The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in the Netherlands, on June 27, 2002 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 87)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: By staying in Mathurā overnight, oh, kṛṣṇa-bhakti surely comes.
aho madhupurī dhanyā
vaikuṇṭhāc ca garīyasī
dinam ekaṁ nivāsena
harau bhaktiḥ prajāyate
Vāyu Purāṇa
[“Aho! The abode of Mathurā is supremely blessed and even more glorious than Vaikuṇṭha, for by residing there for only one day, a person attains bhakti to the Supreme Lord.”]
Hari-bhakti prajāyate — and we are going to stay there for seven days. Then from there we will go to so many places.
Devotee: Varṣāṇā, Nandagaon.
Devotee: Rādhā-kuṇḍa.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: We will go to the groves and beautiful caves where Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s 
kuñja-līlā pastimes took place. We will go to Govardhana, which is even superior to Vṛndāvana. I request all, if they have no money problems or anything, they must join our Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā. It will be very beneficial to you. Thank you.
(Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja recites maṅgalācaraṇa)
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: My millions of humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of my paramārādhyatama gurudeva, oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. And the same millions of daṇḍavat-praṇati unto the lotus feet of my śikṣā-guru, oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja.
We are explaining the Rāya Rāmānanda Saṁvāda. Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested Rāya Rāmānanda to explain what is sadhya and sādhana, what is the object of our devotion, and what is the process to attain this. Then he began with varṇāśrama-dharma, and Mahāprabhu rejected it. Then Rāya Rāmānanda said that to offer all the activities that you are doing at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is the essence of perfection. But Mahāprabhu again rejected this. Then Rāya Rāmānanda said:
prabhu kahe, — “eho bāhya, āge kaha āra”
rāya kahe, — “svadharma-tyāga, ei sādhya-sāra”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 8.61)
[“ ‘This is also external,’ Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said. ‘Please proceed and speak further on this matter.’ Rāmānanda Rāya replied, ‘To give up one’s occupational duties in the varṇāśrama system is the essence of perfection.’ ”]
Svadharma-tyāga — you should give up all your worldly religious activities. Svadharma-tyāga means you should give up varṇāśrama-dharma, and so on. He also said:
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (18.66)
[“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do 
not fear.”]
But Mahāprabhu said that this is external as well. Why has Mahāprabhu rejected all these things? Up till now, whatever Rāya Rāmānanda has told has been examples of the ślokas of Bhagavad-gītā. One has been from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, and after that, only verses from the Gītā have been given.
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam
Bhagavad-gītā (9.27)
[“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.”]
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Bhagavad-gītā (18.66)
[“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.”]
Yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi, and also sarva-dharmān parityajya. Why did He reject these things?
He said this so we would know what bhakti really is. What is going on in the name of bhakti is not really bhakti. It may be some semblance of bhakti, but it is not really bhakti. When we compare all these things, then you can understand that what you are doing is really not bhakti. It is only like a semblance of bhakti. You should be in high-class association, then you can learn all these things. The sādhus are explaining all these things, and you should try to follow.
For this, you should know that in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī has told the essence of all kinds of definitions of bhakti combined. Rūpa Gosvāmī has collected the essence of all the definitions of bhakti found in the Vedas and Bhāgavatam and everywhere and has said:
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvrtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ
bhaktir uttamā
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11)
[“The cultivation of activities which are meant exclusively for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or in other words, the uninterrupted flow of service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, performed through all endeavors of the body, mind and speech, and through the expressions of various spiritual sentiments (bhāvas), which is not covered by jñāna (knowledge aimed at impersonal liberation) and karma (reward-seeking activity), and which is devoid of all desires other than the aspiration to bring happiness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is called uttama-bhakti (pure devotional service).”]
This is bhakti. But it may be that although sometimes we are doing this svarūpa-siddha-bhakti, some worldly desires are there. Then what will that be called? Or, if there is no worldly desire there, but that bhakti is covered with jñāna, karma, yoga, and other things, then what will it be called? Rūpa Gosvāmī has divided bhakti into three parts or three stages. First, we should know what pure bhakti (svarūpa-siddha-bhakti) is.
And when that pure bhakti is mixed with jñāna, karma, or any worldly desire…for example, Dhruva Mahārāja, he wanted to please Kṛṣṇa. And although he pleased Kṛṣṇa, there was some defect there. What was that defect? He pleased Kṛṣṇa not really to please Kṛṣṇa, but to please his own self. Understand? It may be somewhat easy for a sādhaka to please Kṛṣṇa in return for some worldly gain. But it is very rare to please Kṛṣṇa to please Kṛṣṇa. This is the most important thing. Dhruva missed this point.
He pleased Kṛṣṇa in only six months, which is very rare anywhere in Vedic literature. We have heard that so many devotees, like Kaśyapa and Aditi, and 
Vālmīki, performed austerities for a long time, for sixty-thousand years or more. Even Hiraṇyakaśipu did austerities, taking no water, air, or anything, standing on the tips of his toes.
