Overthrowing Anarthas

Question: There are different impressions left in our hearts, or minds, from our previous samskara, and the deepest impression of a conditioned soul appears to be sex desire. How can one cross over that?

জাতশ্রদ্ধো মৎকথাসু নির্ব্বিণ্ণঃ সর্ব্বকর্ম্মসু ।
বেদ দুঃখাত্মকান্ কামান্ পরিত্যাগেঽপ্যনীশ্বরঃ ॥
ততো ভজেত মাং প্রীতঃ শ্রদ্ধালুর্দৃঢ়নিশ্চয়ঃ ।
জুষমাণশ্চ তান্ কামান্ দুঃখোদর্কাংশ্চ গর্হয়ন্ ॥

jata-sraddho mat-kathasu nirvinnah sarva-karmasu
veda duhkhatmakan kaman parityage 'py anisvarah
tato bhajeta mam pritah sraddhalur drdha-nischayah
jusamanas cha tan kaman duhkhodarkams cha garhayan

'Those who have got faith in the narratives about My pastimes and nature are anxious to put an end to their material activities, but, even though they know that material desires are the cause of misery, they have no power to give them up. "You can attain everything through devotion to Me" – filled with this firm determination, they worship Me with love, feeling repulsed towards material misery-producing enjoyment.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.27–28)

Some regard has awakened within you for Krishna, and you have become indifferent to all other activities (nirvinnah sarva-karmasu). You realise that all activities of this world ultimately produce the fruits of misery, sorrow, affliction (veda duhkhatmakan kaman), but you cannot master the situation – you cannot give them up fully (parityage 'py anisvarah). What should you do at that time? You should try your utmost to worship the Lord with love (tato bhajeta mam pritah). 'With as much affection as you can muster, you will direct your attraction towards Me. You will attain firmer and firmer determination in the cause, determination to come to Me (sraddhalur drdha-nischayah).' This should be your attitude. At the same time, you will abuse yourself to the highest, most intense degree (duhkhodarkams cha garhayan), 'What have I done?! I am trying to achieve the purest of the pure, but such filthy things have come in the way!' You will abuse yourself like anything. 'I am a beast! I am a hypocrite!' There will be fire burning within you as you blame and abuse yourself to the utmost. 'Tivrena bhakti-yogena bhajato ma. Worship Me with deep devotion.' You will need to pass these circumstances, this burning stage, for the time being, for some span of time. Helplessly, you will do something, slip up and then a reaction will come, 'I am doing it again!' An ever greater reaction of pain and repentance will come to you. You will carry on like that, but you will never give up trying to go forward.

ভূমৌ স্খলিতপাদানাং ভূমিরেবাবলম্বনম্ ।
ত্বয়ি জাতাপরাধানাং ত্বমেব শরণং প্রভো ॥

bhumau skhalitapadanam, bhumir evavalambanam
tvayi jataparadhanam, tvam eva saranam prabho

'For those who have stumbled and fallen upon the ground, that very ground is the only support by which they can arise once again. Likewise, for those who have offended You, O Lord, You alone are their only refuge.'

(Skanda Purana; quoted from Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, 5.4)

When a child begins to walk, he sometimes falls down, but he still gets up with the help of the very ground where he falls and begins walking again; then, he again falls down and again gets up and begins walking.

ক্তেন ভক্তিযোগেন ভজতো মাসকৃন্মুনেঃ ।
কামা হৃদয্যা নশ্যন্তি সর্ব্বে ময়ি হৃদি স্থিতে ॥

proktena bhakti-yogena bhajato masakrn muneh
kama hrdayya nasyanti sarve mayi hrdi sthite

'When intelligent souls engage constantly in worshiping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, their hearts become firmly situated in Me and all material desires within their hearts are destroyed.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.29)

You will find very soon that all those evil tendencies have been done away with, that they are gone, finished.

ভিদ্যতে হৃদয়গ্রন্থিশ্ছিদ্যন্তে সর্ব্বসংশয়াঃ ।
ক্ষীয়ন্তে চাস্য কর্ম্মাণি ময়ি দৃষ্টেঽখিলাত্মনি ॥

bhidyate hrdaya-granthis, chhidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante chasya karmani, mayi drste 'khilatmani

'When the soul gets to see Me in My omniscient form as the Supersoul, its ego becomes destroyed, all doubts are severed and the grip of material reactions loosens.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.30)

You will come to such a stage.

