অসৎ-সঙ্গতি সদা, ত্যাগ কর অন্য গীতা,
কর্মী জ্ঞানী পরিহরি দূরে ।
কেবল ভকত সঙ্গ, প্রেমভক্তি রসরঙ্গ,
লীলাকথা ব্রজরসপুরে ॥ ১৫ ॥
asat saṅgati sadā, tyāga kara anya gītā,
karmī jñānī parihari dūre |
kebala bhakata saṅga, prema-bhakti rasa-raṅga,
līlā-kathā braja-rasa-pure || 15 ||
Always avoid the association of impious people and give up all music except that related to Kṛṣṇa. Stay far away from the karmīs and jñānīs. Associate with pure devotees and enjoy the nectar of prema-bhakti by hearing about Yugala-Kiśora’s pastimes in Vraja.
Kṛṣṇa-Kathā with Devotees
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Beginning here, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is mentioning in a few verses several rules and regulations that must be maintained by the sādhaka-bhakta. The conduct of a sādhaka is of two kinds: that having the nature of rejection and that having the nature of acceptance. The instruction has been given that acceptance of things favorable to bhajana and rejection of things unfavorable to bhajana is also a symptom of bhagavat-śaraṇāgati (taking shelter of Śrī Bhagavān): ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlya-vivarjanam. Here he says, asat saṅgati sadā, tyāga kara anya gītā, karmī jñānī parihari dūre. The sādhaka who desires his highest welfare must surely give up asat-saṅga, association with impious people. asat-saṅga-tyāga ei baiṣṇaba-ācāra. strī-saṅgi eka asādhu---kṛṣṇābhakta āra (CC. Mad. 22.87). “The behavior of a Vaiṣṇava is that he abandons the association of unholy people. The man who is attached to women is one kind of corrupt person, and one averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is another.” The avoidance of asat-saṅga is a Vaiṣṇava behavior that is of the nature of rejection. This must by all means be maintained because just as by the influence of sat-saṅga, the jīva will inevitably obtain the highest elevation, in the same way, by asat-saṅga, the jīva’s fall or ruination is unavoidable. Though one may be a sādhu himself, he must still be very cautious about asat-saṅga. A person who has recently recovered from a disease must avoid an unwholesome diet or that very diet can cause the disease to spread and destroy the body. In the same way, even for a virtuous person who is endowed with some power from his sādhana, that asat-saṅga will ultimately cause utter ruin. Therefore, instructions have been given in the śāstras for us to run far away from asat-saṅga, as though it were a deadly black cobra whose poison is dreadful and fatal. There are two kinds of asat: one is averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the other is strongly attached to women. As a result of associating with these two kinds of people, the sādhaka is infected with a dislike for Śrī Kṛṣṇa and an attachment for women, and the bhakti then vanishes from his heart.
Those who are not sat are asat. Therefore, liars and thieves, those who are addicted to animal slaughter, those of a malicious nature and so on are also asat. A person who desires his highest welfare must stop associating with them. Still, regarding the Vaiṣṇava behavior that is of the nature of rejection and which takes the form of abandoning asat-saṅga, he has specifically mentioned giving up the association of those averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and those attached to women. The reason is that for a faithful Vaiṣṇava, one deeply attached to bhajana, the association of these two kinds of asat people is a great impediment to his devotion. As a result of much good fortune, a sādhaka eager for bhagavad-bhajana is blessed by his guru and other sādhus with faith in the lotus feet of Śrī Hari. This faith brings one the right to perform bhagavad-bhajana. śraddhāvān jana haya bhakti adhikārī (CC. Mad. 22.64). “A person with faith has the qualification for bhakti.” If, when associating with a person averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a sādhaka becomes infected with that aversion, his faith or trust in sādhu, guru, śāstra and Śrī Bhagavān disappears. When such a person inspires aversion to Kṛṣṇa in the mind of the sādhaka, that sādhaka is ruined. In the same way, when a man attached to women describes the beauty and qualities of a woman to his companion, an attachment for that woman arises within his companion that is greater even than the woman herself can evoke. Similarly, when Śrī Bhagavān’s devotees describe the Lord’s form, qualities and so on, they can awaken an attachment for him in the hearts of their companions greater than Śrī Hari himself can ever arouse. Like this, all connections to women are to be abandoned by the faithful sādhakas who are devoted to bhajana. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.31.40 says, yopayāti śanair māyā yoṣid deva-vinirmitā. tām īkṣetātmano mṛtyuṁ tṛṇaiḥ kūpam ivāvṛtam. “Māyā, formed by God as woman, gradually goes to a man under the pretext of service and so on. A wise person should regard her as a grass-covered well that is the cause of his own death.” In his commentary on this verse, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda has written, yā ca puruṣaṁ viraktaṁ jñātvā svīya-niṣkāmatāṁ vyañjayantī śuśrūṣādi-miṣeṇopayāti, sāpy anartha-kāriṇīty āha yopayātīti. atra tṛṇācchādita-kūpasya mayi janaḥ patatv iti bhāvanābhāvāt kasyacit pārśve’py anāgamāt sarvatrodāsīnā vā bhakti-jñāna-vairāgyādimatī vā unmādād acetanā nidrāṇā vā mṛtāpi vā strī sarvathaiva dūre parityājyeti vyañjitam. “The meaning is that to gain release from the grip of māyā, whom God has given the form of woman, is an extremely difficult matter. For this reason, it is inappropriate for a person who desires his highest welfare to come within hearing range of a woman. If a woman approaches a man saying she is free from desire and has no other intention than to serve him, having understood that he is a detached and dispassionate person, the man must nevertheless think of her as one who could completely ruin him, like a grass-covered well that brings his own death. Even if a woman possesses bhakti, jñāna and vairāgya, or is insensible due to some mental illness, asleep or even dead, he still must not come near her. He must always stay far away from her.”
