জল বিনু যেন মীন, দুঃখ পায় আয়ুহীন,
প্রেম বিনু সেই মত ভক্ত ।
চাতক জলদগতি, এমতি একান্তরীতি,
যেই জানে সেই অনুরক্ত ॥ ৮০ ॥
jala binu yena mīna, duḥkha pāya āyu-hīna,
prema binu sei mata bhakta |
cātaka jalada-gati, emati ekānta-rīti,
yei jāne sei anurakta || 80 ||
Like a fish without water, a bhakta without prema becomes miserable and lifeless. One who understands the ways of an ekānti-bhakta becomes devoted to prema, like a cātaka bird taking refuge of the clouds.
The Nature of the Singleminded Bhakta
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has previously given instructions to the eager sādhakas regarding how to become fixed in prema after giving up all other desires. Here, in this verse, he firmly demonstrates that through the example of ekānti-bhaktas (singleminded devotees). jala binu yena mīna, duḥkha pāya āyu-hīna, prema binu sei mata bhakta. Those who have completely given up all desires for anything other than prema, and have been able to devote themselves singlemindedly to prema, are qualified to attain prema. Fish are only truly satisfied in the water; water is their life. If removed from the water, they flop about in great misery and soon die. Bhaktas who are devoted to prema must be like that. Prema must be their life, and they must desire nothing else in the world. Nārada said to Śrī Vyāsa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.18:
tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ |
tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ
kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā ||
“A wise person should endeavor for bhagavat-prema, which cannot be attained by wandering from the highest wombs, such as of the gods, to the lowest, like the immobile trees. Because of ancient karma, sensual pleasure is obtained in due course without effort, as is misery.” Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written the following in his Prīti-Sandarbha: tasmāt tat-tad-bhaktānāṁ tat-prīti-manoratha evopādeyaḥ. tad-anyas tu sarvo’pi heya ityāha–kim alabhyaṁ bhagavati prasanne śrī-niketane, tathāpi tat-parā rājann iha vāñchanti kiñcana. yathaivāha–punaś ca bhūyād bhagavaty anante rati-prasaṅgaś ca tad-āśrayeṣu. mahatsu yāṁ yām upayāmi sṛṣṭaṁ maitras tu sarvatra namo dvijebhyaḥ. ataevāha–na vai mukundasya padāravindayoḥ rajo-juṣas tāta bhavādṛśā janāḥ. vāñchanti tad-dāsyam ṛte’rtham ātmano yadṛcchayā labdha-manaḥ samṛddhayaḥ. yadṛcchayā ānāyāsenaiva labdhā manaḥ samṛddhir yeṣāṁ te. svato bhakti-māhātmya-balena sarva-puruṣārtha-pratīkṣita-kṛpā-dṛṣṭi-leśā apīty arthaḥ. The bhagavad-bhaktas’ desire for bhagavat-prīti (love of Bhagavān) is admirable; everything else is insignificant to them. Śrī Śukadeva Muni said to Parīkṣit, “If one satisfies Bhagavān Śrīnivāsa, what remains unattainable for him? Still, those who are devoted to Bhagavān desire nothing.” Consumed by the brāhmaṇa’s curse, Mahārāja Parīkṣit petitioned the munis: “O brāhmaṇas, bowing at your feet, I ask the blessing that in whatever life I may take birth, my love for Bhagavān will remain and I will have the association of great devotees and friendship with all creatures.” The bhaktas’ only desire is for love of Bhagavān. Therefore, Śrī Maitreya Ṛṣi said to Vidura, “Dear one, bhaktas like you who worship the pollen of Śrī Mukunda’s lotus feet desire nothing but the nectar of his service. They are satisfied by whatever is easily obtained; no perception of scarcity remains in their minds.” The word yadṛcchayā means ‘by chance, unexpectedly, spontaneously.’ Other than prema, what more can be desired by those who are satisfied by that which is easily obtained? Due to the power of bhakti, all puruṣārthas (objects of human pursuit)* spontaneously wait for the merciful glance of such a devotee. Because bhaktas are most thirsty for prema and their lives are devoted to prema, which is the parama-puruṣārtha, a bhakta without prema has been compared to a fish without water.
Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, cātaka jalada-gati, emati ekānta-rīti, yei jāne sei anurakta. A cātaka bird is attached to drinking drops of water released from clouds. Though being thirsty, they do not drink water from rivers, streams, ponds and so on. Parched from the severe summer heat, they look toward the sky. When the rainy season arrives, they quench their intense thirst by drinking raindrops. In the same way, the ekānti-bhaktas desire nothing but prema at the feet of their cherished deity. Though there are various kinds of sensual pleasures and accomplishments that are desired by worldly people, like bhukti (enjoyment), mukti (liberation) and siddhi (supernatural powers), the ekānti-bhakta’s bird of life constantly thirsts only for a drop of prema.
The following is written in Śrī-Garuḍa-Purāṇa in the discussion regarding the characteristics of an ekānti-bhakta: ekāntena sadā viṣṇau yasmād eva parāyaṇāḥ; tasmād ekāntinaḥ proktā tad-bhāva-gata-cetasaḥ. “Because the bhaktas whose hearts and minds are absorbed in love of Bhagavān are singlemindedly devoted to him, they are called ekāntī.” In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.3.20, Gajendra says, ekāntino yasya na kañcanārthaṁ vāñchanti ye vai bhagavat-prapannāḥ. “Those who have taken exclusive shelter of Śrī Hari do not want anything else from him.” In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.55, Śrī Rudra says, taṁ durārādhyam ārādhya satām api durāpayā ekānta-bhaktyā ko vāñchet pāda-mūlaṁ vinā bahiḥ. “O Bhagavān! You are difficult to appease, but who desires anything other than the soles of your feet after having worshiped you with ekānta-bhakti, which is rarely attainable for even the virtuous?”
In Śrī-Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa, four kinds of exclusive devotion have been mentioned along with examples of each: neglect of dharma; complete disinterest in karma, jñāna and so on; devotion to love in spite of obstacles; and devotion to nothing but love.
(1) Examples of neglect of dharma:
ājñāyaiva guṇān doṣān
mayādiṣṭān api svakān |
dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān
māṁ bhajet sa ca sattamaḥ ||
Śrī Bhagavān said, “O Uddhava! One who abandons all dharmas and worships me, though understanding that performance of one’s own dharma as taught in my Vedas leads to virtue and non-performance leads to vice; who considers the performance of such duties to be a distraction from his meditation on me; and who has the firm conviction that he will attain all success through bhakti, such a person is regarded as an uttama-sādhu (highest-level saint).” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.11.32)
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja |
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ ||
“O Arjuna, abandon all duties prescribed by varṇāśrama and take refuge only in me. I will free you from all sins; do not grieve.” (Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā 18.66)
(2) Disinterest in karma, jñāna and everything else:
santo’napekṣā mac-cittāḥ
praśāntāḥ sama-darśinaḥ |
nirmamā nirahaṅkārā
nirdvandvā niṣparigrahāḥ ||
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “O Uddhava! The sages are free from desire; their hearts and minds are devoted to me; they are peaceful, impartial, free from attachment and egotism; they are indifferent to the pairs of opposites and have no possessions.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.26.27)
(3) Devotion to love in spite of obstacles:
yasya kṛcchra-gatasyāpi-
keśave ramate manaḥ |
na vicyutā ca bhaktir vai
sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
āpadgatasya yasyeha
bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī |
nānyatra ramate cittaṁ
sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
“One who never abandons his attachment to Śrī Keśava even in times of difficulty, and whose devotion never falters, is without doubt a bhagavad-bhakta. Moreover, one who worships Śrī Kṛṣṇa with singleminded devotion even though in danger, and whose heart and mind are attracted nowhere else, is called a bhāgavata.” (Skanda-Purāṇa)
(4) Devotion only to love:
ye vā mayīśe kṛta-sauhṛdārthā
janeṣu dehambhara-vārtikeṣu |
gṛheṣu jāyātmaja-rātimatsu
na prīti-yuktā yāvad arthāś ca loke ||
Śrī Ṛṣabhadeva said, “Those who develop affection for me consider it to be the highest attainment of life; they are not attached to friends or relatives, nor to the worldly-minded, nor to home, spouse or children. These great souls desire only enough wealth to sustain their lives.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.3) Those who come to know the manners and customs of an ekānti-bhakta become singlemindedly devoted to prema, the fifth goal of life.
* Dharma (virtue), artha (wealth), kāma (enjoyment) and mokṣa (liberation)
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