Cheating Yourself Out of Happiness

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
30 April 2013

Question: There are many dharmas, many mayavad conceptions, karma-misra-bhakti, jnana-misra-bhakti, and so on. Why is it suddha-bhakti that will give a real fulfilment to the soul?

Because suddha-bhakti is the highest conception and because the scriptures, Srimad Bhagavatam (1.1.2, paraphrased below in Bengali), said,

পৃথিবীতে যত কথা ধর্ম্মনামে-চলে ।
ভাগবত কহে সব পরিপূর্ণ ছলে ॥

prthivite yaha kichu dharma name chale
bhagavata kahe taha paripurna chhale

It means there are so many religions in this world, but Srimad Bhagavatam (the main scripture) says it is all cheating. Why is it cheating?

First is karma-misra-bhakti, and it is described also in Srimad Bhagavad-gita. Krishna taught Arjun karma-misra-bhakti because he did not want to fight and had a little ego. Krishna advised him, "You can do something for Me and, if you want something, you can ask Me for it in return." So, you do something for Krishna and you also ask something from Krishna. This is karma-misra-bhakti (devotion mixed with material desires).

Then, Srimad Bhagavad-gita started to slowly, slowly move higher. Next, Krishna said, "You only work, do not hope for any particular result." Then, "Yyat karosi yad asnasi, yaj juhosi dadasi yat: if you want to do something—you want to worship, you want to meditate, or practise yoga—you can do it, but do it for Me. I will give you the result, it is not necessary to ask for anything—only I can give you the result, so why is it necessary to ask Me for anything? If you think about Me, if you work for Me, if you do everything for Me, then you will get the result automatically."

Finally, Krishna said, "Give up all religions, give up what is written in the Vedas and many other scriptures, give up even what I have told you before. Leave everything and think only about Me. Sarva dharman parityajya. Avoid all religions and think about Me." You think you are committing some sin, "Oh, I am not doing this," "I am not doing this," "I am not doing this," but Krishna says, "I will see to it." If Krishna does everything, Krishna is in charge of everything, then He can also remove everything, it is necessary to believe it and have full faith in this. That is jnana-sunya-bhakti.

We do not know anything. We only hear what Krishna said and we believe it, no knowledge is necessary. Jnana-sunya-bhakti is devotion without knowledge. We have chosen this devotion because we believe that Krishna will give everything. Krishna does everything, and we must believe what Krishna says with full faith. That is why we follow jnana-sunya-bhakti, or suddha-bhakti: pure devotion without knowledge; and we are happy with that. If anyone practises it, they will get pleasure (ananda).

We all always search for ananda, happiness, but the happiness we get is for a few minutes, or a few days, only. If you want a permanent happiness, then you need jnana-sunya-bhakti. Ultimately, it will depend upon your faith—if you have 20% faith, if you have 100% faith, or 90% faith, that is the kind of happiness you will get.

Question: What is the main theme of Srimad Bhagavad-gita?

The main theme is given in the last sloka, but first Krishna told how to practise. Krishna Himself said, "You think you do everything, but no, it is your false ego. I do everything. You are not the controller, you have no power to do anything, you have no energy for anything—I do everything. You think you earn some money, you buy some food, and you do not offer anything to Me, but actually you are stealing My things."

Finally, in the last sloka, Krishna says,

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

"You can do what you did before, but offer everything to Me. If you want to eat, first offer the food to Me; if you work, work for Me; if you want to do something, do it for Me. I will remove all kinds of sins from you."

This is the main teachings of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

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