Some devotees stood on their thumbs with their feet in the air, even standing on only one thumb. They were upside down, not drinking water or even breathing air. But they didn’t do this to please Kṛṣṇa. They did it to please themselves, to receive a boon from Him. Hiraṇyakaśipu received a boon from Brahmā. Vasudeva Mahārāja also received a boon from Kṛṣṇa. This was the defect in Dhruva. He did something to please Kṛṣṇa, but really, he did it for himself, so it is not pure bhakti.
What is this? What is this? It is not pure bhakti, but sakāma-bhakti (bhakti mixed with desires for material enjoyment). And it may come in the gradation of āropa-siddha-bhakti (endeavours indirectly attributed with the quality of bhakti). What is āropa-siddha-bhakti? What are the symptoms, and what is an example of āropa-siddha-bhakti?
If you do not understand, have any doubts, or have any questions, you can ask. This class is like a school class. A student can ask their teacher a question, and the teacher will be very happy to answer. It is not that the teacher will think, “Why do you have a question?” A good teacher is happy to hear questions. But if the teachers are not qualified, then if anyone asks questions, they will say, “Oh, sit down; sit down. I will answer after class.” But you are free to ask questions. But this question should be appropriate, not inappropriate.
Devotee: Gurudeva, at what stage of bhakti does anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ (devoid of any other desire other than the desire to please Kṛṣṇa) start? Does it start at ruci, āsakti, or bhāva?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: I think that this question is not okay. This question is wrong. It does not apply here. Your question is not clear.
Devotee: Does it apply to a conditioned soul, or does one have to be in bhāva-bhakti to…
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: If he is doing svarūpa-siddha-bhakti, but there is anyābhilāṣa (desires other than to serve Kṛṣṇa), then he may be like Dhruva and others. Or it may be that he is more wretched than Dhruva. It may be that there is only a semblance of śraddhā there, not transcendental śraddhā. When transcendental śraddhā comes, then he will cross the level of anyābhilāṣitā. All worldly desires will automatically go away, like how the sun rises, and thus, all kinds of darkness automatically go away. At that stage, there is then no anyābhilāṣitā.
Svarūpa-siddha-bhakti is śravaṇaṁ (hearing), kīrtanaṁ (chanting), viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ (remembering the Lord), and all these things. Especially, svarūpa-siddha-bhakti is sādhu-saṅga (association of pure devotees), bhāgavata-śravaṇa (hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam), mathurā-vāsa (residing in Vraja-maṇḍala), and śrī-mūrtira śraddhāya sevana (worshipping the Deity with faith).
sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, bhāgavata-śravaṇa
mathurā-vāsa, śrī-mūrtira śraddhāya sevana
Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.128)
[“One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, reside at Mathurā and worship the Deity with faith and veneration.”]
Always be in high-class association, and in that association, chant the holy name, hear the hari-kathā of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, do arcana of Ṭhākurajī, and be in Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, the places of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. These five limbs are very, very powerful. If you do any of them, even in a very small way, if there is no offence, then very soon you can attain high-class vraja-prema. But if there are offences, you cannot attain that thing.
Suppose, for example, you have a garden. Among the sixty-four kinds of bhakti, or the five kinds, or three 
kinds of bhakti, it is never written that gardening is bhakti — never. But yet, you are gardening. You are saying, “The flowers or fruits will be offered to Kṛṣṇa. I am gardening for this reason.” This is like āropa-siddha-bhakti. Suppose, for example, you are distributing books; is it written anywhere in the limbs of bhakti that to distribute books is bhakti? No, but if you are doing so to please gurudeva and to fulfil the desire of our guru-paramparā that others may have bhakti, then it can be counted as bhakti. But still, it is āropa-siddha-bhakti.
You should see by the fruit of that activity whether or not it is bhakti. You can conclude what it is from the fruit of that activity. So many people were first and second in the whole world in book distribution. They helped their gurudeva. But where are they now? They have left bhakti, even their gurudeva, having no faith in bhakti or in gurudeva. Not even śraddhā is there. So, this is not bhakti. It may be āropa-siddha-bhakti, but really, it is not even āropa-siddha-bhakti.
We should see whether what we are doing is really to please gurudeva, the associates of Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa Himself. If not, then it is not bhakti. Don’t eat for yourself. Don’t breathe for yourself. Don’t sleep for yourself. Don’t do anything for yourself. Whatever you do, you should do to please Kṛṣṇa. If you are sleeping or eating something, how can you adjust this? You can do so very easily. You should think, “I am sleeping, so that in the morning I will wake up and do all my devotional services. I will chant three lakhs holy names.”
I am explaining this to the general devotees. For high-class devotees, even to abuse Kṛṣṇa is also a high-class of bhakti. Brahmā’s prayers may not be bhakti, but the gopīs tell Kṛṣṇa, “O great cheater, You are black internally and externally.” They are calling Kṛṣṇa a dhūrta (cheater), lampaṭa (debauchee), and so many things. They are even calling Him a lampaṭa (very lusty person). They can abuse Him with so many things, and Kṛṣṇa will come there and hear very eagerly, “What are they saying?” He will follow them…not follow them, but follow their foot dust, thinking, “Their foot dust may come on My head, and I will be satisfied.” This is really bhakti.
