Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 17 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

তীর্থযাত্রা পরিশ্রম,        কেবল মনের ভ্রম,

সর্বসিদ্ধি গোবিন্দ-চরণ ।

সুদৃঢ় বিশ্বাস করি,        মদ মাৎসর্য পরিহরি,

সদা কর অনন্য ভজন ॥ ১৭ ॥

tīrtha-yātrā pariśrama,        kebala manera bhrama,

sarba-siddhi gobinda-caraṇa |

sudṛḍha biśvāsa kari,        mada mātsarya parihari,

sadā kara ananya-bhajana || 17 ||

     The trouble taken to visit various holy places is just the wandering of the mind; all success comes from Govinda’s lotus feet. With firm faith, letting go of vanity and envy, always worship him and no other.

Exclusive Bhajana

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is instructing us to give up the mind-agitating endeavor of traveling to various holy places and instead to settle peacefully in a līlā-dhāma like Śrī Vṛndāvana to perform exclusive bhajana in the association of devotees. tīrtha-yātrā pariśrama, kebala manera bhrama, sarba-siddhi gobinda-caraṇa. Here, it should be understood that tīrtha-yātrā means pilgrimages to holy places other than abodes of the Lord such as Śrī Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa, Nīlācala and so on that are favorable to one’s mood of worship. The reason is that among the sixty-four limbs of bhajana, there are five limbs that have been mentioned as extremely powerful sādhanas, and living in Vraja is one of them. In Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta (Mad. 22.128-129), we find,

sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, bhāgabata-śrabaṇa | 
mathurā-bāsa, śrī-mūrtir śraddhāya sebana ||

sakala sādhana śreṣṭha ei pañca aṅga | 
kṛṣṇa-prema janmāya ei pāṅcera alpa saṅga ||

     “Associating with sādhus, chanting the names of the Lord, hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, living in Mathurā and serving the Deity form with faith: these five limbs of sādhana are the best of all. Even a little contact with them produces love for Kṛṣṇa.” The purport is that a rāgānugā-sādhaka who desires prema at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet should take shelter of Śrī Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa, Nīlācala or other dhāma that is favorable to his mood of worship or which stimulates that mood. There, he shall always be engaged in internal bhajana such as hearing, chanting, remembering and so on in the association of great devotees who have a similar mood. He should not accept the trouble of traveling to and from various other holy places. This unnecessary travel causes the mind to be distracted and creates obstacles in one’s internal bhajana of remembrance and contemplation. jñāne prayāsam udapāsya and so on (Bhāg. 10.14.3). In the Vaiṣṇava-Toṣaṇī commentary on Brahmā’s prayers, it is written, sthāne satāṁ nivāsa evāvyagratayā sthitāḥ na tu tīrtha-paryaṭanādi kleśān kurvantaḥ. “Rather than accepting the troubles of touring various holy places, one should spend his life in vaiṣṇava-bhajana, staying peacefully in a dhāma such as Śrī Vṛndāvana, hearing hari-kathā in the association of the great souls who naturally reside there.”

     In the matter of bhajana-sādhana, the realizations of great devotees, like the words of śāstra, are one type of pramāṇa or source of evidence. When Siddha Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja of Raṇabāḍī, who lived in Vrajadhāma, desired to visit cāridhāma, Śrī Rādhārāṇī came to him in a dream and forbade him to do so. Thinking it to be only a dream, he traveled to the four dhāmas and in Dvārakā he had Vaiṣṇava symbols called tapta-mudrā branded on his body. He returned to Vraja and that night Śrī Rādhārāṇī again appeared in his dream and gave an order. She told him that since he had accepted the tapta-mudrā while in Dvārakā, he was now in Satyabhāmā’s group. Therefore, he should leave Vraja and go to Dvārakā. Then Bābā realized that his previous dream had been true, and being extremely repentant, he asked some other siddha-mahātmās if there was a way he could expiate his sins. When no one was able to prescribe any atonement that would supersede Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s direct order, Bābā’s body began to burn like dry wood in separation from Śrī Rādhā and was soon reduced to ashes. Through her own people, Śrī Rādhārāṇī has given the instruction to the rāgānugīya-sādhakas that abandoning Vrajadhāma, which is favorable to their mood of worship, and going to another dhāma will be antagonistic to the bhāva of a vraja-rasa-sādhaka.

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, tīrtha-yātrā pariśrama, kebala manera bhrama, or that it is nothing more than a delusion. If a sādhaka who desires bhakti thinks that by traveling to various holy places he will attain success in bhakti, this is a type of delusion for him. By traveling to different holy places, he will not be able to perform with firm faith the limbs of internal bhajana, such as hearing, chanting and remembering Śrī Hari, that lead one to prema. By going here and there, he will associate with many different kinds of people and his mind will inevitably be agitated. By no longer running about from place to place and instead residing calmly in a prema-dhāma such as Śrī Vṛndāvana, the sādhaka can faithfully perform bhajana to Śrī Govinda’s lotus feet with his body, mind and words and be blessed with prema. For this reason, it has been said, sarba-siddhi gobinda-caraṇa. “All success lies at the lotus feet of Śrī Govinda.” If people who desire to obtain various results or who seek puṇya (virtue) think that by going to different holy places those objectives will be fulfilled, we say to them also that this is just a misconception. The good results from all tīrtha-yātrās dwell at Śrī Govinda’s lotus feet. If they give up the difficulties of going on tīrtha-yātrā and just worship Śrī Govinda’s lotus feet, they can easily be blessed with an indescribable fortune much greater than what they desired. By his own virtue, compassion, Śrī Kṛṣṇa bestows prema-bhakti on them.

