Crookedness in  Devotional Service by Srila Jiva  Goswami

— Bhakti-Sandarbha, anucchedas 153 and 154. Adapted from the English  translation of Satya Narayan Das. Jiva Institute.  Vrindavan. 2005. Sanskrit text taken from Gaudiya Grantha  Mandira.

Due to  the presence of many offenses, the Lord does not accept service from the  crooked, even if they offer him many valuable items. This was seen when  Krishna went to the capital of Duryodhan as a messenger on behalf of the  Pandavas. Although Duryodhan tried to win Krishna over with a royal reception  and great opulence, Krishna rejected Duryodhana’s hospitality because of Duryodhana’s  offensive attitude towards Krishna’s devotees. At present, there are many  people who make a show of devotion and who, in spite of having studied the  scriptures, maintain an offensive mentality which causes them to disrespect the  Lord, the spiritual master, and other devotees. The external worship offered by  such persons is nothing but crookedness.

Therefore, sästra describes that even foolish  people who are nonetheless free from crookedness attain perfection even by a  semblance of bhakti, whereas he crooked cannot even practice  bhakti. This is eidenced in a statement by the great sage  Parashar from the Skanda-Puräna: na hy apuëyavatäà loke müòhänäà  kuöilätmanäm bhaktir bhavati govinde kértanaà smaraëaà tathä In this  world, impious, foolish and crooked people do not attain devotion to Lord  Govinda, and they cannot chant about or remember the Lord. In consideration of  this, the Viñëu-dharma states: satyaà çatena vighnänäà sahasreëa tathä  tapaù vighnäyutena govinde nèëäà bhaktir niväryate The attempt of such  crooked people to become truthful is obstructed by a hundred  impediments, whereas their attempts to perform penances is obstructed by a  thousand and their attempts to perform loving devotional service to Lord Govinda  is obstructed by ten thousand impediments. Therefore, Sri Suta-Goswami says  in Srimad Bhägavatam (3.19.36): taà sukhärädhyam åjubhir ananya-çaraëair  nåbhiù kåtajïaù ko na seveta durärädhyam  asädhubhiù

                              What grateful soul is there who would not render loving service to  such a great master as the Personality of Godhead?  The Lord can be easily pleased by spotless devotees who resort exclusively to  him for protection, though the unrighteous man finds it difficult to propitiate  him.

Similarly,  the devotees of the Lord also bless those who are simple-hearted yet ignorant,  but not those who are learned yet crooked, as the sage  Sri Chamas told King Nimi in Çrémad Bhägavatam (11.5.4-5): düre hari-kathäù  kecid düre cäcyuta-kértanäù striyaù çüdrädayaç caiva te ’nukampyä  bhavädåçäm vipro räjanya-vaiçyau vä hareù präptäù padäntikam çrautena  janmanäthäpi muhyanty ämnäya-vädinaù

There are many persons who have little opportunity to  take part in discussions about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, and  thus it is difficult for them  to  chant his infallible glories. Persons such as women, südras, and other fallen  classes always deserve the mercy of great personalities like yourself. On the  other hand, brahmins, members of the royal order, and vaisyas, even after being  allowed to approach the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord by receiving the second  birth of Vedic initiation, can become bewildered and adopt various  materialistic philosophies. In the first of these two verses, the sage  Chamas declares that out of the various divisions of human beings, those who  are ignorant should be favored by devotees like King Nimi. But by the second  verse, he intends to say that those who are proud of petty knowledge are  incurable and should thus be avoided. ·

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And  within Srila Prabhupadas purports there are numerous warnings and teachings

for the  aspiring Transcendentalists of who he or she should and should  not

associate  with. Please consider the following purport and verse….

SB 3.29.17  P  Explanation of Devotional Service by Lord Kapila … Friendship should be cemented between persons  with mutual interests and understanding. Such persons are said to  be sva jati, “of the same caste.” The devotee should avoid a person whose character is not fixed in the standard  understanding; even though he may be a Vaisnava, or a  devotee of Krsna, if his character is not correctly  representative, then he should be avoided. One should steadily control the senses and the mind  and strictly follow the rules and regulations, and he should make  friendship with persons of the same  standard.

SB  1.2.17   Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the  Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the  truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart  of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are  in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

Hare  Krsna

Damaghosa das

This book Jaiva Dharma, is in Srila Prabhupada’s  word “very important”. And after reading it now for the second  and third time, I can see why he said this. Since I don’t have it on computer  file I must hand type out every quote you will see here below. But it is so important I am willing to take the time  and do this and share it with others who have  a  similar appreciation for Bhaktivinode Thakur’s works. 

I hope those of  you who take the time to read these statements, will get as much, if not more,  out of it than did I.

Hare Krsna,

Damaghosa das

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Chapter 8, Jaiva Dharma-Nitya Dharma and Vaisnava  Behavior-translated by Sarvabhavana das starting at pg. 110

He begins this chapter by quoting Manu samhita 6.92 with  the 10 characteristics of religiosity. Contentment, forgiveness, not  revenging a wrong, self control, remaining in control of the mind in spite of  the presence of allurements, honesty, cleanliness, withdrawing the senses from  sense objects, scriptural knowledge, education, knowledge of the soul,  trutfulness, awareness of reality and freedom from anger, to be not angered when  provoked.

Of these, 6 are characteristics directed to oneself and 4  are obligations to others. However the duty or worshipping the Supreme Lord  Sri Hari is not clearly delineated in any of these 10 characteristics.

Then he quotes SB 2.3.19 which states that “men who are  like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the  transcendental pastimes of  Sri  Krsna, the deliverer from evils.”

This is meant to distinguish ordinary moral persons, who  are on the material level, from Vaisnavas who are not in the material world. A  huge gulf of difference between the two.

Now he begins to make the distinctions between kanistha  (3^rd class), madhyama (2^nd class) and Uttama  (1^st class) devotees.

SB 11.2.47—Arcayam eva haraye, pujam yah sraddhayehate,  na tad bhaktesu canyesu, sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah.

A materialistic devotee does not purposefully study  the sastra and try to understand the actual standard of pure devotional  service. Consequently he does not show proper respect to advanced  devotees. He may however follow the regulative principles he has  learnt from his spiritual master or family tradition and worship the Deity in  the temple. He is to be considered as being on the material platform  although he is trying to advance in devotional service.

Such a person is bhakta praya or bhakta abhasa, a  neophyte devotee for he is but a little enlightened about the Vaisnava  philosophy. One who worships the Deity of the Lord with faith, but neither  respects the created living creatures of the Lord nor worships and serves His  devotees with devotion is a prakrta-bhakta…To worship the Deity of the Lord  with sraddha is certainly bhakti, but without worshipping and serving the  devotee of the Lord, one cannot execute suddha –bhakti. This position of  serving the Lord but not His pure devotee can be described as being at best a  step inside the portals of the realm of bhakti.

Now the Thakur quotes SB 10.84.13—“One who identifies his  self as the inert body composed of mucus bile and air who assumes his wife and  family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image of the land of his  birth are worshippable, or who see a place of pilgrimage as merely the water  there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or  even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth-such a person is no better  than a cow or an ass.”

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