তদা রজস্তমোভাবাঃ কামলোভাদয়শ্চ যে ।
চেত এতৈরনাবিদ্ধং স্থিতং সত্ত্বে প্রসীদতি ॥

tada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama-lobhadayas cha ye
cheta etair anaviddham sthitam sattve prasidati

'The feelings produced by the contact of the senses with the material modes of nature of ignorance and passion, as well as the six enemies (lust, etc.), obstruct devotion, but when exclusive, unswerving devotion arises, you no longer feel overwhelmed by the bad association of those elements – you feel peace in your mind, which becomes submerged into the mode of pure goodness.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.19)

After a great fight, they will have to retire if during this time you have good association (it can be the association of sadhus or books, anyhow). Devotional practices must not be given up or slackened; rather, you will follow the system of practices with even more attention. And, gradually, one day you will find that, through this fight, all those things are retiring: the enemies have accepted their defeat and gone away.

You will find yourself eased from the battlefield when you come to see the presence of the Lord – when the tidings of the Lord come and surround you from every direction, all other things will vanish. All those things are strangers, after all; they have no claim for any place in your heart or mind, so they will have to go away. So broad and wide is the conception of the faith (sraddha). Krishna is there, devotees are there, and they are not a product of imagination – they are reality. When you come to realise the reality of the reality – when you come in touch with the real position of the soul, the Supersoul, with Krishna consciousness proper – all other things will go away. But it is not very easy to get out of their contact.

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

'First, there is faith; then, saintly association and practising life. After that, unwanted habits gradually go away, spiritual life becomes stable, and spiritual taste comes. Then comes attachment, feeling and finally transcendental love. This is how love for the Lord comes to those who practise Krishna consciousness.'

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.4.15-16)

So, first is faith (adau sraddha), then good association (sadhu-sanga), then practice (bhajana-kriya), and then removal of all evil tendencies (anartha-nivrtti). It is a straight process. First is good association (sadhu-sanga), then hearing (sravan), chanting (kirtan), accepting a guru (guru-varan), following the guru (varan-dasa) and practising (bhajan – sravan, kirtan, etc.), and then comes the stage when all unwanted things are moved away (anartha-nivrtti). All undesirable things (anartha) will go away as the result of spiritual practice (bhajan). It an inseparable consequence, or result, of spiritual practice. When your spiritual practice (sravan, kirtan, etc.) takes on a realistic characteristic, then there will be no other duties that you are to undergo. When the soul comes to realise its real position – when it gets a touch of the reality, and the region of imagination is replaced by reality – then comes anartha-nivrtti.

The next, higher stage is firmness (nistha), or continuity (nairantarya): it means continued memory of Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness becomes continuous. Just as when you pour oil, it falls in a continual flow, not drop by drop; in the same way, Krishna consciousness will also always remain there, in some form or another. The next stage is ruchi, the real taste for Krishna consciousness. This taste will grow after complete retirement from the hands of undesirable feelings and when Krishna consciousness becomes continued. And this taste then will grow into attachment (asakti). Attachment means that, sometimes, when there is less intensity, we shall be very much disturbed, 'Oh! Why is it like that?' From attachment (asakti) comes divine love (prema): first affection (sneha), then loving sulking (mana), love (pranaya), attachment (raga), strong attachment (anuraga), ecstasy (bhava) and ultimate ecstasy (maha-bhava). This is how spiritual relationship develops, excluding the plane of body consciousness, mind consciousness or reason, which are applied to the loss and gain of this transient world – all that will be gone.

Devotee: It seems very difficult...

Of course.

মুক্তানামপি সিদ্ধানাং নারায়ণপরায়ণঃ ।
সুদুর্ল্লভঃ প্রশান্তাত্মা কোটিষ্বপি মহামুনে ॥

muktanam api siddhanam narayana-parayanah
su-durlabhah prasantatma kotisv api maha-mune

'O great sage! Among millions of such liberated and perfected beings, it is extremely rare to find a self-satisfied devotee (devoid of material desires and filled with happiness coming from their pure self) who worships Lord Narayan.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 6.14.5)

It is not so easy to come there. It is actually very rare.

মনুষ্যাণাং সহস্রেষু কশ্চিদ্­যততি সিদ্ধয়ে ।
যততামপি সিদ্ধানাং কশ্চিন্মাং বেত্তি তত্ত্বতঃ ॥

manusyanam sahasresu kaschid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam kaschin mam vetti tattvatah

'Of countless souls, few reach the human form; of thousands of human beings, very few may try to realize the soul and the Supersoul; and of thousands who have attained such realization, hardly one can actually know Me, Shyamasundar.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.3)

It is very difficult, of course. It is very, very, very, very difficult; otherwise, it would be sahajiyaism (imitiationism). They imitate Krishna-lila, Vrindavan-lila in the region of flesh and blood.

