Devotee:<\/strong> I was recently invited to a program where it was said that the program would be in the mood of vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em>, so I was wondering how special is vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> and how does one actually attain it? When I went to the program there were various Hindi bhajanas<\/em> that I had never heard before and also some bhajanas<\/em> of M\u012brab\u0101i.<\/p>\nNarasi\u1e45gha Mah\u0101r\u0101ja:<\/strong> What many western devotees call vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> is available in any village kitchen in Uttar Pradesh, India. There are so many songs sung by the village people in and around V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana, but those are not the standard songs of pure devotion, particularly the songs of M\u012brab\u0101i. The pure \u0101c\u0101rya<\/em> never recommends his disciples to sing such songs.<\/p>\nM\u012brab\u0101i has been rejected by the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya samprad\u0101ya<\/em> as a pseudo-vai\u1e63\u1e47ava<\/em>. There are some people who say that M\u012brab\u0101i was a \u2018half disciple\u2019 of \u015ar\u012bla Jiva Gosv\u0101m\u012b, but this is a concoction. Some also say that simply by placing her hands over the eyes of the R\u0101\u1e47a of Mewar that he obtained K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a dar\u015bana<\/em>. Also some devotees say that M\u012brab\u0101i merged into the Deity of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in Dv\u0101rak\u0101 and never came out again. But these are simply stories with no ontological backing, which are rejected by the \u015buddha-bhakti<\/em> school.<\/p>\nM\u012brab\u0101i is not accepted as a \u015buddha-vai\u1e63\u1e47ava<\/em> by the followers of \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura and \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura. Therefore the followers of Bhaktivinoda and Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura never teach their disciples to sing the bhajanas<\/em> of M\u012brab\u0101i. To teach one\u2019s disciple to sing the bhajanas<\/em> of M\u012brab\u0101i is tantamount to putting kerosene in the mouth of that disciple \u2014only a bad taste of bhakti<\/em> will be experienced<\/p>\nOur Guru Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, \u015ar\u012bla A. C. Bhaktived\u0101nta Sv\u0101m\u012b Prabhup\u0101da sometimes said regarding M\u012brab\u0101i, \u201cI have no objection to her songs.\u201d However M\u012brab\u0101i\u2019s songs were never established as standard bhajanas<\/em> in his mission. As far as the common person is concerned he had no objection. If a common person sings the songs of M\u012brab\u0101i there may be some n\u0101m\u0101bh\u0101sa<\/em> for that person. But for \u015buddha-bhakti<\/em> he has never recommended the bhajanas<\/em> of M\u012brab\u0101i. M\u012brab\u0101i is not in the \u015buddha-bhakti<\/em> school, what to speak of the r\u0101g\u0101nug\u0101, r\u016bp\u0101nug\u0101<\/em>, or the rasika<\/em> school. M\u012brab\u0101i is rejected by the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya samprad\u0101ya<\/em> as a bahira\u1e45ga-bhakta<\/em>, an external devotee.<\/p>\n\u015ar\u012bla B. R. \u015ar\u012bdhara Deva Gosv\u0101m\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja comments as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Guru Mah\u0101r\u0101ja announced, \u2018We are \u015buddha-\u015bakta<\/em>.\u2019 We are worshippers of the potency, not this mundane potency, but the potency wholesale dedicated to the possessor of the potency. Without retaining Her individual independence, cent-per-cent dependent \u2014such potency very very rarely can be conceived. \u2018Direct approaches to Me, that is not proper;\u2019 but approaching through proper channel, through the devotees, that is proper approach. That is real approach; so Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha eliminates M\u012brab\u0101i and so many other apparent devotees, to be real devotees, because they are mad in praise of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, but not so much for the devotees of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.