পাপ না করিহ মন, অধম সে পাপী-জন,
তারে মুই দূরে পরিহরি ।
পুণ্য যে সুখের ধাম, তার না লইহ নাম,
পুণ্য মুক্তি দুই ত্যাগ করি ॥ ৭১ ॥
pāpa nā kariha mana, adhama se pāpī-jana,
tāre mui dūre parihari |
puṇya ye sukhera dhāma, tāra nā laiha nāma,
puṇya mukti dui tyāga kari || 71 ||
O mind, do not sin! Sinful people are most wicked; I stay away from them. Do not speak of puṇya, which is the abode of happiness. I give up both virtue and liberation.
Giving up Sin, Virtue and Liberation
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya instructs his mind to give up sin, virtue and even the desire for liberation, all of which are impediments to bhakti. First, he says, pāpa nā kariha mana, adhama se pāpī-jana, tāre mui dūre parihari. If one remains engaged in sinful actions, his heart and mind become contaminated. Śrī Bhagavān’s name, qualities and pastimes never appear in such an impure citta. The desire to sin can never awaken in the mind of a faithful bhakta. Though the longing to enjoy may remain in his heart, it never produces sin. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.20.28 states, juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan, meaning, if a faithful bhakta is unable to give up sensual pleasures, he should continue to enjoy them while condemning them as sources of pain. In his commentary on this verse, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written the following: sahasā tyaktum asamarthatvāt kāmān juṣamāṇaś ca garhayaṁś ca. garhaṇe hetuḥ duḥkhodarkāṁ śokādi-kṛd uttara-phalān iti. atra kāmā apāpa-karā eva jñeyāḥ. śāstre kathaṁcid api anyānuvidhānāyogāt. pratyuta–‘parapatnī-paradravya-parahiṁsāsu yo matim. na karoti pumān bhūpa toṣyate tena keśavaḥ.’ iti viṣṇu-purāṇa-vākyādau karmārpaṇāt pūrvam eva tan niṣedhāt. ‘vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathaṁcid dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ’ (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.42) ity atrāpi kathaṁcit-śabda-prayogeṇa labdha-bhaktīnāṁ ca svatas tat pravṛtty-ayogāt. ‘nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhir na vidyate tasya yamair iha śuddhiḥ’ iti pādma-padye nāmāparādha-bhañjana-stotrādau hari-bhakti-balenāpi tat-pravṛttāv aparādhāpātāc ca. ‘api cet sudurācāraḥ’ (Gītā 9.30) iti tu tad-anādara-doṣa-para eva, na tu durācāratā-vidhāna-paraḥ, ‘kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā (Gītā 9.31) ity anantara-vākye durācāratāpagamasya śreyastva-nirdeśād iti (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 172). “‘If a faithful person is unexpectedly unable to give up sensual desires, he should engage in enjoyment while condemning it as ultimately being a source of misery or grief.’ Here, the word ‘desire’ should be understood to mean that it does not produce sin, because no recommendations for actions that produce sins have been given anywhere in śāstra. Rather, śāstra says, ‘O King, Śrī Hari is pleased with one who has no desire for another’s wife or possessions or to cause harm to him.’ That has been forbidden in this instruction, which is found in Viṣṇu-Purāṇa prior to the section on assignment of duties. ‘Even though sinful actions may somehow be performed by a bhakta who is devoted to worshiping the Lord’s lotus feet, those actions are destroyed by Śrī Hari situated within his heart.’ The word kathaṁcit (somehow) has been used in this statement from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to indicate the bhaktas’ lack of voluntary engagement in sinful activities. ‘One who engages in sinful behavior by the power of the Holy Name cannot be purified even by the rules of self-restraint.’ Statements such as this in the Nāmāparādha-Bhañjana-Stotra of Padma-Purāṇa proclaim that engagement in sinful acts on the strength of bhakti is an aparādha or offense. In Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā, Śrī Bhagavān has said in the api cet sudurācāraḥ verse that he considers a person who practices bhajana to be a sādhu, though he may indulge in unsavory practices. He is not giving a prescription to behave badly, as he has criticized wicked behavior as inauspicious. The reason is that in the next verse the Lord says that such a person quickly becomes righteous. By this statement he clearly indicates the absence of bad behavior.” Therefore, after humbly thinking of himself as sinful and suffering, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said to his own mind, “Do not sin.”