Devotee: At times, it may seem almost impossible to achieve this...

We shall try... Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu said, 'If when you are walking on the road to Vaikuntha, highwaymen (kama, krodha, etc.) jump out and assault you, coming to snatch your wealth, you must cry aloud for the help of sadhus.' There are many sadhus who are posted there, given charge to protect travellers who are coming from this mundane world to the spiritual world. So, cry aloud, 'I am going to be plundered! Please protect me! Give me protection!' Cry with an earnest, ardent prayer, with all your nerves, to the extreme, 'I will not be allowed to be plundered by these highwaymen! O Steerers of the Spirit! Please come to my rescue! I am falling prey to all these plunderers of a nasty type, please protect me! The kama, the krodha, the lobha are jumping on me!'

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Nitai, Nitai...

There are also many artificial ways to subdue these things.

যমাদিভির্যোগপথৈঃ কামলোভহতো মুহুঃ ।
মুকুন্দসেবয়া যদ্বত্তথাদ্ধাত্মা ন শাম্যতি ॥

yamadibhir yoga-pathaih, kama-lobha-hato muhuh
mukunda-sevaya yadvat, tathatmaddha na samyati

'The distressed mind that is constantly controlled by enemies (lust, greed, etc.) can be restrained directly through service to Lord Mukunda – such peace and cessation of disturbances cannot be achieved even if you embark on the path of astanga-yoga and practise yama (self-restraint), niyama (self-discipline), etc.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam 1.6.36)

The practices of pranayama (breath-control) and various asanas (poses) may help us to a slight degree, but the effect is ostentatious and superfluous. The deeply planted seed of those disturbances can only be eliminated by placing Mukunda on the throne of our hearts – by taking Krishna, by feeling Krishna in our hearts. If you go on with pranayama and other artificial means, kama, krodha, etc. may seem to be of a little less power for the time being, but that is not a permanent cure. Once that help is gone, they will come again. So, external practices may only give us a temporary relief from the hands of kama, krodha, etc. Yogis and jnanis accept the practices of yama, niyama, asan, etc. so as to quench their inner thirst for the material world; they go on with various kinds of meditation (dhyana, dharana, samadhi, etc.) and guard themselves through outward practices. But devotees have no faith in that; they consider it artificial. They only want to invite Vasudev in all phases of their lives and settle all disturbing elements permanently.

Question: At the beginning, when we try to follow Krishna consciousness, because we lack qualification, some imitation can come (instead of following, we are imitating). At what point does anukaran (imitiation) become anusaran (following)?

Anusaran (following) means sincerity, and anukaran (imitiation) means doing something only for pratistha (copying or imitating things outwardly without inner purity to get the glory of a sadhu or something like that). Anusaran means attaining it from within, from the heart, sincerely. Anusaran is a sincere progress, whereas anukaran is artificial.

So, it has been practically experienced that responsible services can prevent us from falling prey to kama, krodha etc. First is faith (sraddha), then saintly association (sadhu-sanga) and then deep engagement with the duties allotted to us by our Master (bhajana-kriya). These duties should particularly engage the mind, not only the body. Mental engagement can only come through responsibility. When some responsible service is given to the disciple, the disciples takes it up in their brain and cannot but think, 'My mind is engaged with my service.' In that case, the mind gets no chance to think about the outer world. So, deep, deep engagement with responsible service can help us a great deal in the physical sense.

Sadhu-sanga (association of saints) and sad-grantha (reading devotional scriptures) will really be of help, but the effect of sadhu-sanga and sad-grantha should be service. Pariprasnena (honest enquiry) and sevaya (service mood): as much as we are able to, we must engage ourselves in deep responsible services. Then, they will have no chance – they will come, peep and go back, 'Oh, no time. He is deeply engaged, he has no time to be enticed. He cannot give attention to us.' Seeing this, they will have to retreat. They will come once, twice, thrice, five times, but every time they will see, 'Oh, he has no time. He cannot spare any attention to us, he is very deeply engaged.' They will fly away in the end. So, only service (not merely physical but mental service) can capture the mind. If you have responsibility, your mind will be compelled to think about it; otherwise, your mind will be free, wandering hither and tither, but the body will go on labouring. Engage your mind in intense service, which presupposes responsibility.

Gaura Haribol, Gaura Haribol.

<< BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE
<< BACK TO LIBRARY

Read more:

• The All-Auspicious Name of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

• A Fugitive's Plea

• Service to Gaura-Gadadhar

• Soul's Svakiya and Parakiya

• Overthrowing Anarthas

• Self-Purification

• Srila Svarup Damodar Goswami: Master Acharya