The terrible desire will be removed

In the depths of jnana, vairagya and so on, and behind all religion, lies… the desire for honour, name, fame, distinction and adoration.

To the degree that we endeavour to develop ourselves spiritually, to become religious, to maintain a renounced life, and to deliberate on and discuss jnana, we desire our own pratishtha (honour and distinction). This desire contaminates our hearts and pollutes our characters.

Although we make a great effort to control lust, anger, greed, illusion and envy, and although we perform severe austerities to control the senses, concealed within our hearts the desire for pratishtha, in the form of a wild infant animal, continues to grow.

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Our Foremost Duty Is To Understand The True Nature Of Shuddha-Bhakti

Our foremost duty is to understand the true nature of shuddha-bhakti.

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People In General Consider The Polluted And Mixed Conceptions To Be Bhakti

Unfortunately, in present day society in the name of shuddha-bhakti various types of mixed devotion such as karma-mishra (mixed with fruitive action), jnana-mishra (mixed with speculative knowledge) and yoga-mishra (mixed with various types of yoga processes) as well as various polluted and imaginary conceptions are spreading everywhere like germs of plague.

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Uttama-Bhakti or Topmost Devotion

Our previous acaryas have compiled numerous literatures to establish the svarupa of bhakti, and amongst them Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu is the most beneficial.

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People Mostly Practice Mishra-Bhakti (Mixed Devotion)

Uttama-bhakti means the stage where the devotional creeper is in its completely pure or uncontaminated form.

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Only When The Activities Are Executed For The Pleasure of Krsna It Is Called Bhakti

What are the svarupa-lakshana or intrinsic attributes of bhakti? To answer this question it is said that bhakti is anukulyena krsnanushilana, the cultivation of activities which are meant exclusively for the pleasure of Sri Krsna.

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Bhagavat-Tattva Is The Only Object Of Bhakti

In the main verse the word krsnanushilanam has been used.

The purport of this is that Svayam Bhagavan Sri Krsna is the sole ultimate objective indicated by the term kevala-bhakti (exclusive devotion).

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By Negation One Does Not Realise the Absolute Truth

Those who try to perceive the Absolute Truth through the cultivation of jnana cannot realise anything beyond brahma-tattva.

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When the Absolute Truth is Realised Only Partially

By the cultivation of jnana it will appear that impersonal brahma is the supreme tattva.

Here the subtlety is that jnana itself is material, meaning in the material world whatever knowledge we acquire or whatever principle (siddhanta) we establish is done by depending solely upon material attributes.

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Realisation of Paramatma by Yogis is Not Shuddha-Bhakti

Those who pursue the path of yoga in the end arrive only at realisation of the all-pervading paramatma-tattva.

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Bhagavan is the Original Tattva, the Supreme Absolute Truth

Absolute truth realised exclusively through the process of bhakti is called Bhagavan.

In Bhakti-sandarbha the characteristics of bhagavat-tattva are described as “pari-purna-sarva-shakti-vishishta-bhagavan iti”: the complete Absolute Truth endowed with all transcendental potencies is called Bhagavan.

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Madhurya is Superior and More Influential Than Aishvarya

Out of these three manifestations of the Absolute Truth (Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan), it is only the manifestation of Bhagavan’s personal form which is the object of bhakti.

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Shuddha-Bhakti and 2 Witches of the Desires for Bhukti and Mukti

Although from the viewpoint of siddhanta Narayana and Krsna are non-different, Krsna is superior due to possessing more rasa.

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Why It Is Important to Abandon the Desire for Mukti

As it is imperative to abandon the desire for bhukti, it is equally important to abandon the desire for mukti.

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Violent Creatures of Lust, Anger and So Forth

To remain free from and uncovered by tendencies such as those for jnana and karma is another marginal characteristic of bhakti.

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Your shraddha must be protected from all varieties of inauspiciousness

Now I will explain the gradual development of bhakti starting from its seed-form of shraddha.

It is to be understood clearly that as soon as the seed of shraddha is sown in the heart, immediately Bhakti-devi appears there.

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The Type of Jnana Directly Opposed to Bhakti

If Shraddha-devi is not properly nurtured with the utmost care, she will be polluted by the germs, termites, mosquitoes and unhealthy environment of the processes of jnana, renunciation, impersonal conceptions, sankhya and so forth.

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Deceitful Bhakti and Bhakti Free From Deceit

Now, by carefully reviewing all the previous statements, we can understand that to remain uncovered by jnana, karma and so forth — which means accepting them as subservient entities — and engage in the favorable cultivation of activities meant to please Sri Krsna which are devoid of any other desire is called uttama-bhakti.

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Intrinsic Nature of Shuddha-Bhakti (Summary)

In the previous articles, the intrinsic nature of shuddha-bhakti has been explained.

Having carefully reviewed all the instructions of our predecessor acaryas, in summary form we are presenting their heartfelt sentiments in the following verse:

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An Analysis of Bhakti-abhasa or the Semblance of Bhakti

yad bhaktyabhasa-lesho ’pi dadati phalam uttamam

tamananda-nidhim krsna-caitanyam samupasmahe

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How Jiva Acquires Various Material Designations

It has already been stated that the natural and unadulterated endeavour of the infinitesimal consciousness, the jiva, towards the complete consciousness, Krsna, is called bhakti.

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Pratibimba-Bhakti-Abhasa and Chaya-Bhakti-Abhasa

Srila Rupa Goswami has not given a separate analysis of bhakti-abhasa in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.

Within the first half of the verse “anyabhilashita-shunyam jnana-karmady anavritam” he has given a complete yet hidden explanation of bhakti-abhasa.

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Pure Bhakti is Free from Pratibimba and Chaya!

Srila Jiva Goswami says, “ tasman nirupadhitvam eva rater mukhyasvarupatvam sopadhitvam abhashatvam tattva gaunya vrittya pravarttamanatvam iti,” which means that when bhakti is unadulterated, it is svarupa-bhakti or devotion in its intrinsic state, but when bhakti is adulterated, then it is called bhakti-abhasa.

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3 Categories of Pratibimba-Bhakti-Abhasa

Pratibimba-bhakti-abhasa can be divided into 3 categories:

(1) nirvishesha-jnanavrita-bhakti-abhasa,

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The 1st Type of Impure Bhakti

In nirvishesha-jnanavrita-bhakti-abhasa, bhakti remains hidden by a covering of impersonal knowledge.

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The 2nd Type of Impure Bhakti

In bahirmukha-karmavrita-bhakti-abhasa
a blockage comprised of an external covering of karma or fruitive activities is produced by the gauna-vritti or secondary tendency of bhakti.

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The 3rd Type of Impure Bhakti

In present times we can easily point out viparita vastu me bhakti-buddhi-janita bhakti-abhasa which is produced by the visualisation of bhakti in activities which are actually opposed to bhakti and which is prevalent in the pancopasana and in the isvara-pranidhana or concentration upon the isvara within the yoga process.

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Difference Between Chaya-Bhakti-Abhasa and Shuddha-Bhakti

It is very important for a sadhaka to understand chaya-bhakti-abhasa.

Unlike pratibimba-bhakti-abhasa, chaya-bhakti-abhasa is not crooked and shrewd; it has simplicity and virtue.

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The 4th Type of Impure Bhakti

The svarupa-jnana or intrinsic knowledge concerning the sadhaka (the practitioner), sadhana (the practice) and sadhya (the object of achievement) is nondifferent from the svarupa of shuddha-bhakti.

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The 5th Type of Impure Bhakti

In the scriptures there are many examples of bhakti-uddipaka vastu-shakti janita bhakti-abhasa.

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