Sunday, August 10, 2008
MADHURYA KADAMBINI (Cloud Bank of Nectar) by Srila Visvanatha Cakrava
(The anarthas arising from bhakti)
Just as, along with the main plant, many weeds grow, by the cultivation of bhakti there appears acquisition of
material wealth and other facilities, worship and respect by others, a comfortable position, fame etc. By their
very nature, they have the power to influence the heart of the devotee, grow in size, and cover up the main
plant intended for cultivation, bhakti.
(nullification of the anarthas)
The four types of anarthas mentioned, namely,
1: those arising from previous sinful activity,
2: from previous pious activity,
3: from nama aparadha,
4:from cultivation of bhakti, have five grades of eradication: limited (to one anartha), pervasive (affecting many anarthas), general, complete and absolute.
Anarthas arising from nama aparadha are removed in the following stages.
A) One should understand that the word “nullification” (nivrti) applies not only to the complete absence of anarthas, but to any of the progressive stages of nullification as well.
B) Thus with performance of devotional activities (bhajana kriya) there is nullification but the eradication is limited.
C) With the appearance of nistha, the eradication is pervasive.
D) With the appearance of rati or bhava, the eradication is general.
E) With the appearance of prema the eradication is complete. With the attainment of the
Lord’s lotus feet, the eradication is absolute.
Thus, in the case of Citraketu, who had attained the lotus feet of the Lord, his accidental maha aparadha to Siva was apparent, not real, since he was endowed with an abundance of prema. This is proven by the fact that he did not distinguish between his form as an associate of the Lord and as a demon (Vrtrasura).
The cause of the “offense” of Jaya and Vijaya was a manifestation of personal desire derived from prema. The two desired in this way:
“Oh Lord of Lords, you desire to fight but we do not see an suitable opponent for you. All those available are too weak.
Though we are strong, we are not inimical to you. Somehow or other, make us inimical to you, and realize your desire to fight.
We, being your faithful servants, cannot tolerate to see any lack whatever in your perfection. Diminish your quality of affection for your devotees, and fulfill our pray.” Such occasional mental discrepencies can be overcome by the mind itself.
The eradication of the anarthas arising from previous sin is as follows.
1) With the performance of bhajana kriya, the eradication is general,
2) with the appearance of nistha eradication is complete,
3) with the appearance of asakti it is absolute.
The eradiction of anarthas arising from bhakti is as follows.
With the performance of bhajana kriya, eradication is limited.
With the appearance of nistha it is complete, and with the appearance of ruci it is absolute.
The wise man should conclude in this way after considering all matters thoroughly.
One may raise the objection that these stages of extinguishing anarthas do not apply to devotees, quoting such verses as:
anghah sanghavad akhilam sakrd udayad
With one utterance of the Holy Name all sins are destroyed.
yan nama sakrc chravanat pukaso’pi vimucyate samsarat
If one hears the Holy Name even one time, a candala can obtain liberation from the material world.
Also in the case of Ajamila, simply by his uttering the Lord’s name once in namabhasa, all anarthas , even up to avidya (ignorance, the root cause of material bondage), were removed and he attained the lotus feet of the Lord.
This is all true. One should have no doubt that the Holy Name has such inestimable power. But because the Holy Name, is unhappy with offenses commited against it, it does not manifest its complete power in the offender. This is indeed the reason why the sinful tendencies continue their existence. But though these tendencies continue for some time, the servants of death have no power to attack such a person.
na te yama pasabhrt ca tad bhatan svapne’pi pasyanti
Such a person does not see Yama or his servants carrying nooses even in dreams.
In the verse “na vidyate tasya yamair hi suddhih” however the word”yama” refers to the rules of yoga practice (yama and niyama etc.), and thus means that for such a person, there is no need of other forms of purification.
The case of the offender losing the mercy of the Name is similar to a subordinate who is offensive to his wealthy master. He is denied proper care, and is treated indifferently by the master.
As a result of the withdrawal of mercy, that person suffers poverty and distress of all sorts. At the same time
however, people not under the jurisdiction of wealthy master do not suffer such hardships. But if the offending
servant puts himself at the beck and call of his master, the master gradually shows mercy, and that person’s
suffering are step by step eliminated.
