20241223 Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta: Fifth Shower — Consideration of Bhāva-bhakti

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Fifth Shower — Consideration of Bhāva-bhakti

Third Stream — Jñāna-vicāra

1.         Experience of results of sinful actions (vikarma phala-anubhava).

“A life devoid of ethics is always filled with vikarma. Sinful actions are called vikarma. The only purpose of such a life is one’s own sense-gratification. There is no belief in an afterlife in such a life. The result of this life is that it brings suffering, untimely death, unexplained loss of strength and vitality, mental anguish, going to hell according to the opinion of other scriptures, disgrace, and brings out the distrust of everyone. If one has even a little bit of intelligence, no one would want to accept such terrible consequences.”

Jayapataka Swami: So, vikarma produces suffering which is mentioned here. Now, one should try to avoid this vikarma abnubhava. So this is the first kind of self-realization. So this kind of self-realization is not desirable.

1.         Experience of results of non-actions (akarma phala-anubhava).

An atheistic ethical life and an imagined theistic ethical life are always filled with non-action (akarma). The failure to perform one’s duties that are to be done is called akarma (non-action). Among all the duties of a human life, the primary duty is to express gratitude to the Supreme Lord through worship and prayer. Even if a life is ethical in other respects, it remains tainted by akarma (non-action). Ethics can protect the body and so on, but as long as a person does not believe in God, they can never be trustworthy for everyone. A heart without faith in God is as terrifying as a world without the sun. Over time, this heart becomes a refuge for darkness, where birds of great sin build nests. The scriptures say that even if an atheistic person follows all ethics, they still go to hell. This is felt to be accurate. An imagined theistic ethical life is always insincere and sinful due to deceit. Its results are easily felt.”

Jayapataka Swami: So, this anubhava is basically atheistic. One doesn’t believe in the existence of God. And therefore, he has to endure different kinds of sufferings, so that he may realize that there is a Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, we don’t want this type of inaction. Inaction may also be where we don’t action in any sinful activities. Thus inaction the meaning here is where one doesn’t believe in God. They may have some ethics but they don’t believe in the Supreme being. So their ethics are not dependable.

Persons practicing Varṇāśrama

“Those who lead a moral life with sincere faith in God are renowned in India as men who follow the varṇāśrama duties.”

Note: SB 11.18.44

iti māṁ yaḥ sva-dharmeṇa
bhajen nityam ananya-bhāk
sarva-bhūteṣu mad-bhāvo
mad-bhaktiṁ vindate dṛḍhām

“One who worships Me by his prescribed duty, having no other object of worship, and who remains conscious of Me as present in all living entities, achieves unflinching devotional service unto Me.”

2.         Experience of results of actions (karma phala-anubhava).

“In other countries, individuals with similar characteristics, even without accepting varṇāśrama, live their lives according to the essence of this dharma. Practically, we observe that rules are documented based on the practices of higher classes, and then the accepting the purpose of those rules other persons’ activities are performed. Indians, being the foremost Āryans, have created varṇāśrama rules targeting them. Other nations conduct their worldly affairs according to the purpose of these rules. In any case, the worship of God is included among other duties, protecting their lives from sinful actions (vikarma) and non-actions (akarma). Whatever they do, that is karma. Their actions are not given any other name other than karma because they ascertain karma as the topmost principle of all. God is prepared to provide the results of all such actions. Here, God is also a part of karma. By satisfying God through these actions, He grants results like residence in heaven. In this life, God cannot be independent of karma. Therefore, submission to God is one of the thousands of actions. As a result, through that also, heavenly abodes and so on are achieved. According to the measure of pious karma, after enjoying the results such as heavenly abodes, the soul returns to the field of action to perform karma again.”

Note: Bg. 9.20-21

trai-vidyā māṁ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpā
yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṁ prārthayante
te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam
aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān

Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti
evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā
gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante

When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.

Jayapataka Swami: So, most people who do good karmas, they achieve heavenly planets. Once their pious activities are exhausted, they come down again and they repeat repetition of birth and death. So, the pure devotees, they don’t desire this material heaven. They want to serve Kṛṣṇa. But by doing good karma, you can get pious results. And for some time, they can enjoy heavenly bliss for as long as he likes. When their karma is over, they have to come down again. It is like people stay in a five star hotel as long as they have money! When the money finishes, then you are out of the hotel! So this is one of the five realizations.

Note: Day of Judgment ― Millennium.

“Again and again, they continue to wander in this cycle of action and result. There is no way to escape from karma because even the desire to escape is considered a sinful action according to this view. According to another opinion, all the actions that the souls perform in this field of karma will be judged on a specified day.”*

Note: Day of Judgment ― Millennium.

