জ্ঞান কর্ম করে লোক, নাহি জানে ভক্তি যোগ,
নানা-মতে হইয়া অজ্ঞান ।
তার কথা নাহি শুনি, পরমার্থ-তত্ত্ব জানি,
প্রেমভক্তি ভক্তগণ-প্রাণ ॥ ৯৬ ॥
jñāna karma kare loka, nāhi jāne bhakti yoga,
nānā-mate haiyā ajñāna |
tāra kathā nāhi śuni, paramārtha-tattva jāni,
prema-bhakti bhakta-gaṇa-prāṇa || 96 ||
टीका—नाहि शुनि–श्रवणं न कुर्याम् । परमार्थ तत्त्व जानि–परमार्थ-तत्त्वं ज्ञातव्यम् ॥
Those who know nothing of bhakti devote themselves to jñāna, karma or yoga. They do not understand the nature, form, qualities and benefits of bhakti. Avoid even hearing about such people. They should learn that bhakti is the supreme truth. Prema-bhakti is the life of the devotees.
Supreme Truth
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In the establishment of prema-bhakti as a genuine spiritual truth, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya first speaks about people who are uneducated regarding bhakti-tattva. jñāna karma kare loka, nāhi jāne bhakti yoga, nānā-mate haiyā ajñāna. Those who are unacquainted with the doctrine of bhakti take shelter of karma, jñāna, yoga and so on. In speaking about karma and the others in the sovereign Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā, Śrī Bhagavān has ascertained the devoted bhakta to be the greatest yogī (6.46-47):
tapasvibhyo’dhiko yogī
jñānibhyo’pi mato’dhikaḥ |
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī
tasmād yogī bhavārjuna ||
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
mad-gatenāntarātmanā |
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ ||
“O Arjuna! The yogīs are superior to the karmīs, the ascetics, and the jñānīs who meditate upon nirguṇa-brahma. Therefore, become a yogī. Among all types of yogīs, the practitioner of bhakti-yoga, meaning one who worships me with faith, is the best of all.”
Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, nānā-mate haiyā ajñāna. Without understanding the nature, form, qualities and benefits of bhakti, the foolish person abandons bhakti-sādhana and devotes himself to the sādhanas for karma, jñāna and so on. In the commentary on the previous verse, we discussed a little about bhakti being the essential function of the hlādinī and saṁvit aspects of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti or innate power. Quoting statements from the śruti, Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has written, vijñāna-ghana ānanda-ghana saccidānandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tiṣṭhatīti śruteḥ (Gopāla-Tāpanī) itarathā bhagavad-vaśīkara-hetur asau na syāt. tathābhūtāyās tasyā bhakta-kāyādir vṛtte tādātmya nāvirbhūtāyākriyākārātvam. “Deep perception and concentrated joy reside in bhakti-yoga, the embodiment of saccidānanda-rasa. Without this, bhakti could never be the cause of Śrī Bhagavān’s subjugation. Though being the essential faculty of Śrī Bhagavān’s innate hlādinī and saṁvit energies, bhakti appears in and unites with the functions of the senses of a bhakta sheltered at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet and remains active therein.” Śrīpāda Vidyābhūṣaṇa said, sā tathā-bhūtā nitya-dhāmni nitya-pārṣadeṣu nityaṁ cakāsti sura-sarid iva tad-bhakta-praṇālyā prapañce’vatarati. When the jīva’s heart is purified by śravaṇa-kīrtana and so on, the prema-bhakti present in Śrī Bhagavān’s eternal associates descends like the current of the Mandākinī through the channel of sādhu-bhaktas into the phenomenal world. It then enters the heart of the jīva and causes the ever-perfect kṛṣṇa-prema to appear. Therefore, in karma, jñāna and so on, the sādhya (goal) and sādhana (means of attainment) are different, but in bhakti, sādhya and sādhana are the same. Someone may say, sādhyate’nena, “That by which a result is obtained is called a sādhana, and sādhyate’sau, meaning that which is obtained by an action is a sādhya. If this is so, how can sādhana and sādhya be the same?” Those who understand the above mentioned conclusion (that sādhana and sādhya are the same in bhakti) will see that the first appearance of Śrī Bhagavān’s self-manifesting energy named bhakti, which is composed of consciousness and joy, is called sādhana, and its second appearance is called sādhya. This is the great difference between this transcendental bhakti-sādhana and other sādhanas.