\u201d (Feb. 15, 1982, \u015ar\u012b Caitanya S\u0101rasvata Ma\u1e6dha, Navadv\u012bpa-dh\u0101ma)<\/p>\nAs regards real vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em>, K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a says in Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101<\/em> (18.66), sarva-dharm\u0101n parityaja m\u0101m eka\u1e41 \u015bara\u1e47am vraja<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cGive up all your duties and come to Me. And your present duties good or bad, whatever you can conceive from your present position \u2014give up everything and come straight to Me. I\u2019m everything to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here the word vraja<\/em> is used by K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a to indicate V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana, the Lord\u2019s own abode. In V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana all the inhabitants are absorbed in the sweet mellows of spontaneous love of God. In a word, they are absorbed in vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em>, the mellows of loving devotion, found only in V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana. So the fundamental principle of vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> is surrender. First surrender to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. There must be complete surrender to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, otherwise vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> will not manifest. Surrender means that we have given up all our tendencies to consume (enjoy). The attempt to assert one\u2019s self upon others must also be abandoned. This is real humility. In material life we want to assert ourselves over others and take everything for our own enjoyment. But vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> is just the opposite.<\/p>\nNeophytes, who have no real understanding of vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em>, sometimes may advertise their program as being rasika<\/em> or as being in the mood of vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em>. Yet these persons have little or no real understanding of the exalted nature of the love of the inhabitants of V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana, nor do they have a clear conception of the path of attainment, even though they may claim to be following a rasik\u0101c\u0101rya<\/em>.<\/p>\nIn fact, we see that their vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> is only exhibited on Sundays, while the rest of the week they are absorbed in ordinary mundane activities. Those devotees who are actually tasting vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> cannot tolerate even for a second to engage in ordinary financial dealings simply for the purpose of extending their material facilities.<\/p>\nThose who actually relish real vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> embrace a life of renunciation (sanny\u0101sa<\/em>) and reject those things that are unfavorable for devotional service (pr\u0101tik\u016bla<\/em>). In this regard \u015ar\u012bla Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura has said:<\/p>\n\u2018aham-mama\u2019 bh\u0101va-sattve n\u0101ma kabhu haya n\u0101
\n<\/em>bhoga-buddhi n\u0101 cha\u1e0dile apr\u0101k\u1e5bta haya n\u0101<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThe Holy Name is never revealed to one who is situated in the bodily concept of life and thinks in terms of \u2018I\u2019 and \u2018mine.\u2019 If one doesn\u2019t reject the enjoying mentality, the transcendental platform will never be attained.\u201d (Pr\u0101k\u1e5bta-rasa \u015aata-d\u016b\u1e63i\u1e47\u012b 4)<\/em><\/p>\nanarthake \u2018artha\u2019 boli\u2019 ku-pathete laya n\u0101<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cOne should never mistakenly call material obstacles \u2018useful for devotional service,\u2019 thereby following the wrong path.\u201d (Pr\u0101k\u1e5bta-rasa \u015aata-d\u016b\u1e63i\u1e47\u012b 35)<\/em><\/p>\nIn his Anubh\u0101\u1e63ya<\/em> to verse 28 of the last chapter of Caitanya-carit\u0101m\u1e5bta<\/em> (\u015ar\u012b Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha edition) \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvati \u1e6ch\u0101kura has also written as follows:<\/p>\n\u201cThose who are barren of the treasure of prema<\/em>, propelled by duplicity, declare to the whole world their false attainment of prema<\/em>, although in reality, by an external display of prema<\/em> or by announcing it to one and all, it is positively impossible for such hypocrite destitutes who are deprived of the wealth of k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-prema<\/em> to ever attain it. To make their great fortune known to everybody, adepts of pr\u0101k\u1e5bta-sahajiy\u0101ism<\/em> often expose to each other insincere external symptoms of prema<\/em> (such as shedding of tears). Rather than calling such hypocrite sahajiy\u0101s<\/em> as premika<\/em>, real \u015buddha-bhaktas<\/em> go as far as to completely reject their association, knowing it to destroy bhakti<\/em>. \u015auddha-bhaktas<\/em> never teach one to designate such persons as \u2018bhaktas,\u2019<\/em> thus equaling them with \u015buddha-bhaktas<\/em>. At the rise of genuine prema<\/em>, the jiva<\/em> hides her own glory and strives for k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-bhajana.