Guidance, Volume 3

Devotional Mood (Bhakta-Bhav)

There are many examples of temporary mood in this material world, but the eternal nitya-siddha mood is manifest within the servitors in the transcendental domain. The mood that comes from the side of servitors is bhakta-bhav, and the nitya-siddha mood of the service-accepting object of service is called bhagavad-bhav.

Accepting the mood of a devotee in His audarya-lila, Sri Krishna-chandra taught about service to the Lord: He manifested Himself as Gaura, magnanimity incarnate, and through the Pancha-tattva, as well as personally, explained to different devotees how to serve Sri Krishna, the emporium of all rasas, in four types of mood (dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhura). His prakasa-tattva Sri Nityananda Prabhu helped Him by teaching His followers about the brilliance of the eternal state of perfection (nitya-siddha-bhav) in the vatsalya-, dasya- and sakhya-rasas. Sri Gaurasundar is the source of all incarnations, and Sri Advaita Prabhu is His devotee incarnation (bhaktavatar)—he taught his followers the moods of dasya and sakhya. Srivas and other pure devotees, as well as Sri Gadadhar Pandit and other intimate devotees, served Lord Krishna in their own singular peculiar mood. Thus, manifesting the pastimes of a devotee, Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself taught four types of devotion, namely dasya, sakya, vatsalya, and madhura; His very own manifestation (prakasa-tattva) Sri Nityananda Prabhu taught devotion in the moods of dasya, sakhya and vatsalya; and His devotee incarnation (bhaktavatar) Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu taught devotion in the mood of dasya and sakhya. These three are bhagavad-vastu (parts and parcels of the Lord), but they accepted the mood of devotees. Among them, Sri Gaurasundar (Mahaprabhu) is the Lord's original form (svayam-rupa), Nityananda Prabhu is His immediate personal expansion (svayam-prakasa), and Sri Advaita Prabhu is His direct expansion (svamsa) Mahavishnu.

Some of the Pancha-tattva represent an energy or a devotee of the Lord (sakti-tattva or bhakta-tattva), they do not come from the Lord or the Lord's potency directly—they are asraya-tattva (they give shelter). Sri Gadadhar Pandit, Sri Svarup Damodar, Sri Ramananda, Sri Rupa and others are sakti-tattva, and they serve Krishna in madhura-rasa. Each of them has their own mood (rasa) they do not manifest several moods like Mahaprabhu or His tattva. Pure devotees such as Srivas Pandit represent only dasya-rasa, they also do not manifest several moods.

When we say pure devotees and intimate devotees, we must not think that devotees like Srivas Pandit are external devotees. Internal original energy (antaranga svarupa-sakti) of the Lord is the embodiment of madhura-rasa, Srimati Radhika. Gadadhar, Svarup, Ramananda, Sri Rupa and others are followers of Sri Radhika, and they are situated within eternal perfection (nitya-siddha-bhav) in madhura-rasa, that is why they are considered intimate devotees (antaranga-bhakta), whereas devotees such as Srivas Pandit are situated within pure dasya-rasa, therefore they are considered examples of pure devotees (suddha-bhakta).

Although Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu are visaya-tattva (They are the Lord or the Lord's direct potency), They show four, three and two devotional moods. In audarya-lila, devotees of the Lord do not manifest the mood of the Lord in which He relishes devotional mellows (sweet amorous pastimes of Lord Krishna)—such enjoyment and turning Mahaprabhu into a gaura-nagari enjoyer is refrained from. The writer of Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata described the pastimes of Sri Chaitanyadev in the mood of a devotee and mentioned in some places that Mahaprabhu reclined like Vishnu, that He manifested the forms of Lord Rama, Nrisimha, Varaha. Therefore, rasa-lila, parakiya-rasa, etc. (intimate loving pastimes, pastimes of paramour love) relished by the source of all avatars, the original form of the Lord, is not manifest in His audarya pastimes in Gaura-lila because they are peculiar to Krishna-lila. In this regard, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami Prabhu wrote:

yasoda-nandana haila sachira nandana
chatur-vidha bhakta-bhava kare asvadana

"The same Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared as the son of mother Yasoda has now appeared as the son of mother Sachi, relishing four kinds of devotional moods."

vatsalya, dasya, sakhya—tina bhava-maya
sei nityananda—krsna-chaitanya-sahaya

"Sri Nityananda Prabhu always assists Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in vatsalya, dasya, and sakhya moods."

