BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 12, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION FORTY-SIX
And in his trance, Srila Vyasadeva also realized the abhidheya, in the same sense, (as explained in annucheda 44). And therefore, to propagate it, he composed this Satvata Samhita called Sri Bhagavata. This Sri Suta Gosvami states in the Srimad Bhagavatam verse beginning with anartha (1.7.6) The phrase " bhakti-yoga" refers to sadhana-bhakti, or devotion in the practice stage, and not the stage characterized by love of God, because only sadhana-bhakti requires instruction. Love of God, or prema, depends only on the mercy of the Lord.
Sadhana-bhakti is the means to attract the grace of the Lord and which ultimately matures into love of Godhead. Thus it is said that Sadhana- bhakti directly removes the miseries of the jiva anarthopasamam sakshad), without the aid of anything else. Therefore Srimad Bhagavatam states (SB. 11.20.32,33):
Whatever is obtained by fruitive action and austerities, by knowledge and renunciation, by practice of yoga and charity, and by various auspicious rituals, My devotee easily achieves devotion unto Me. If he wishes he can acquire heaven, liberation, My abode, or whatever else he might wish.
Success on other paths, such as that of knowledge, mystic yoga, and so on, depends on devotion. As confirmed in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.14.4):
O Lord, those who reject the path of devotion, which brings the ultimate good, and take pains to realize Brahman gain nothing, just as those who engage in husking the chaff gain only their useless labor.
Or the meaning of anarthopasamam sakshad (it directly vanquishes material miseries) is that Sadhana-bhakti removes all worldly tribulations, without any intermediary, but the misery of delusion and bodily attachment is dispelled by its mature fruit, love of God. Thus abhidheya is expressed here (in SB.1.7.6) as before.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
In Section Forty-four, by analysis of Srila Vyasa's trance, Jiva Gosvami concluded that the abhidheya tattva is devotional service to the Lord. Vyasadeva also saw in His trance that the misery of the jiva could be vanquished by bhakti-yoga alone, and this bhakti-yoga would further lead to love of Godhead, which brings direct realization of the Lord. To broadcast this knowledge He compiled the beautiful Bhagavatam and taught it to his son, Sukadeva Gosvami.
The word bhakti-yoga is used twice in the Bhagavatam verses describing Srila Vyasadeva's trance. Srila Jiva Gosvami says that the first time it refers to spontaneous devotional service in full realization of prema, because it is only at that level one can have direct realization of the Lord. The second usage refers to devotional service in practice, or sadhana- bhakti. Unlike sadhana bhakti, prema-bhakti does not depend on any instruction because at that stage the devotee has a spontaneous desire to render devotional service.
In contrast, sadhana-bhakti is learned from scripture and from saintly persons, and generally the motivating force is the scriptural injunctions. By regulated practice gradually the practitioner's heart is purified and it becomes a suitable receptacle for spontaneous devotional service in love of God. In this sense only, sadhana-bhakti is said to mature into prema-bhakti. In reality, prema, which is the internal potency of the Lord, manifests in the aspiring devotee's heart by the grace of the Lord or His pure devotee. Thus Srila Rupa Gosvami states in the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (1.2.2):
"Devotion which is accomplished by the activities of the senses and which matures into bhava-bhakti, is called sadhana-bhakti. The appearance of eternally existing sentiment of devotion (bhava) in the heart is called the fruition of devotion".
When bhava-bhakti becomes solidified, it is called prema-bhakti. The only difference between the two is the degree of intensity. Bhava-bhakti is the premature state of prema-bhakti. Bhava-bhakti is compared to dawn and prema-bhakti to the sun. Thus Srila Rupa Gosvami defines prema-bhakti as follows:
"When bhava becomes very dense and the devotee's heart melts completely out of intense love and great attachment to the Lord, that state of bhava is called prema by learned scholars." (BRS 1.4.1)
Because devotion is the internal potency (svarupa sakti) of the Lord it is as potent as the Lord and can fulfill all the desires of the devotee. A devotee has no personal desires, because his only desire is to render service to the Lord, but if he somehow has a desire, he does not have to take to another process to fulfill his desire. This is the supremely independent nature of devotion.
On the other hand, all other processes of liberation or means of fulfilling material desires are dependent on the grace of bhakti to give results. Without the merciful glance of devotion, none of these processes such as jnana yoga or ashtanga yoga, are potent enough to deliver their fruits to the practitioner, what to speak of love of God. Just as the body and the senses are worthless without the soul, so these paths are worthless without devotion. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (2.3.10), therefore, after listing the names of the various demigods one may worship for fulfilling material desires, Sukadeva Gosvami concludes:
"A person who has broader intelligence, whether he is full of material desires, without any material desires or desires only liberation, must by all means worship the Supreme Whole, the Personality of Godhead". Here bhakti-yoga is revealed as the key to all categories of desires, whether spiritual or mundane. Srila Rupa Gosvami confirms this in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (1.2.251), kintu jnana-viraktyadi-sadhyam bhaktyaiva sidhyati, "Indeed the fruits of knowledge, renunciation, austerities, and so on are attained only with the aid of bhakti". The knowledge, renunciation, and austerities mentioned here are not those related with the Lord and His devotional service. That the knowledge of impersonal Brahman is among those items not related to the Lord and His devotional service is explicit from the Bhagavatam verse (10.14.4), quoted in this anuccheda.
The Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.6 says, anarthopasamam sakshad bhaktiyogam, bhakti-yoga directly mitigates the miseries of the conditioned soul. Srila Jiva Gosvami gives two explanations of the word sakshad, or direct. First, he says that bhakti (which implies sadhana-bhakti by the context) directly removes all misery without the aid of anything else. Second, that the worldly miseries such as mental disturbances caused by the dualities of heat and cold, happiness and distress, and so forth are curtailed by sadhana-bhakti, but the delusion caused by bodily attachment is dispelled only by the fruit of sadhana-bhakti, love of God
In the next section, Srila Jiva Gosvami discusses the prayojana tattva as was realized by Vyasadeva.
Go to Section Forty-seven
Return to Section Forty-five
