asakti has not yet come. The pastimes will flow when one enters the stage of bhava fully. ity acyutanghrim bhajato 'nuvrttya bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhah bhavanti vai bhagavatasya rajams tatah param santim upaiti saksat (SB11.2.43) [My dear King, the devotee who worships the lotus feet of the infallible Personality of Godhead with constant endeavor thus achieves unflinching devotion, detachment, and realized knowledge of Bhagavan. In this way the successful devotee of the Lord achieves supreme spiritual peace in the form of prema.]

Thakura Bhaktivinoda explains this sloka. Taking it as our reference, how should we understand the meaning of anuvrtti? What should we do? There is vrtti and anuvrtti. Vrtti is the way our acaryas were doing bhajanafrom Rupa Gosvami to Raghunatha dasa, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Prabhupada and up to today. With the example of their vrtti, we are following themthis is anuvrtti. Anuvrtti is of two kindsone is for maintaining this body and the other is for bhajana. Our renunciants, our previous acaryas like Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami, and all others, have set the standard. We should follow the example they have set for both. For doing bhajana we try to follow: sankhya purvaka nama gana natibhih kalavasani krtau nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau catyanta-dinau ca yau radha-krsna-guna-smrter madhurimanandena sammohitau vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau [I worship the Six Gosvamis, who passed all their time in chanting the holy names, doing nama sankirtana and dandavat-pranama, thereby humbly fulfilling their vow to do a fixed number daily. In this way they utilized their valuable lives and conquered over eating and sleeping. They were always meek and humble, enchanted by remembering Sri Radha-Krsna's sweet qualities and absorbed in the highest bliss.] For maintaining the body we should follow their example of renunciation. The Gosvamis were taking only some chickpeas and sometimes not even that. Sometimes they slept for one hour and sometimes not even that. Sometimes they stayed under a different tree each night, doing bhajana. Just imagine, no food, no sleep! Nowadays there are not so many forests but in those days there were so many mosquitoes and snakes and many other such disturbances must have been there. Just imagine how it must have been to do bhajana under each tree in Gahavar Van! What kind of bhajana they must have been doing! In winter, summer or rainy days, no umbrella, no shoes, no clothes, just a waterpot in hand. They were offering dandavat pranamas thousands of times. This we have told you before. From early morning they were offering stava-stuti to Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu, doing guru vandana, and reciting prayers to Yamunaji and to others. Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami wrote so many prayers, and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura wrote prayers to Govardhana. They were chanting these verses again and again. Raghunatha dasa was singing the verses of Vilapa Kusumanjali and crying. They were following all these practices and calling out, "He Radhe, he Lalite, he Visakhe, where are you?" he radhe vrajadevike ca lalite he nanda suno kutah sri govardhana kalpa padapa tale kalindi vane kutah ghosantav iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair maha-vihvalau vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau [I am doing vandana to the Six Gosvamis, who were always calling out, "He Radhe! O Queen of Vrndavana! Where are You? He