advaita-acharya-gosani bhakta-avatara
krsna avatariya kaila bhaktira prachara
sakhya, dasya,—dui bhava sahaja tanhara
kabhu prabhu karena tanre guru-vyavahara

"Srila Advaita Acharya Prabhu is an incarnation of a devotee. He is in the category of Krishna, but He descended to preach about devotional service. His mood is sakhya and dasya, but the Lord sometimes treated Him as His spiritual master."

srivasadi yata mahaprabhura bhakta-gana
nija nija bhave karena chaitanya-sevana

"All the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, headed by Srivas Thakur, have their own devotional moods in which they serve Him."

pandita-gosani adi yanra yei rasa
sei sei rase prabhu hana tanra vasa

"Personal associates such as Gadadhar are all situated in their respective transcendental moods. Thus the Lord submits to various mellows according to the transcendental mellow of His devotee."

tinha syama,—vamsi-mukha, gopa-vilasi
inha gaura—kabhu dvija, kabhu ta' sannyasi

"In Krishna-lila, the Lord's complexion is blackish. Holding a flute to His mouth, He enjoys as a cowherd boy. Now the selfsame person has appeared with a fair complexion, sometimes acting as a brahman and sometimes accepting the renounced order of life."

ataeva apane prabhu gopi-bhava dhari'
vrajendra-nandane kahe 'prana-natha' kari'

"Therefore, the Lord Himself, accepting the mood of the gopis, now addresses the son of Nanda Maharaj, 'O master of My life! O My dear husband!'"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 1.17.275, 296, 298–303)

Sri Gaurasundar is not Shyamasundar, the maintainer of cowherd boys and inciter of amorous pastimes, He is not the Flute-Holder, nor the Chief Enjoyer. Moreover, He is a non-different form of Sri Radhika, the main asraya-vigraha in transcendental loving pastimes—renouncing all kinds of enjoyment, He takes on the form of a brahman and a sannyasi. Attempting to destroy the characteristic peculiarity of Mahaprabhu's eternal form and eternal mood, people have come up with an unsanctioned by the scriptures idea of "Gaura-nagari" (considering Gaura-Krishna enjoyers).

Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev, Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Advaita Prabhu are Supreme Lords and visaya-tattva (worshippable Deities, Lords); therefore, more than one devotional mood can be discerned within Them. However, it is impossible for the sakti-tattva (energies of the Lord) or asraya-tattva (the worshipper, shelter) to be simultaneously within several moods. Because asraya-tattva devotees' mood is complete and exclusive, they always serve Krishna in the shelter of their particular mood. Because Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev shows four devotional mellows, His devotees have four types of eternal devotional mood of service. Srivas Pandit, et al. show dasya-bhav; Sri Nityananda Prabhu et al. sakhya-bhav; Puri Goswami et al. vatsalya-bhav; Gadadhar Pandit, Svarup, Ramananda et al. madhura-bhav. Because Sri Nityananda Prabhu shows three moods, His followers show service in these three moods as well (dasya, sakhya, vatsalya).

Sri Advaita Acharya's followers are dasya- and sakhya-rasa devotees. If one enters the branches of Sri Achyutananda, Sri Gadadhar Pandit Goswami Prabhu, one will see that the service to Krishna is manifest there in eternal madhura-rasa mood.

Sri Gauri Das Pandit is one of the twelve cowherd friends (dvadasa-gopalas) in Vrindavan, and his disciple Shyamananda Prabhu followed his guru in the sakhya-bhav and simultaneously exhibited madhura-bhav entering the association of Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu, a follower of Sri Rupa Goswami. Sri Shyamananda Prabhu is considered to be an avatar (isvarakoti). Therefore, it is not impossible for him to exhibit more than one devotional mood.

The detachment from the material world that is seen within the santa-bhav (neutral, detached mood) of the nirvisesvadis, or the stone-like unconscious state of the offenders of the Lord, demons, etc., is not the santa-bhav of devotees. The former are antagonistic to the pastimes of the Lord, but the latter (devotees filled with neutral devotion for the Lord) assist the pastimes. If one thinks that the neutral mood of devotees is the same as the state attained in Buddhism and other impersonalist doctrines (chinmatravad, mayavad, achinmatravad), then they will have to fall down due to this grave offence—they neither know proper conception nor think rationally. The waters of the Yamuna, the sand of Yamuna, the bamboo stick in the hands of Lord Krishna, the bugle of Lord Baladev, etc. are not material things or unconscious matter—they are conscious and contribute to service for the satisfaction of Krishna's senses. The affection that is present in dasya-rasa is not fully bloomed in santa-rasa, it is present there partially. However, even though affection is not fully manifest, they always, at every moment, contribute to Krishna's service, and their identity is so exalted that many devotees, including Brahma and Uddhav Maharaj, aspire to be born in that Vraja Dham as blades of grass, bushes, creepers.

