How does someone get relief from lamentation and illusion? The sādhaka has to go to a mahā-bhāgavata Vaiṣṇava and respectfully listen to hari-kathā. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido—God’s power and mercy are present in the sādhu, and he distributes this through his hari-kathā.
People have deep attachment to asat-saṅga. In order to get rid of this attachment, the sādhaka has to take the association of sādhus, who will cut not only this desire, but everything else unfavorable and will decorate the sādhaka with good qualities. The nature of satāṁ prasaṅgān, or the sādhu’s association, is to cut off these desires by the power of their narrations of Kṛṣṇa’s marvelous activities, mama vīrya-saṁvido.
To be able to follow this fourth verse, we must hear hari-kathā from Śrī Guru and then we can make a relationship with the Lord. Not only should the sādhaka hear hari-kathā, but also harināma. If the sādhaka does not hear pure harināma from the lips of a mukta-puruṣa, liberated soul, he will never go beyond the chanting of nāmāparādha and nāmābhāsa.
Because of this, Śrīla Svāmī Prabhupāda sat down in the temple room every morning after maṅgala-ārati and invited all his disciples to practice chanting harināma with him. They did not move until they completed sixteen rounds.
Whoever has a little faith and respect in the Lord, will first approach a bona fide guru and hear harināma and hari-kathā from him. After the sādhaka has heard the pure holy name from his Gurudeva, he will become free of the tendency to commit offenses. Then, through practice, gradually he will be able to chant śuddha-harināma.
What are the symptoms of somebody who chants the pure holy name and has fixed faith and unalloyed love for harināma? There are four symptoms. The first one is na dhanam. He will be devoid of the desire for wealth. Wealth does not only mean money, gold, and property. It refers to all kinds of mundane possessions. Despite being deprived of wealth, does that mean a beggar who has no possessions is akiñcana-niṣkiñcana?
No, he greedily waits in front of a sweet shop, watching others eating rasgullas and rabri, and laments that he cannot afford to buy sweets for himself. And then, when somebody throws away their leaf-cup, he takes it and licks up the remnants. He looks renounced from the outside, but within he is plagued by many material desires, and therefore he is not niṣkiñcana-akiñcana.
Somebody who is not realized laments when he is deprived of work, household, family, and wealth. A person suffering from diarrhea and fever cannot digest anything. But that does not mean he has renounced the desire to enjoy his senses and is liberated. When he is cured from his sickness, he will eat twice or thrice as much.
This is our present condition. We say, ‘na dhanam, na janam, na sundarī’ but then we secretly hide and enjoy these things without sharing them with anybody else. A realized soul may have everything, but he is devoid of attachment for anything and uses everything only in Kṛṣṇa’s service. This is real renunciation of dhana and jana.
Prabhupāda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura said, “I am not a vairāgī. Nor am I niṣkiñcana-akiñcana. I am simply the servant of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, varsabhanavī-dayitā-dāsa. For Her service I will accept everything. I will travel in airplanes and use all facilities that modern scientists discover to use every possible minute to serve Mahāprabhu’s movement.” He did not desire dhana or jana for himself.
Janam means to desire to have a strong party of followers and thus become fearless. Such a person’s execution of his duty and service will be rājasika and tāmasika. He always has the desire to be greater than others. If he sees his rivals arranging big programs, he tries to exceed it. One who has a desire for janam, or name, fame, respect, and followers, cannot hear harināma or hari-kathā from his guru.
On the other hand, a devotee who has a desire for nāma-saṅkīrtana and bhāva-bhakti is concerned that the wealth and followers that come to him could be an obstacle to the performance of his bhakti. He thinks, “Oh, my focus is now divided due to the wealth and followers that came to me. These are not favorable for Kṛṣṇa’service—ānukūlyena-kṛṣṇanuśilanam.” In this way, the sincere sādhaka is protected from the dangers of these anarthas.
Anyabhilasita śūnyam jñāna karmādy anavṛtta—only by being devoid of a desire for karma, jñāna, and yoga is it possible to chant harināma for Kṛṣṇa’s happiness. At that time, the sādhaka prays, “O Jagadīśa, I now understand the troubles that came to me because I used all my energy to serve my wife, children, relatives, and friends.”
Parikṣit Mahāraja served and helped everybody throughout his life. When he came to know that his life was going to end soon, he became anxious and went to meet Śukadeva Gosvāmī, in whose presence he heard the glories and names of the Lord continuously for seven days and nights. During this time, he never got disturbed and renounced even the urge to drink, eat, and sleep.