In the same way the offending devotee will at first suffer some miseries, but if he performs sincere service to the spiritual master and to the scriptures etc, the Name will again gradually manifest mercy and gradually eliminate his evil tendencies.
Thus the arguements against the gradual elimination of anarthas hold no ground.
One should not say, “I have committed no offenses.” One can infer the existence of either recent or long-standing offenses by their effect. The effect of offense is that a person will not manifest any symptoms of prema by performance of nama kirtana.
tad asmasaram hrdayam vatedam
tad grhyamanair hari namadheyaih
na vikriyetatha yada vikaro
netre jalam gatra ruhesu harsa
Ones heart is as hard as stone if, one chanting the holy Name there is no change in the heart, tears in the eyes or standing of hairs on the limbs.
ke te’paradha viprendra namno bhagavatah krtah
vinighnanti nrnam krtyam prakrtam hyanayantihi
Oh best of brahmanas, what are the offenses against of the Name of the Lord which cancel the results of all ones performances,and turn everything material?
In other words, what are these offenses against the Name of the
Lord which, being committed, prevent any results from repeatedly
hearing and chanting the the Lord’s Name, qualities, which should
give prema, from serving the sacred tirthas which bestow perfec≠tion, from tasting repeatedly the ghee, milk and betel prasadam
which destroy all desires for sense enjoyment, from which all
those spiritually potent activities become mere material?
This is the serious effect of nama aparadha. If this is so, one may then argue that if these offenses are so
Serious, then a person who commits a nama aparadha simply loses the grace of the
Lord and thus cannot even take shelter of guru or perform devotional activities. This is true. Just as during a serious fever, losing all taste for food, it becomes impossible to eat, a person who commits a serious offense loses scope for hearing, chanting and performing devotional activities. There is no doubt about this.
However, if the fever lessens with time, some taste for food develops. Even then, nourishing foods like milk and rice cannot give their full power of nourishment to the person suffering from chronic fever. They bestow some benefit, but cannot relieve him of his wasted condition. An invalid’s diet and medecine can, however, with time, restore him to his previous healthy condi≠tion. At that time the full potency of normal food can be utilized by the body.
In the same way, after a long period of suffering the effects of aparadha, the intensity reduces somewhat and the devotee develops a little taste. Again the devotee becomes qualified for bhakti. Repeated doses of hearing and chanting the Lord’s name and performance of other devotional processes, gradually, with time, reveal everything up to prema.
Accordingly, the experienced devotees have described devotion as progressing gradually by stages, starting with faith, followed by association, bhajana kriya, anartha nivrtti, nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava and prema.
However, the absence of symptoms of prema and traces of sinful activity in devotees who are practicing the devotional processes such as kirtana, cannot always attributed to nama aparadha. Nor can the presence of material distresses always be attributed to the reactions of previous karma (which should be destroyed by correct execution of bhakti). For instance, though Ajamila was without offenses, he did not manifest the symptoms of prema, even though he named his son Narayan and called that name many times every day. Moreover he was also inclined to sin (sexual relation with a prostitute). And Yudhisthira, though free from past karmic reactions, had to suffer many material miseries.
Just as a fruit-bearing tree bears fruit in due time, the Holy Name, though pleased with an offenseless person, will reveal its mercy (in the form of symptoms of prema)to him after some time.
Since the heaps of sinful reactions which are being experienced
due to previous bad practices are factually reduced to insignificance by the process of bhakti, like the bite of a serpent without his poison fangs, the sickness, lamentation and other sufferings undergone by devotees are not due to sins in previous life, for the Lord himself has said:
yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad dhanam sanaih
tato’dhanam tyajanty asya svajana duhkha duhkhitam
Gradually I take away all the wealth of the person whom I favor. Being penniless and most miserable, he is rejected by his family and relatives.
nirdhanatva maha rogo mad anugraha laksanam
The person without the malady of material possessions is the object of my mercy.
Thus the Lord, thinking of the welfare of his devotee, in order to increase his humility and longing for the Lord, bestows on him all sorts of suffering as his mercy. This suffering is not the effect of sinful actions in previous lives.
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