Not to speak of sinful behavior itself, the bhakta-sādhaka must also keep his distance from sinful people. adhama se pāpī-jana, tāre mui dūre parihari. Sinful people are adhama, meaning lowest or most wicked. Just as a sādhaka undoubtedly attains the supreme good fortune through the power of good association (sat-saṅga), in the same way, extreme degradation is seen to occur as a result of bad association (asat-saṅga). The bodies and minds of the powerful, highly-qualified sādhu-mahātmās are so pure that their great qualities can sanctify the cittas of people nearby. In the same way, the cittas of corrupt and sinful people are so defiled by their evil mentalities that through their association the cittas of people around them are also defiled. A sick person who wants to get well understands that he must completely abandon harmful diets and so forth that cause the growth of disease and ultimately destroy the body. In the same way, sādhakas who have entered the path of bhakti and desire to practice bhajana must keep their distance from people who are sinful and suffering from it. For this reason, the abandonment of evil company has been included among the virtuous behaviors of a Vaiṣṇava. asat-saṅga tyāga ei baiṣṇaba-ācāra (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.87). Therefore, though one may be a sādhu, he should always remain cautious regarding such asat-saṅga.
One may ask what the fate is of those who are sinful, suffering and distressed if the great sādhus remain at a distance, not giving them the holy association that would stop their sins and suffering and engage them in bhajana. Truly, the sādhu must through his association introduce them to the path of bhakti and turn them into virtuous people. But that requires that one have sufficient power. It is unwise to associate with a cobra while relying on medicine meant for a scorpion’s sting. Nothing beneficial can come from this. One should leave a place where he is not happy or where there is the likelihood of personal harm. To teach this to the society of sādhakas, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya, the embodiment of prema, has requested that we avoid the company of sinful people.
Then he said, puṇya ye sukhera dhāma, tāra nā laiha nāma, puṇya mukti dui tyāga kari. Here, the word puṇya means performing activities such as worship, sacrifice, charity, generosity and so on to attain mundane happiness in this life and heavenly happiness in the next. This puṇya is the abode of worldly happiness or the producer of material sense-enjoyment. It is possible that after experiencing misery for some time as the result of sinful actions and reactions, a jīva may become disinterested in worldly affairs and eager for the path of bhakti and the association of devotees. But as a result of puṇya, the jīva becomes intoxicated by sense-enjoyment and cannot give up his interest in the world. Absorption in Bhagavān is hardly possible for a citta absorbed in sense objects. From Śrī-Viṣṇu-Purāṇa: viṣayāviṣṭa-cittānāṁ viṣṇv-āveśaḥ sudūrataḥ, vāruṇī dig-gataṁ vastu vrajan naindrīṁ kim āpnuyāt. “It is very difficult for people whose minds are absorbed in sense-objects to direct them toward Bhagavān Śrī Viṣṇu. How can a person traveling toward the east obtain an object located in the west?” By these words we understand that absorption in Bhagavān is the complete opposite of absorption in sense-enjoyment. Moreover, for a person submerged in sense-enjoyment and blinded by the pride of wealth, the primary causes of bhakti, namely mahat-saṅga (the association of great souls) and mahat-kṛpā (the mercy of great souls), are difficult to attain. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.10.18 says, sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ mukunda-caraṇaiṣiṇām, upekṣyaiḥ kiṁ dhana-stambhair asadbhir asad-āśrayaiḥ. “Why should even-minded sādhus who long only to serve Śrī Mukunda’s lotus feet associate with wealthy people who are proud of their riches, attached to bad company, contemptible and dishonest?” Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya therefore says to his own mind, puṇya ye sukhera dhāma, tāra nā laiha nāma. For the faithful bhakta, it is inappropriate to even speak of puṇya, which is the cause of sense-enjoyment. The rāgānugīya-sādhakas must give up all connection with sin and virtue brought about by dharma and adharma and perform abundant sevā to Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vrajadhāma. na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pracura-paricaryām iha tanu (from Śrīmad Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmipāda’s Manaḥ-Śikṣā). “O mind! Give up completely the dharma and adharma of the Vedas and offer profuse service to Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vraja.”
Those bhaktas who seek the highest benefit must abandon like seashells the desires for both bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (liberation): puṇya mukti dui tyāga kari. Not to speak of the desire for enjoyment, even the desire for liberation, which brings an end to birth, death and other worldly miseries, is a hindrance to the desire for bhakti. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has written the following: bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat piśācī hṛdi vartate, tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra katham abhyudayo bhavet? (Śrī-Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ 1.2.22). “As long as the demoness of longing for enjoyment or liberation remains in one’s heart, the joy of devotion cannot arise there.” Those who are free from the desire for mukti are especially blessed with the mercy of bhakti-devī: tatrāpi ca viśeṣeṇa gatim aṇvīm anicchataḥ, bhaktir hṛta-manaḥ-prāṇān premṇā tān kurute janān (Śrī-Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ 1.2.23). “Bhakti Devī particularly steals with love the hearts, souls and senses of people who are devoid of the desire for liberation.” Therefore he said, puṇya mukti dui tyāga kari.