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThe hypocrite pr\u0101k\u1e5bta-sahajiy\u0101<\/em> party in their greed for wealth, women and fame (kanaka-k\u0101min\u012b-prati\u1e63\u1e6dha<\/em>) offend \u015buddha-bhaktas<\/em> by labeling them as dar\u015banik pa\u1e47\u1e0dita\u2019 <\/em>(great philosophers), tattva-vit<\/em> (ontology experts), or s\u016bk\u1e63ma-dar\u015b\u012b<\/em> (acute observers), and in turn they adorn themselves with the titles rasika<\/em>, bhajan\u0101nan\u012b<\/em>, bh\u0101gavatottama <\/em>(uttama-bh\u0101gavata<\/em>), l\u012bl\u0101-rasa-p\u0101nonmatta <\/em>(intoxicated by drinking sweet mellows of l\u012bl\u0101<\/em>), r\u0101g\u0101nug\u012bya-s\u0101dhak\u0101graga\u1e47ya <\/em>(the foremost aspirants on the path of r\u0101g\u0101nug\u0101-bhakti<\/em>), rasaj\u00f1a <\/em>(the knowers of rasa<\/em>), rasika-cu\u1e0d\u0101ma\u1e47i <\/em>(unsurpassed rasikas<\/em>) etc.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cHaving contaminated bhajana-pra\u1e47\u0101l\u012b <\/em>with the waves of their own materialistic emotions, they become attached to abominable practices; what they actually adore in themselves is pseudo-vai\u1e63\u1e47avism<\/em>. These kinds of preachers go to describe apr\u0101k\u1e5bta-rasa<\/em>, making their respective mundane emotions a part and parcel of k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-sev\u0101.<\/em> Unaware of apr\u0101k\u1e5bta vipralambha-rasa<\/em>, they take pr\u0101k\u1e5bta-sambhoga<\/em>, which in essence is a perverted reflection of rasa<\/em> (virasa<\/em>), as actual rasa<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nThose who have prema<\/em> never boast of their love for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a because the nature of pure love for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is that one who has it feels that he doesn\u2019t have even a drop of it. Those who say they have prema<\/em>, who say they are rasika<\/em>, and who claim to be the distributors of vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> are basically cheaters. They have cheated themselves, and they are cheating others. They have deviated from the path of our \u0101c\u0101ryas<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u015ar\u012bla Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura in the introduction to the 4th verse of \u015a\u012bk\u1e63\u0101\u1e63\u1e6daka<\/em> in his Am\u1e5bta-prav\u0101ha-bh\u0101\u1e63ya <\/em>of Caitanya-carit\u0101m\u1e5bta<\/em> states:<\/p>\npremera svabh\u0101va – yaha premera sambandha
\n<\/em>sei mane – k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47e mora nahi bhakti-gandha<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThe nature of prema<\/em> is such that one who has got real connection with prema<\/em> will think with dainya<\/em> (humility). \u2018I possess not even a trace of bhakti.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nThe so-called preachers of \u2018vraja-bh\u0101va\u2019<\/em> are always outraged when we speak on such topics according to the standard of our \u0101c\u0101rya<\/em> \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura. The pseudo-vai\u1e63\u1e47ava says that the jungle (ara\u1e47ya<\/em>) is cut and now it is time to preach rasa-l\u012bl\u0101<\/em> throughout the world. But such foolish persons do not realize that they are actually living in the jungle and the weeds of misconception have overgrown their creeper of devotion.<\/p>\nWhen challenged about their false conceptions, the so-called preachers of \u2018vraja-rasa\u2019<\/em> become angry and say that their tears are the proof that they are absorbed in prema<\/em>. Yet these so-called rasika<\/em> and prema-bhaktas<\/em> do not show us that they actually possess any of the other qualities of pure devotion, such as dainya<\/em> (humility), etc. They only make a show of tears.<\/p>\nIn this regard, the Guardian of Devotion, \u015ar\u012bla Bhakti Rak\u1e63aka \u015ar\u012bdhara Deva Gosv\u0101m\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, has explained,<\/p>\n
