The science of devotional service
February 2, 2011 Comments Off
When Lord Caitanya began His instructions to Rūpa Gosvāmī, He first told him, “My dear Rūpa, the science
of devotional service is just like the great ocean, and it is not
possible to show you all its length and breadth. However, I shall try to
explain the nature of that ocean by taking just one drop out of it. In
this way you can taste it and understand what that ocean of devotional
service actually is.
The Lord then explained that within this brahmā, or universe, there are innumerable living entities who, according to
their own fruitive activities, are transmigrating from one species of
life to another and from one planet to another. In this way their
encagement in material existence has been continuing since time
immemorial. In actuality, these living entities are atomic parts and
parcels of the supreme spirit. It is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
that the length and breadth of the individual soul is approximately
1/10,000th part of the tip of a hair — in other words, it is so small
that it is invisible.
This is also confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, one of the four Kumāras, known as Sanandana,
gave the following speech upon performing a great sacrifice: “O Supreme
Truth! If the living entities were not infinitesimal sparks of the
supreme spirit, each minute spark would be all-pervading and would not
be controlled by a superior power. But if the living entity is accepted
as a minute part and parcel of the Supreme Lord he automatically becomes
controlled by a supreme energy or power. The latter is his actual
constitutional position, and if he remains in this position he can
attain full freedom.” (Bhāg. 10.87.30)
If one mistakenly considers his position to be equal to that of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, he becomes contaminated by the doctrine
of nonduality, and his efforts in transcendental life are rendered
ineffective.
Lord Caitanya elaborated on these teachings of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by pointing out that there are two kinds of living entities — the
eternally liberated and the eternally conditioned. The eternally
conditioned living entities can be divided into two types — moving and
nonmoving. Those entities which cannot move — like trees, for example —
remain in one place and are classified as nonmoving entities, and those
that move — such as the birds and beasts — are called jańgama (moving
entities) and are further divided into three categories: those that fly
in the sky, those that swim in the water, and those that walk on land.
Out of the many millions and trillions of living entities on land, human
beings comprise only a small portion. Out of that small number of human
beings, most are totally ignorant of spiritual life, are unclean in
their habits and have no faith in the existence of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. In short, most human beings live like animals.
These can actually be deducted from the number of human beings that
comprise human or civilized life. It is very difficult to find a few
human beings who believe in the scriptures and the existence of God, or,
for that matter, in proper behavior. Those who do believe in the value
of these things are known as ārya, a word denoting those who believe in advancing
in spiritual life.
Out of those who believe in the value of the scriptures and the advancement of human civilization, there are two
classes — the righteous and the unrighteous. Those who are righteous
generally execute fruitive activities in order to derive some good
result for sense gratification. Out of many such persons who engage in
righteous activities for sense gratification, only a few come to know
about the Absolute Truth. These are called jñānīs, empiric philosophers.
Out of many hundreds and thousands of such empiric philosophers, only a
handful actually attain liberation. When one is liberated, he
theoretically understands that the living entity is not composed of
material elements but is spirit soul, distinct from matter. Simply by
theoretically understanding this doctrine, one can be called liberated,
but actually a mukta,
or liberated soul, is he who understands his constitutional position as
an eternal servant of the Lord. Such liberated souls engage with faith
and devotion in the service of the Lord, and they are called Krishna-bhaktas,
or Krishna
conscious persons.
Krishna-bhaktas are free from all material desires. Those who are liberated theoretically by knowing simply that the living
entity is not material may still have desires, although they may be
technically classified amongst liberated souls. Their main desire is to
become one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Generally such
persons are very much attached to Vedic rituals and righteous
activities, performing them in order to enjoy material prosperity. Even
when some of them transcend material enjoyment, they still try to enjoy
the spiritual world by merging into the existence of the Supreme Lord.
Some of them are also desirous of attaining mystic powers through the
execution of yoga.
As long as these desires are within one’s heart, he cannot understand the
nature of pure devotional service. When one is constantly being agitated
by such desires, he is not peaceful. Indeed, as long as there is any
desire for material perfection at all, one cannot be at peace. Since the
devotees of Lord Krishna
do not desire anything material, they are the only peaceful persons
within this material world. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
nārāyaa-parāyaa sudurlabha praśāntātmākoiv api [links are written in a type font this machine doesn't take]
mahāmune”O great sage, out of many millions of liberated persons and
persons who have achieved success in mystic yoga, one who is
completely devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who is
filled with peace is very hard to find.” (Bhāg. 6.14.5)
In this way Lord Caitanya
explained that of the many thousands and millions of living entities
wandering in the material world, one who by the grace of Lord Krishna and the
spiritual master gets the seed of devotional service is very rare and
fortunate.
Hinduism