Regarding the form, nature and so on of bhakti, the following is written in the seventy-eighth anuccheda of Prīti-Sandarbha: nikhila-paramānanda-candrikā-candramasi sakala-bhuvana-saubhāgya-sāra-sarvasva-sattva-guṇopajīvyānanta-vilāsamayāmāyika-viśuddha-sattvānavaratollāsād asamordhva-madhure śrī-bhagavati katham api cittāvatārād anapekṣita-vidhiḥ svarasata eva samullasantī viṣayāntarair anavacchedyā tātparyāntaram asahamānā hlādinī-sāra-vṛtti-viśeṣa-svarūpā bhagavad-ānukūlyātmaka-tad-anugata-tat-spṛhādimaya-jñāna-viśeṣākārā tādṛśa-bhakta-manovṛtti-viśeṣa-dehā pīyūṣa-pūrato’pi sarasena svenaiva svadehaṁ sarasayantī bhakta-kṛtātma-rahasya-saṅgopana-guṇamaya-rasanā bāṣpa-muktādi-vyakta-pariṣkārā sarva-guṇaika-nidhāna-svabhāvā dāsī-kṛtāśeṣa-puruṣārtha-sampattikā bhagavat-pātivratya-vrata-varyāparyākulā bhagavan-manoharaṇaikopāyahāri-rūpā bhagavati bhāgavatī prītis tam upasevamānā virājata iti. “Divine love (bhakti) is the moon whose rays are supreme joy; she is the greatest blessing on the world. She is the shelter of sattva-guṇa, the material quality of goodness. Because of the continuous delight of the endless, pleasure-filled, transcendental viśuddha-sattva, if she somehow thinks of the incomparably sweet Śrī Bhagavān, without relying on any rule or method she naturally feels joy. She is not obstructed by anything. She cannot tolerate other intentions. She embodies the essential faculty of hlādinī. She takes the form of a type of jñāna that is by nature favorable to Bhagavān and desires to attain him. Her body is the mind of the bhakta, and being herself filled with nectar, she invests it with nectar. Her beautiful necklace is the bhaktas’ concealment of her mystery, adorned with their pearl-like tears. Her nature is that she is a treasure house of all good qualities. She has made endless wealth and the other objects of human pursuit her maidservants. She is always ardent in her firm vow of devotion to Śrī Bhagavān, like a wife to her husband. Stealing Śrī Bhagavān’s mind is her only activity. Such divine love always serves Śrī Bhagavān in many ways.” If after learning about all these qualities of bhakti from sādhu and śāstra, will anyone disregard the shelter of bhakti-sādhana and devote himself to the sādhana of karma or jñāna? Would a thirsty person abandon an ocean of nectar and run after a mirage? Would a person wanting milk leave behind a kāmadhenu and accept the refuge of a donkey? Therefore, those who give up the shelter of bhagavad-bhakti and devote themselves to the sādhanas of karma, jñāna and so on are foolish people, thoroughly deceived by māyā. Of this there is no doubt.
Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, tāra kathā nāhi śuni, paramārtha-tattva jāni, prema-bhakti bhakta-gaṇa-prāṇa. Those who desire good fortune should never associate with people who have abandoned the nectarous bhakti-sādhana and dedicated themselves to karma and jñāna. Not to speak of associating, they should not even hear about them. They must understand that prema-bhakti is the supreme truth or highest human goal. When Śrīman Mahāprabhu was in the assembly of sannyāsīs in Kāśī, he refuted the jñāna-based interpretation of Vedānta and gave his own based on bhakti. Then, while establishing prema as the highest human goal, he said the following in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 7.144-145:
pañcama-puruṣārtha sei prema-mahādhana |
kṛṣṇera mādhurya-rasa karāya āsvādana ||
premā haite kṛṣṇa haya nija-bhakta-baśa |
premā haite pāi kṛṣṇa-sebā-sukha-rasa ||
“This great treasure of prema is the fifth goal of human life; it causes one to taste Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya-rasa. Due to prema, Kṛṣṇa becomes charmed by his devotee. Due to prema, the devotee gets the nectar of joyful service to Kṛṣṇa.”
Therefore, prema-bhakti is the life of the bhaktas. Constantly longing for prema-bhakti, they enthusiastically pass their time engaged in devotional life. In a previous verse, it was said, jala binu yena mīna, duḥkha pāya āyu-hīna, prema binu eimata bhakta. “As a fish without water suffers and then dies, so does a bhakta without prema.”