“After death, one must wait until that time. Those who have performed good deeds and followed their respective teachers will attain eternal heaven. On the other hand, those who did not accept those teachers or did not perform good deeds and instead committed bad deeds will dwell in hell forever. Christians and Muslims, who are part of the theistic ethical communities, believe this way. A life where such beliefs exist cannot be considered superior. After all, in a single, brief life, whatever actions the soul performed led to infinite results. Especially, those who, due to birth and association, learned sinful behaviors from an early age before developing discrimination receive the result of going to hell forever as their outcome! They did not have the opportunity for virtuous education. Conversely, those born in good families and received good company in childhood, what personal merit did they show to attain eternal heaven? If God’s judgment is like this, then what hope is there for weak souls? The experience in relation to God, among these individuals with this opinion, is extremely limited. Therefore, the results of their actions according to their opinion, are also unreasonable and insignificant. In short, a theistic moral life for them is full of actions.”

Certainly, there is no non-actions (akarma) or sinful actions (vikarma), but in such a life, there are three divisions of actions:

1.         Nitya karma (Daily Duties) - such as evening prayers (sandhyā vandana)

2.         Naimittika karma (Occasional Duties) - such as performing rites for ancestors (śrāddha)

3.         Kāmya karma (Desirable Duties) - such as conducting sacrifices for the birth of a son (putreṣṭi yajña)

“Theistic ethical life has two secondary divisions: theistic ethical life influenced by lower nature and theistic ethical life influenced by higher nature. Those influenced by lower nature accept desire-driven actions (kāmya karma) more than daily (nitya karma) and occasional (naimittika karma) duties. Those influenced by higher nature do not accept desire-driven actions (kāmya karma) at all. They perform daily (nitya karma) and occasional (naimittika karma) duties either with detachment (niṣkāma), offering to Brahman (brahmārpaṇa), or offering to God (bhagavad-arpaṇa).”

Note: Bg. 5.10

brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi
saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ
lipyate na sa pāpena
padma-patram ivāmbhasā

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.

Jayapataka Swami: So, if your activities, the results are offered to God, then you are not touched by any sin. So, Kṛṣṇa, He likes to engage everyone in devotional service. This Navadvīpa Dhāma has nine practices of devotional service. This was created by Rādhārāṇī. So if one performs devotional service then that will bring him back to Kṛṣṇa. So, we should all try to render devotional service.

“Among them, those who perform actions without desire (niṣkāma karma) are also action-oriented. Those who dedicate their actions to Brahman (brahmārpaṇa) attain the limit of knowledge (jñāna). Those who dedicate their actions to God (bhagavad-arpaṇa) attain the limit of devotion (bhakti). Actions that attain the limit of devotion, their result is also devotion, hence it can be called secondary devotion (gauṇī bhakti).”

Note: Bg. 5.8-9

naiva kiñcit karomīti
yukto manyeta tattva-vit
paśyañ śṛṇvan spṛśañ jighrann
aśnan gacchan svapañ śvasan

pralapan visṛjan gṛhṇann
unmiṣan nimiṣann api
indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu
vartanta iti dhārayan

A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.

Jayapataka Swami: So, the devotee although he is doing these various activities, he is always thinking about Kṛṣṇa and he wants Kṛṣṇa to stay in his mind at all times.

“Vaidhī bhaktas, consider the actions in that state as suitable for life’s journey. All other types of actions may result in inauspiciousness. The conclusion is that there is no belief in the results of actions. For the sustenance of life, actions must be accepted; therefore, the conditioned soul should always accept the results of actions with caution.”

Jayapataka Swami: So, in this material world we have to see what actions we are performing. Because different actions produce different results. So, the devotee is always engaged in devotional service. And he is careful not to do anything else.

I spoke yesterday at the pandal and today I had dialysis and could not attend the pandal. His Holiness Subhaga Swami was very dear to Śrīla Prabhupāda. And he would always listen to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s devotional teachings. Śrīla Prabhupāda would open his door from about 4 to 6 pm and he would have the policy to be open. But not everyone took advantage. His Holiness Subhaga Swami would come almost every day and hear Śrīla Prabhupāda speak. So Śrīla Prabhupāda’s room, he had the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with many chapters and various commentaries. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda would be reading the Sanskrit ślokas from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the ṭīkās of different devotees. So, someone was asking whether Śrīla Prabhupāda knew Sanskrit. And of course that is a stupid question. He definitely knew Sanskrit and he could read all the ṭīkās. And in his purports, some of the ṭīkās are mentioned. So, we had a three-man committee who would translate, read, edit, proof read. So one was His Holiness Subhaga Swami, Kiśore dāsa who was later His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami and His Holiness Tatpara Mahārāja. So these three were reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and translating and writing. Of course, they mainly read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purports. And Śrīla Prabhupāda had written his realizations in the purports. So, like that, His Holiness Subhaga Swami’s Vyāsa-pūjā was today - and I don’t know what they said. I just went yesterday. But he was very active. These three had dealt with the books in Bengali. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!

Any questions?

Question: What is acintya-bhedābheda-tattva?

Jayapataka Swami: Inconceivable, simultaneously oneness and difference. You see different ācāryas have different mantras. Some say two, some say only one, some say different things. So, Lord Caitanya was explaining that everything is simultaneously one with Kṛṣṇa and different. And that is inconceivable.

Alright! Kṛṣṇe matir astu! Who is from Australia? Wow!

So Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is explaining these things very systematically. Hare Kṛṣṇa!