The sādhaka must give up his attachment to all music except that which relates to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes and qualities: tyāga kara anya gītā. If the sādhaka’s mind is absorbed in or attached to matters other than Kṛṣṇa, this attraction to worldly forms, flavors, sounds and so on will introduce impediments to his bhajana. The śruti says, yo vai bhūmā tat-sukham, nālpe sukham asti. “True joy exists at the feet of Śrī Bhagavān, the embodiment of condensed joy, not in objects of insignificant worldly sound, touch and so on.” How we long for a drop from this ocean of joy! Śāstra says that a few particles of joy (ānanda) have been transferred into the material world from Śrī Bhagavān, the center of all joy. But because those particles have been separated from Śrī Govinda’s lotus feet, the fundamental center of ānanda, they become a source of misery for the jīva. Deprived of the transcendental ānanda-tattva, the jīva feels a desire to enjoy the meager happiness of the outer, material realm. He continuously runs after the worldly objects of material form, taste and so on, firmly in the grip of repeated birth and death. Therefore, the diligent sādhaka-bhakta must always be on guard so that attachment for mundane objects has no opportunity to enter his heart. Not only must contact with the sense objects be avoided, but the sādhaka must also stay far away from karmīs, jñānīs and others who strive to attain the heavenly worlds or liberation. karmī jñānī parihari dūre. By the association of karmīs, jñānīs and other such people, the sādhaka may quite possibly develop attachment for karma or jñāna and thus diminish his bhajana.
Then, in the second half of the verse, a very intimate practice has been mentioned that is to be accepted by the sādhakas who are devoted to vraja-rasa. kebala bhakata saṅga, prema-bhakti rasa-raṅga, līlā-kathā braja-rasa-pure. Along with internal bhajana, the highest development of bhajana-rasa is quickly attained by always associating with bhaktas who have similar intentions. Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has written, sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare (B.R.S. 1.2.91). In bhakti-sādhana there are various different kinds of bhāvas, such as aiśvarya and mādhurya, as well as dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura. According to the type of bhajana he performs, the sādhaka must associate with those sādhus whose bhakti is similar to his own. In bhakti-dharma, one must always associate with affectionate sādhus who are more experienced in bhajana than oneself, who have the qualities of compassion and so on, and are of a friendly nature. The adjective sajātīyāśaya (having a similar intention) indicates that the experience of bhakti-rasa is pleasantly accomplished by the association of such great souls. By pairing the adjectives sajātīyāśaya and svato vara (more experienced than oneself), he indicates that by the association of such great souls, bhakti-rasa appears in the heart of the bhakta who associates with them. With the adjective snigdha (affectionate), the implication is that the mercy of those great souls quickly brings eligibility for such an experience into the heart of the sādhaka, and that such mercy is easily obtainable. It is the conclusion of the bhakti-śāstras that bhakti, aimed at Śrī Bhagavān and sheltered in a bhakta, is experienced by the sādhaka after he reaches the state of rati. Therefore, it is understood that by associating with such mahābhāgavatas through seeing and touching them, conversing with them about Bhagavān and so on, rati quickly appears in the heart of the sādhaka and he is then able to taste bhakti-rasa. For this reason, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has said, kebala bhakata saṅga, prema-bhakti rasa-raṅga. By the word raṅga, or enjoyment, a specific wonderfully delicious quality of bhakti-rasa has been indicated. He then mentions the reason for that: līlā-kathā braja-rasa-pure. This indicates that after taking up residence in Śrī Śrī Vrajadhāma, the place where līlā is most highly developed, and associating with such great souls, if one is blessed to taste the rasa of his beloved Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s līlā-kathā, then the wonderful experience of tasting prema-bhakti-rasa is easily obtained. Alternatively, it has also been taught that this could mean that one will taste līlā-kathā filled with vraja-rasa along with great souls of a similar nature.