This was possible only due to the association of a mukta-puruṣa, a great liberated soul who is devoid of material desires. Without this high-class association, the sādhaka’s nature and character will become like those of the ordinary people he is staying with. Therefore, the sādhaka should pray, “When will the day come when I will continuously stay with a Vrajavāsī mukta-puruṣa?” Such a bona fide Vaiṣṇava never argues and fights about mundane affairs.
nityārtidena vittena
durlabhenātma-mṛtyunā
gṛhāpatyāpta-paśubhiḥ
kā prītiḥ sādhitaiś calaiḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.3.19
Wealth is a perpetual source of distress, it is most difficult to acquire, and it is virtual death for the soul. What satisfaction does one actually gain from his wealth? Similarly, how can one gain ultimate or permanent happiness from one's so-called home, children, relatives and domestic animals, which are all maintained by one's hard-earned money?
Attaining Ahaituki-bhakti
The soul experiences great distress and suffering because of material attachments. But if he has no relation to these, he has no problem. The desire for sense gratification gives no chance for the soul to be akiñcana-niṣkiñcana. Ahaituki-bhakti means bhakti free from any contaminations. Because of mundane attachment, the soul is bound to the cycle of birth and death and suffers the results.
The soul enters a body and stays there for sixty, eighty, or a hundred years. Since his childhood, a person has served this body with so much care. He cleaned it with soap, applied ointment, fed it with food and water, and treated it with medicine. He is using all these things to make the body strong and beautiful. When he then has to leave, he experiences tremendous sorrow due to the attachment he has developed for the body. Then he takes birth again.
When a soul enters a body, the sufferings are not less. He enters the womb of a mother and stays trapped there for nine months. First the body is tiny and then slowly it grows and develops all limbs and features. He is confined in the womb, where he is bitten by worms and suffers incessantly. Later, he comes out and thinks he is free, but he has only entered another jail. Throughout his whole life he experiences diseases and pains in different body parts.
Being in this jail is a great torment to the soul. The soul suffers so much, but when he can taste rasagullas, ice cream, cake, and sandwiches, then he thinks himself to be very happy. Who is actually experiencing this happiness? Is it the soul or the body? These sense desires and enjoyments are only related to the material body.
Therefore, we should pray to the Lord so that we can give up this attachment to the body and mind, and be exclusively attached to bhāgavad-bhakti. When we have relation with the bhāgavad-bhaktas, we will be related to bhāgavad-bhakti. When we have relation with a liberated soul, we will attain liberation ourselves.
Then, we will have no attachment with this body, which is bound by birth and death. By the mercy of the bhaktas we can continuously stay with them and attain the eternal body of a Vrajavāsī.
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kavirāja Gosvāmī explains the teachings of Mahāprabhu as follows:
kahite kahite prabhura dainya bāḍilā
śuddha-bhakti kṛṣṇa-ṭhāñi māgite lāgilā
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.27
As Lord Caitanya spoke in this way, His humility increased, and He began praying to Kṛṣṇa that He could discharge pure devotional service.
premera svabhāva—yāhāṅ premera sambandha
sei māne—kṛṣṇe mora nāhi prema-gandha
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.28
Wherever there is a relationship of love of Godhead, its natural symptom is that the devotee does not think himself a devotee. Instead, he always thinks that he has not even a drop of love for Kṛṣṇa.
Mahāprabhu said, “A bhakta who is trying to progress in his spiritual life should pray for nothing other than śuddha-bhakti from Kṛṣṇa. If he desires anything else, he will be deprived of the real wealth of bhakti.
dhana jana nāhi māgoṅ kavitā sundarī
śuddha-bhakti deha more kṛṣṇa kṛpā kari
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.30
My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I do not want material wealth from You, nor do I want followers, a beautiful wife or the results of fruitive activities. I only pray that by Your causeless mercy You give Me pure devotional service to You, life after life.
ati-dainye punaḥ māge dāsya-bhakti-dāna
āpanāre kare saṁsārī jīva-abhimāna
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.31
In great humility, considering Himself a conditioned soul of the material world, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu again expressed His desire to be endowed with service to the Lord.
In order to teach the jīvas how to pray to the Lord, Caitanya Mahāprabhu took up the role of a conditioned soul and lived his life as an example for all jīvas. What is the nature of prema-bhakti? If a soul is even slightly related to the bhaktas, the bhaktas will evoke in him a desire for prema-bhakti. Then, once the soul attains this prema-bhakti, the form of Vrajendra-nandana Syāmasundara will come before him.
Mahāprabhu therefore taught that we should not waste our lives by trying to fulfill ordinary desires like dhana, jana, and sundarī. We should continuously pray again and again to Kṛṣṇa for śuddha-bhakti.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura wrote the following prayers in reference to this fourth verse.
prabhu tava pada-yuge mora nivedan
nāhi māgi deha-sukha vidyā dhana jana
O Lord! This is my humble submission at Your lotus feet. I do not ask from You sensual pleasures, learning, wealth, or followers.
nāhi māgi svarga āra mokṣa nāhi māgi
nā kori prārthanā kono vibhūtira lāgi
I do not beg for residence on the celestial planets, nor do I wish liberation from this mundane existence. Nor do I pray for the attainment of any mystic powers.