Lalite! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are you? Are you seated beneath the kalpa-vrksa trees of Sri Govardhana Hill? Or are you roaming in all the forests along the soft banks of the Kalindi?" They were always lamenting, overwhelmed and burning in feelings of great separation as they wandered throughout all Vraja-mandala, searching for Radhaji.] The Gosvamis were following this vrtti. And anuvrttiare we doing this? Are we even trying to come close to it? How will we follow? Our mind is not fixed yet. We should go to Vrndavana, sometimes to Radha-kunda, Vamsi Vata,Bhandiravana. We should go to all these places, weeping and offering dandavat pranamas to everyone, and crying that we don't have Krsna's mercy. ha devi! kakubhara gadgadayadya vaca yace nipatya bhuvi dandavad udbhatartih asya prasadam abudhasya janasya krtva gandharvike! nija gane gananam vidhehi [O Devi Gandharvike! I am suffering greatly, and therefore today I throw myself on the ground like a stick and humbly implore You with a choked voice to be merciful to this fool and please count me as one of Your own.] When will this happen? Those in asakti pray like this, sometimes to Sanatana Gosvami and sometimes to Rupa Gosvami, and offer the prayers of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. vairagya yug bhakti rasam prayatnair apayayan mam anabhipsum andham krpambudhir yah para duhkha duhkhi sanatanama tam prabhum asrayami [I was unwilling to drink the nectar of bhakti laced with renunciation, but Sri Sanatana Gosvami, being an ocean of mercy who cannot tolerate the sufferings of others, made me drink it. Therefore I take shelter of him as my master.] Sometimes the sadhaka prays to Svarupa Damodara, sometimes to Raya Ramananda, saying, "Ha! Alas! That lamentation should appear in my heart. How can I relish the meaning of that?" Sometimes he goes under the cooling shade of Vamsi Vata and rolls on the ground. "Ha, ha! May the dust from their lotus feet come on my head." Real sadhakas spend their time like this. This is the right way to follow bhajana(anuvrtti). And what should we do for maintaining the body? We should try to follow Raghunatha dasa and others. One anuvrtti is for maintaining the body and the other is for bhajana. Such practices are not found in vaidhi bhajana. That is why one should understand that this is how to practice. What else should we follow? Mahaprabhu used to count His nama japa. This is in the prayers of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and in Rupa Gosvami's Sri Caitanyastaka. You should all remember this if you want to learn how to do bhajana. How were they doing bhajana? Like Haridasa Thakurawithout chanting

three lakhas of harinama we will not even drink water. This is called anuvrtti. In this way we will begin to taste bhajana, and then devotional emotions and the lilas will automatically manifest for us. Bhagavan will remove all anarthas from the heart. Those who are actually practicing are not worried about anarthas. They are worried that they don't have prema bhakti, that they don't have even a drop of bhakti in them. na prema-gandho'sti darapi me harau krandami saubhagya-bharam prakasitum (Cc. Madhya 2.45) [Mahaprabhu continued, "Oh, I do not have even a little smell of prema for Hari. I am crying simply to make a show of my good fortune.] A real sadhaka will practice like this. He will count his nama. He will dutifully perform a fixed number daily, then it will happen. Sometimes he will read Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, sometimes Ujjvala-nilamani. If he cannot understand them, then he will look at Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu and Ujjvala-nilamani-kirana. But a person less serious never reads any of these sastras. He has not even heard of them. Then how will he be able to do bhajana? His practice is not bhajana, it is not even the beginning of sadhana. Only if somebody cries for this will it happen. If he does not cry, then how can he follow? We will have to cry. This is called 'heno anuvrtti.' Crying, we should remember the pastimes of Krsna and perform our bhajana in this way. If somebody does this, what will happen? Subhakti viraga jnana taha upajaya. Pure bhakti will manifest along with knowledge and renunciation. According to Srimad Bhagavatam (11. 2.43) for them: ity acyutanghrim bhajato 'nuvrttya bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhah bhavanti vai bhagavatasya rajams tatah param santim upaiti saksat [Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other thingsthese three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.] Bhakti means first sadhana bhakti, then bhava bhakti, and finally prema bhakti. Understanding the characteristics of these three stages, one will find out whether he is doing bhakti or not. Yayatma suprasidati[SB. 1.2.6]the soul will always be happy. Then why are you crying? Somebody may ask Rupa Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, or Srimatiji why they are crying. "Rupa Gosvami, why are you crying? You are daily doing so much bhajana!" Here atma prasidati means union with Krsna, the happiness of serving Krsna. What will this mean for ordinary sadhakas? Bhakti paresanubhava, atma saprsitathe soul will be happy. Whether the sadhaka is crying