asam aho charana-renu-jusam aham syam
vrndavane kim api gulma-latau-sadhinam
ya dustyajam svajanam arya patham cha hitva
bhejur mukundapadavim srutibhir vimrgyam

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.47.61)

The gopis have completely left behind their beloved husbands, sons, and other family members, as well as social rules, and have sought out the lotus feet of Sri Krishna whom all the Vedas are looking for—O, will I ever be born in any form as some creeper in Vrindavan so that the dust from the holy feet of these gopis may fall on my head? Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu said in his Vraja-vilasa-stava (102):

yat kinchit trna-gulma-kikata-mukham gosthe samastam hi tat
sarvananda-mayam mukunda-dayitam lilanukulam param
sastrair eva muhur muhuh sphutam idam nistankitam yachnya
brahmader api sa-sprhena tad idam sarvam maya vandyate

The grass, shrubs, insects, and other creatures in Vraja—everything there—are all-joyful, dear to Mukunda, and make a special contribution to His Pastimes. Bhagavatam and other scriptures, even Brahma, Uddhav, and other great souls constantly and openly worship them. I bow down and pray to all this paraphernalia.

There are five devotional mellows, or moods, in Goloka: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhura; and in Vaikuntha there are three and a half: santa, dasya and formal sakhya. There are two types of sakya-bhav—one is formal sakhya, and the other one is informal. In formal sakhya-rasa, devotees cannot climb on the Lord's shoulder or offer Him their food remnants; they maintain a sober composure. That is why the higher part of sakhya-rasa is present in Goloka or Vraja but not in Vaikuntha. When Arjuna saw the universal form of Lord Sri Krishna, he thought that he had committed an offence because he had called Krishna his friend, engaged Him as his chariot-driver, etc., but in Vraja, the friends of Krishna do not treat Him so formally. Even the santa- and dasya-rasas in Vraja are different from those in Vaikuntha. In Vraja, santa- and dasya-rasas are stunningly beautiful and devoid of grandeur and opulence. Seeing the great opulence of Narayan, Vaikuntha servants are attracted to the servitude to Narayan; but the servants of Krishna who live in Vraja (Raktaka, Patraka, Chitraka, and others) are naturally drawn to being Krishna's servants and assisting Him in His various duties, whether it is Gopendra-nandan Sri Krishna's service at Govardhan or any other non-opulent service. They are attracted by the sweet and simple personality of Lord Sri Krishna, nothing else.

The diversity and individually that is found in Vaikuntha and Goloka or in various devotional mellows of Vraja are fully present within the corresponding relishers of these mellows (devotees). Only if we judge from an impartial point of view (if we assume the position of a third party, so to say), can we see that there are higher and lower moods. In Vaikuntha, devotees use only the middle part of their transcendental bodies to serve Narayan (from navel up to the upper limbs), and in Vraja devotees serve with the lower parts of their transcendental bodies as well. However, if devotees serve Krishna with all their transcendental body, from head to toes, it does not mean that servitors in Vaikuntha use their lower part of body (from navel to lower limbs) for their own service and activities. There is no question of enjoyment in the place where all hesitation or limitations (kuntha) are left behind, however servitors in Vaikuntha do not show the use of their lower body in service out of respect. Vaikuntha servitors consider using the lower part of the body or the whole body to be an example of a limited world—applicable to the souls that are bound by material illusion and subject to the results of their karma. Those who do not know their true identity and have no idea about the world of Goloka always use their entire body for the illusory mundane works.

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CONTENTS:

• Foreword
• (Preface) Meaning of Festival
• What Is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions
• "Without Lord Krishna Life Is Meaningless"
• The Unrenounceable
• Sri Radhastami
• Proper Renunciation
• Astakala-Lila
• Is Religion the Cause of National Downfall?
• Householders and Renunciates
• Provincialism and Service to the Lord
• Offenders
• Hell
• Devotional Mood (Bhakta-Bhav)
• Home-interest vs Math-interest
• Samsara and Bhakti
• Questions and Answers