nija-karma-guṇa-doṣe je je janma pāi
janme janme jeno tava nāma-guṇa gāi
Whatever birth I may obtain due to the faults of my previous worldly activities, I pray that I may sing the glories of Your holy name birth after birth.
ei mātra āśā mama tomār caraṇe
ahoitukī bhakti hṛde jāge anukṣane
This is my only desire, O Lord, and I submit it at Your lotus feet: That unmotivated devotion to You may constantly awaken in my heart.
viṣaye je prīti ebe āchaye āmār
sei-mātā prīti hauk caraṇe tomār
As much attachment as I now have for worldly affairs, I pray that a similar degree of attachment may develop for Your holy feet.
vipade sampade tāhā thākuk śama-bhāve
dine dine vṛddhi hauk nāmera prabhāve
I pray that my love for You may remain undisturbed both in misfortune and in prosperity, and that day after day it may increase by the power and influence of Your holy name.
paśu-pakṣi ho’ye thāki swarge vā niroye
tava bhakti rahu bhaktivinoda-hṛdoye
Be my life in heaven or in hell, be it as a bird or a beast, may devotion to You always remain within the heart of Bhaktivinoda.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura elaborates the meaning of this song as follows.
“Oh kind-hearted master, I pray to your lotus feet. Everything rests in You. On one side, there is bahiraṅgā-śakti, the material world, and on the other side there is antaraṅga-śakti, Vraja-bhūmi. Please Prabhu, I possess a mundane body with mundane eyes.
My understanding is mundane and I see everything through the eyes of an ignorant materialist. O Prabhu, I pray for protection. In my ignorance I accept wife, children, properties, vibhūti, and siddhi. Since millions of lives I am suffering due to this, and in this very life too, I am striving for them. Please Prabhu, protect me from these things, and give me the exclusive desire for ahaituki-bhakti unto You.”
viṣaye je prīti ebe āchaye āmār
sei-mātā prīti hauk caraṇe tomār
“May my love for Your bhakti and bhaktas increase in this life to the same degree as I now have love for the mundane.”
“O Prabhu, whether I am joyful or distressed, may I never lose my enthusiasm to remember and serve You and to give up that which has to be rejected. Whether you send me to hell or heaven, whether you give me the body of an animal or a human, I only pray from You for unmotivated bhakti unto You.”
If this desire is fixed in the heart of the jīva, he will never be misled, and as soon as bhakti comes, he can accept it.
Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī spent his life engaged in bhajana at the bank of Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Many rich people came to him and offered wealth, but Dāsa Gosvāmī did not accept anything. He also rejeced the property of his father.
When Mahāprabhu left and the Gambhira was empty, did Raghunātha Gosvāmī take the Gambhira as his inheritance? Or did he take Siddha Bakula, Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s samādhi, or Ṭoṭā Gopinātha? No, he ran away to the lotus feet of Rūpa and Sanātana in Vraja-dhāma. Wherever the mahā-bhāgavata stays, the sādhaka should go and take shelter of his lotus feet. There is no need for wealth and property. These only result in fighting.
The Gambira, Siddha Bakula, Ṭoṭā Gopinātha, and temples in Vṛndāvana-dhāma are still present to this day. But Rūpa and Sanātana are not externally present. When they disappeared, Dāsa Gosvāmī said, “Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Syama-kuṇḍa are like the mouths of tigers, and Govardhana is like a big snake that tries to kill me. When will the day come that I will again have the association of the Lord’s dear devotees?”
nāhaṁ vande tava caraṇayor dvandvam advandva-hetoḥ
kumbhīpākaṁ gurum api hare nārakaṁ nāpanetum
ramyā-rāmā-mṛdu-tanu-latā nandane nāpi rantuṁ
bhāve bhāve hṛdaya-bhavane bhāvayeyaṁ bhavantam
Mukunda-mālā-stotra 4
O Lord Hari, it is not to be saved from the dualities of material existence or the grim tribulations of the Kumbhīpāka hell that I pray to Your lotus feet. Nor is my purpose to enjoy the soft-skinned beautiful women who reside in the gardens of heaven. I pray to Your lotus feet only so that I may remember You alone in the core of my heart, birth after birth.
nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge
yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavān pūrva-karmānurūpam
etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu mataṁ janma-janmāntare 'pi
tvat-pādāmbhoruha-yuga-gatā niścalā bhaktir astu
Mukunda-mālā-stotra 5
O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come as they inevitably must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your two lotus feet.
“I have neither a desire for dharma nor for adharma. I do not want to accept anything for the fulfillment of my desire for respect and property. Prabhu, may the fruits of my past activities come to me; I will not get disturbed by them. I do not pray to You to purify me from my karma. I only pray for fixed bhakti unto Your lotus feet.
Do not let my mind forget Your lotus feet for even a moment. I do not pray to Your lotus feet to protect me from going to hell, or for the promotion to the heavenly planets, where I could enjoy with the apsarās. I only pray that a desire for pure bhakti may arise in my heart, and that I can serve and remember You continuously.”