or laughing, the soul will always remain blissful. Not like uswe are sinking in millions of problems, worried day and nightthis one died, that one died, somewhere the bank failed, sometimes disease comes, and other times something else goes wrong. For this we are crying day and night! But all these things were not happening for Rupa Gosvami, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Prabhupada and our Gurudeva. They were never touched by even a shadow of trouble, but still they were crying. We have seen how bitterly our Gurudeva used to weep! Why? They were all weeping in separation. So bhakti means sadhana bhakti. Our sadhana bhakti should be aimed at attaining bhava bhakti. Otherwise our sadhana is not sadhana. If we ask somebody why he is doing sadhana, and he replies that he is doing it to attain bhavathat type of sadhana is very wonderful. But we are not doing sadhana like that. Maybe we chant ten rounds, but in between we are also talking and just moving our fingers. No, this is not sadhana. That is why we should have bhava as our goal and then do sadhana. With all our senses we should do bhajana the way Rupa and Raghunathaji have shown us. If we practice this kind of bhajana, we will definitely develop renunciation(virakti) towards worldly things. If somebody says that he has attained bhava or has perfected his attachment towards Krsna, and then he becomes attracted to a woman and falls from his position, or if a woman falls in love with a boy, what has happened? He becomes very miserable. But this is out of the question for one who has actually attained bhava. It is not possible that something like this can happen. Even in nistha all these attractions go away. asakti is something big. Bilvamangala Thakura attained this bhava after he became attracted to a prostitute. At that time he had no bhava. He was not even doing any sadhana. He was only absorbed in inauspicious activities and fruitive works. Later, when he began doing bhajana, he plucked out his eyes. It was then that he started to progress. At that time he was doing sadhana to attain bhavathat is bhakti. This is what is required to be called a sadhaka! And of what is he a sadhaka? Of raganuga. The sadhaka of ordinary devotion(vaidhi bhakti) is not like that. That is another thing. The sadhaka of raganuga is the real sadhaka. We do not even come in the category of sadhaka yet. That is a very high mood. That is why it is said 'heno anuvrtti saha.'[I will follow that person who is doing this type of bhakti.] If someone nourishses this kind of mood and wants to follow, being absorbed day and night, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, then this is considered sadhana. 'Evam vratah sva-priya-nama-kirtya'. [SB 11.2.40, By chanting the holy name, one achieves prema.] When bhava comes, there still remains a slight scent of anartha, but in prema it will disappear. This applies for the sadhaka of raganuga, not of ordinary bhakti. At this time, performing the angas of bhakti like sravana and kirtana, he will be

doing bhava-mayi bhakti, and then prema-mayi bhakti. And as bhakti increases, to that degree renunciation will come. If someone says, "I am doing bhakti, yet no renunciation is coming," then something is wrong. It is not possible to actually do bhakti and not simultaneously experience renunciation. It is impossible.There is no example up to this day of such a thing happening. So, as much bhakti as you do, that much renunciation will come and to that degree you will get knowledge of philosophy and attain the goal. We see that the gopis never studied at any school. Haridasa Thakura also never went to school. But he had so much knowledge that Mahaprabhu made him Namacarya, and he defeated big, big panditas in the assembly of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami's father. Haridasa Thakura has told us the glories of the holy name. That has been explained in our Harinama Cintamani. Where have all these things come from? If you observe that somebody has not studied in school, but he has served Guru nicely and has heard from Guru and the Vaisnavas, then the whole philosophy will flow his heart as waves move in water. He will be fixed in that knowledge. Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja is the shining example of this, as is our Vamsidasa Babaji Maharaja. Previously, no one ever considered that first you study the philosophy and then do bhajana. It was never like this before. Service to Guru and hearing from the mouth of Guru would come first, and then one would practice bhajanain that order. That is why they would achieve perfection in their bhajana. These days it is exactly the opposite. First we study and become a scholar and then do bhajana. Then we serve. This is backwards. 'Nayamatma pravacena labha'[Katha Upanisadby studying and being expert in lecturing, you cannot get prema until you surrender to Guru and the Vaisnavas]. You should remember this. Bhajana will not happen by acquiring knowledge through scholarship. It will come when we get strong faith in hearing. That's all for today. vanca-kalpatarubyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca. patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah
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