The process of Bhakti-Yoga

It is declared by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (2.40):

नेहाभिक्रम-नाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते
स्वल्पम् अप्य् अस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात्

nehābhikrama-nāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt

Endeavours on the path of bhakti-yoga are neither fruitless nor subject to loss. even a little progress on this path frees one from all the fear caused by material existence.

In his Sārārtha-varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti commentary, Śrīla Gurudeva explains the meaning of this verse:

Here, buddhi-yoga is described as being of two types. The first is bhakti-yoga in the form of hearing and chanting, and the second is niṣkāma-karma-yoga wherein the results of karma are offered to Śrī Bhagavān without motive. Of these two, the first is primary bhakti-yoga and the second is secondary bhakti-yoga. In fact, bhakti-yoga is completely transcendental to the modes of nature. No irregularities, faults or unwanted reactions can occur at the beginning of one’s practice nor in the course of one’s practice, even if for some reason one is unable to complete it. rather, a little performance of bhakti-yoga delivers the practioner from the terrible dangers of the material world and makes his life successful by giving him the service of Śrī Bhagavān.

The following example can be cited. Because Bharata Mahārāja became attached to a deer, he was not able to complete the full process of bhakti. Although in his next birth he took the body of a deer, the influence of his previous life’s performance of bhakti enabled him to associate with pure devotees of Bhagavān. Taking birth again, he became the highest class of devotee, an uttamabhāgavata, and performed service to Śrī Bhagavān. Therefore, Bhagavān says in Gītā (6.40), “pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate–A person who has fallen from the path of bhakti is never lost in this world or in the next, nor does ever he obtain a miserable condition.”

On the other hand, in bhagavad-arpita-niṣkāma-karma-yoga, even if the fruits of one’s actions are offered to Bhagavān, it is still referred to as karma-yoga, not bhakti-yoga. By first performing karma-yoga, the heart becomes purified and eventually one attains bhakti-yoga. Therefore, this karma-yoga only aims at bhakti indirectly, from far away. unlike pure bhakti, karma-yoga is not transcendental, nor is it free from material contamination. rather, it is called karma in the mode of goodness. Moreover, if a person does not perform this karma perfectly or if he does not complete his practice, it may become lost and he will incur some unwanted reactions. However, as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.23): mad-arpaṇaṃ niṣphalaṃ vā sāttvikaṃ nija-karma tat. If a practitioner of bhakti begins to perform this bhakti-yoga even slightly but leaves the path due to his own incapability, or if his practices cease due to his sudden, untimely death while he is in either the beginning or intermediate stage, his endeavours in bhakti will never go in vain. In other words, his endeavours do not become faulty nor does he incur any sin, even if he is unable to complete the process. In his next life, the practitioner will continue from that same point where his performance of bhaktiyoga was obstructed. The presiding deity of bhakti-yoga, Śrī Kṛṣṇa or Bhakti-devī herself, makes all these arrangements. In this context, there is one important point to note. If a practitioner has faith, but due to ignorance there are some irregularities in his performance, the results of bhakti-yoga will never be lost nor does he incur sin. However, if someone offends the spiritual master, the Vaiṣṇavas or anything that belongs to Śrī Bhagavān or is related to Him, such as Tulasī, Yamunā or the holy dhāma, that persons’ bhakti-yoga can be completely ruined.^[1]

Śrī Kṛṣṇa then states Bhagavad-gītā (2.41):

व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिर् एकेह कुरु-नन्दन
बहु-शाखा ह्य् अनन्ताश् च बुद्धयो’व्यवसायिनाम्

vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo’vyavasāyinām

O Kuru-nandana, the intelligence of those who are on this path of bhakti is resolute in purpose and one-pointed, but the intelligence of those who are averse to bhakti is many-branched and inconclusive.

Śrīla Gurudeva explains in his Sārārtha-varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti:

Of the three types of buddhi-yoga–karma, jñāna and bhakti–only that intelligence which is related to pure bhakti-yoga is supreme. The exclusive aim and object of the primary form of bhakti-yoga is Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and that intelligence which is related only to Him is called aikāntikī or ananyā (one-pointed or exclusive). The practitioners of such exclusive devotion are free from the desires for mundane enjoyment and liberation, thus they are non-duplicitous. Therefore, their intelligence is resolute. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.20.28). “They resolutely think, ‘even if there are millions of obstacles in the performance of my bhajana, even if I lose my life, if I have to go to hell because of offenses or if lust overpowers me, I can never give up bhakti, whatever the circumstance may be. I will not perform jñāna and karma, even if Lord Brahmā himself orders me to. under no circumstances can I give up bhakti.’ Only this type of determination can be called unflinching, or niścayātmikā buddhi.”

Due to lack of such exclusive niṣṭhā in Bhagavān, a person’s intelligence remains engaged in karma-yoga and jñana-yoga. His intelligence is called many-branched because of a variety of aims and objectives, such as the pleasures in this world or the next, which are related to profit (lābha), adoration (pūjā) and distinction (pratiṣṭhā). His intelligence is filled with unlimited desires.

According to the Vaiṣṇava spiritual masters, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Himself is the non-dual, original, Supreme Absolute reality. He is called nirguṇa due to being simultaneously beyond the material qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance, and also endowed with all transcendental qualities such as opulence, sweetness, compassion and affection for His devotees. However, modern people who are uneducated and bereft of tattva-jñāna, and whose intelligence is covered by illusion consider brahma, the Absolute Truth, to be without transformations (nirvikāra), without variety (nirviśeṣa) and untainted (nirañjana), accept Him as being beyond the modes of nature, in only a mundane sense.

They consider the pastime incarnations (līlā-avatāras) of the Lord to be the impersonal brahma but covered by māyā, and that His form and His qualities such as compassion are illusory and therefore material like their own. They say that by worshipping the impersonal brahma endowed with material qualities, their hearts will gradually become purified and they will become one with the impersonal brahma devoid of material qualities.

The establishment of such conclusions is as useless as trying to strike the sky, because scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gītā, which describe the transcendental form and characteristics of Śrī Bhagavān, refute this despicable concept in every regard. Therefore, pure devotion to the transcendental Absolute reality, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is endowed with all transcendental qualities, is called nirguṇa-bhakti. In Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī’s commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.29.11), he explains nirguṇa-bhakti to be of one kind only, one-pointed (aikāntika). Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.29.7–10) that because sakāma-bhakti is performed with various material desires, it has unlimited branches such as tāmasika-sakāma-bhakti, materially motivated devotion mixed with the material mode of ignorance.^[2]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja (Third english edition, CC-BY-ND. Gaudiya Vedanta Publications 2010)

[2]:

From Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja< Third english edition, CC-BY-ND. Gaudiya Vedanta Publications 2010)