I am not explaining these things to the high-class devotees like this. I am explaining all these things in general. I am explaining these things to the sādhakas, not to the siddhas (perfect devotees). For siddhas, there is no āropa-siddha, no saṅga-siddha, not even sādhana-bhakti. They are rāgātmikā (those whose hearts are imbued with rāga). They are always pleasing Kṛṣṇa. So, we should try to give up this āropa-siddha-bhakti. But there is one thing:
laukikī vaidikī vāpi yā kriyā kriyate mune
hari-sevānukūlaiva sa kāryā bhaktim icchatā
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.200)
[“One should perform only those activities — either worldly or prescribed by Vedic rules and regulations — which are favourable for the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”]
Doing worldly things, even telling lies, to cheat others…like we are all cheating others. To cheat is also bhakti. Kṛṣṇa has cheated so many. To cheat to please Kṛṣṇa is bhakti. But it should really be done to please Kṛṣṇa. I am cheating you. I am cheating you, saying, “You should come to Kṛṣṇa, and you will always be happy, always. All your desires will be fulfilled, and you will be happy forever.” But you should know that what I am telling you is not the real fact. If you are chanting and remembering, and if bhakti really comes, you will weep. You are 
bound to weep, and you will be so upset, like the gopīs.
The gopīs are saying, “Don’t chant the name of that black one, never.” This is the thing (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja laughs). Even at the time of sādhana, you will weep, and when you become a siddha and play with Kṛṣṇa, then you will have to weep more, like the gopīs, always. Kṛṣṇa will give you up in Vṛndāvana, and He will go to Dvārakā and Mathurā. Thus, you will always weep and weep. But you cannot even die. You only hope, “Kṛṣṇa will come, so I should not die.” You cannot die, you cannot be alive, then what to do? You are in a dilemma (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja laughs).
Devotee: As long as that activity is favourable to the performance of bhajana, then the great sages have declared that activity to be bhakti.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: So even what you are doing, supporting and nourishing your children, it may be bhakti because they are the part and parcel of Godhead, and you are thinking, “He has anyhow come to me, so I should help him become a pure devotee.” This will be pure bhakti. Like the Pāṇḍavas, all their activities were the purest bhakti, more than pure. Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita and almost all the devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu were gṛhasthas. Mahāprabhu said, “For renounced order sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs, they should not have even one farthing. But for gṛhasthas, they should deposit something for their maintenance.” Mahāprabhu allowed this, so it may be bhakti.
Then there is saṅga-siddha-bhakti. What is saṅga-siddha bhakti? You can understand with one very easy example. Like today, an outsider from a broadcasting department was speaking with me and said, “A very good gathering of devotees is being held. We have heard this, and we are very happy.” So, for outsiders, we are all pure devotees, everyone who is here. But among us, how many are actually pure devotees?
It may be that someone here does not even know the ABCD of devotion. He is not even wearing tulasī neck 
beads, nothing. He does not utter the name of Kṛṣṇa or anything. He does not know about Kṛṣṇa, but out of curiosity, he has come here and is among all the devotees. But an outsider will think, “Everyone here is a pure devotee, and they are here discussing Kṛṣṇa (hari-kathā).” They will say this.
If that new person is with a devotee, then he will also be called a devotee. But if he is outside of this council, then no one can consider him a devotee. Thus, in the association of pure devotees, if anything is done, then it is saṅga-siddha. Otherwise, it is not saṅga-siddha. What is the conclusion? The conclusion is that you should know what pure bhakti, svarūpa-siddha-bhakti, anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ and ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ is.
Mahāprabhu heard all these things and then said, “eho bāhya, āge kaha āra — this is external, say something more.” Rāya Rāmānanda quoted sarva-dharmān parityajya (Bhagavad-gītā 18.66), but He rejected this. Mahāprabhu rejected two ślokas of the Gītā and said, “You should go ahead. You should tell me something more.” Then Rāya Rāmānanda said:
prabhu kahe, — “eho bāhya, āge kaha āra”
rāya kahe, “jñāna-miśrā bhakti — sādhya-sāra”
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 8.64)
[“After hearing Rāmānanda Rāya speak in this way, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu again rejected his statement and said, ‘Go ahead and say something more.’ Rāmānanda Rāya then replied, ‘Devotional service mixed with empiric knowledge is the essence of perfection.’ ”]
And for this he said:
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
[“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realises the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state, he attains pure devotional service unto Me.”]
Today, the time is over. Gaura-premānande!
Source(s): Purebhakti.com, Serve Love – Bhakta Bandhav (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology transcribed and edited by the Bhakta Bandhav Team)
Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in, Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo and / or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)