\u201cBy practicing, one can acquire that mental condition of shedding tears, and one can show many feats as though he were a real devotee. Merely the display of some peculiar external characteristics does not prove the presence of pure devotion. Real devotion is \u2018sudurlabha\u2019 \u2014<\/em>a very, very rare achievement.\u201d<\/p>\nPure devotion is such a rare commodity that it can hardly be attained by one days devotion per week, especially when that devotion is adulterated with the enjoying spirit and other such gross anarthas<\/em>.<\/p>\nThose who are bona-fide preachers of the religion of divine love, as inaugurated by \u015ar\u012b Caitanya Mah\u0101prabhu, do not engage in rasa-vic\u0101ra<\/em> (discussion of rasa<\/em>) in public. The bona-fide preacher always preaches n\u0101ma-prac\u0101ra<\/em>, the glories of the Holy Name.<\/p>\nThis was emphatically stated by His Divine Grace, \u015ar\u012bla B. P. Pur\u012b Gosv\u0101m\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn your foreign countries there has appeared a party of pr\u0101k\u1e5bta-sahajiy\u0101ism<\/em>. And it is not a matter of inventing something \u2014what they speak is there in 10th Canto, in the works of the Gosv\u0101m\u012bs, \u015ar\u012bla Vi\u015bvan\u0101tha Cakravart\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura. But the very fact of their speaking such higher topics to unprepared audiences, ignoring the glories of the Holy Name, who is the only real path to this higher l\u012bl\u0101<\/em>, is n\u0101ma-apar\u0101dha<\/em>. Mah\u0101prabhu never did like this. He was relishing these topics with a few of His antara\u1e45ga-bhaktas<\/em>, and was inspiring masses to perform n\u0101ma-sa\u1e45k\u012brtana<\/em>, and He Himself performed sa\u1e45k\u012brtana<\/em> with great numbers of people. Prac\u0101ra<\/em> should be n\u0101ma-prac\u0101ra<\/em>.\u201d (Feb. 7, 1996, \u015ar\u012bdh\u0101ma M\u0101y\u0101pura, Gopin\u0101tha Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha)<\/p>\nWe must be very strict and very, very vigilant about these points. That was the standard of \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura and that has been followed by his most stalwart disciples, such as \u015ar\u012bla A. C. Bhaktived\u0101nta Sv\u0101m\u012b Prabhup\u0101da, \u015ar\u012bla B. R. \u015ar\u012bdhara Deva Gosv\u0101m\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, \u015ar\u012bla B. P. Pur\u012b Gosv\u0101m\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja. \u015ar\u012bla B. D. M\u0101dhava Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, \u015ar\u012bla B. S. Gosv\u0101m\u012b Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, \u015ar\u012bla B. P. Ke\u015bava Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, and all others.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> requires complete surrender at the lotus feet of guru<\/em> and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. It is not a cheap thing! It requires a life of dedication. When one comes in connection with vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> he does not go out to conduct business as usual, carrying on life without change, engaging in so many ordinary mundane activities. Vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em> means \u2018die to live,\u2019 the absolute abnegation of all things mundane, and that is followed by full submission to guru <\/em>and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a \u2014 that is vraja-bh\u0101va<\/em>. Not simply singing Hindi bhajanas<\/em> \u2014 that is only n\u0101m\u0101bh\u0101sa<\/em>. It is not \u015buddha-n\u0101ma<\/em> or pure devotion.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cPr\u0101k\u1e5bta-rasa \u0100ra\u1e47ya Chedin\u012b \u2013 Cutting the Jungle of Misconception\u201d is a compilation of twenty-one articles written in the later 90\u2019s and early 2000s by \u015ar\u012bla B.G. Narasi\u1e45gha Mah\u0101r\u0101ja. This book exposes various philosophical misconceptions that are prevalent within the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava world at present, and establishes the proper understanding according to guru, s\u0101dhu and \u015b\u0101stra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[206,217],"krishna_talk_article":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6252"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8730,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252\/revisions\/8730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6252"},{"taxonomy":"krishna_talk_article","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/krishna_talk_article?post=6252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}