anya-kāmī kare yadi kṛṣṇera bhajana |
nā māgileo kṛṣṇa tāre dena svacaraṇa ||

kṛṣṇa kahe---āmāya bhaje māge biṣaya-sukha |
amṛta chāḍi biṣa māge, ei baḍa mūrkha ||

āmi bijña, ei mūrkhe biṣaya kene diba |
svacaraṇāmṛta diyā biṣaya bhulāiba ||

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kāma lāgi kṛṣṇa bhaje pāya kṛṣṇa-rase | 
kāma chāḍi dāsa haite haya abhilāṣe || ityādi

     “If a person who has other desires worships Śrī Kṛṣṇa, even without him asking, Kṛṣṇa gives him his lotus feet. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘If someone worships me to obtain sense enjoyment, he gives up nectar and prays for poison. He is a big fool. Being wise, why should I give sense enjoyment to this fool? By giving him the nectar of my feet, I shall cause him to forget all about sense enjoyment.’ When someone affected by material desire worships Kṛṣṇa, he gets a taste for kṛṣṇa-rasa. Then, he gives up that material desire and wants instead to be Kṛṣṇa’s servant.” (CC. Mad. 22.37-39, 41)

     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, sudṛḍha biśvāsa kari, mada mātsarya parihari, sadā kara ananya-bhajana. Previously, all the philosophical conclusions regarding bhajana have been described. Having established firm faith in that siddhānta, the vaiṣṇava-sādhakas must perform bhajana. The faith that brings one the eligibility (adhikāra) for bhakti-sādhanā or bhajana is born of trust. śraddhā śabde biśvāsa kahe, sudṛḍha niścaya (CC. Mad. 22.62). According to the words of sādhu, śāstra and guru, trust or faith is known as śraddhā. A person who has unwavering trust is the best of the faithful ones and has the highest eligibility for bhajana (uttamādhikārī). Moreover, a bhakta performing bhajana must give up pride, envy and so on because these are extremely destructive fundamental impediments to bhakti. If one is to obtain the supreme object, arrogance, vanity and so on must absolutely be abandoned. If one considers it carefully, it is seen that we regard our material bodies as ‘I’ and that connected to them as ‘mine.’ From this, pride or vanity arises. If the truth of the matter is understood, one’s sense of being the ‘doer’ is spontaneously removed. The nature of the jīva is that he is pure spirit and is disinterested in all physical objects. All worldly activities are accomplished by the guṇas of prakṛti: prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (Gītā 3.27). If one considers this, he will naturally seek shelter at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet and understand himself incapable of enjoying the things of the world. Then all pride and vanity are uprooted and one’s humility causes his own charming form to appear and illuminate his heart.

     If mātsarya (envy) resides in the heart, one is deprived of the eligibility to worship Śrī Bhagavān. In the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.2), we see nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām. “A virtuous or noble person who is free from envy is eligible for bhāgavata-dharma.” parotkarṣāsahanaṁ mātsaryam. Mātsarya is the name of that lowly, narrow or miserly mental function whereby one is unable to tolerate the excellent qualities of another, or doesn’t approve of the other’s qualities or becomes morose when he hears of those qualities. A person affected by envy finds fault with those whose qualities are superior to his own, is challenging and arrogant toward his equals and shows contempt or scorn for those less advanced. A person free from envy shows faith and devotion toward superior persons, love and friendship toward his equals, and affection and compassion toward those less advanced. The desire for fame or honor also arises in the heart of a person affected by envy. By the semen of the outcaste named Mātsarya (envy) in the womb of the demoness called Pratiṣṭhāśā (desire for fame), the twin daughters Hiṁsā (malice) and Asūyā (jealousy) are born. By the frenzied dance of these two, the virtuous nature of the heart is completely destroyed. Therefore, the sādhaka must always avoid pride, envy and so on.

     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, sadā kara ananya-bhajana. In his commentary on the word ananya-vṛttyā in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.7.38, Śrīdhara Svāmī has written, ananya-vṛttyāvyabhicāriṇyā bhaktyā. “It should be understood that ananya-bhakti (exclusive devotion) means avyabhicārī-bhakti (constant devotion).” It is contrary to pure devotion to have any other desire than to serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, ananya-bhajana means giving up all desires related to the material or spiritual worlds and worshiping Śrī Kṛṣṇa for his happiness only. In his explanation of the word ananya-bhāk in his commentary on Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā 9.30, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda has written, ananya-bhāk matto’nya-devatāntaraṁ mad-bhakter anyat karma-jñānādikam, mat-kāmanāto’nyāṁ rājyādi-kāmanāṁ na bhajate sa sādhuḥ. “The practitioners of ananya-bhakti do not worship any devatās besides me, do not practice karma, jñāna or anything other than devotion to me, and have no place in their hearts for any other desire, such as for a kingdom and so on, than the desire to serve me. They are true sādhus.” Later on in this book (verse 19), Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya will also say, hṛṣīke gobinda-sebā, nā pūjiba debī debā, eita ananya-bhakti kathā. “I shall serve Śrī Govinda with my senses. I shall not worship other gods or goddesses. I shall only speak of pure devotion.”