utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati
―There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavouring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles [such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ [SB 7.5.23]—hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa], (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.‖
Overview
Para 1 – What Pure Devotional Service is
Para 2 - O.K. Devotional service is Śīlanaṁ, activity, but what activities?
Para 3 - And which of these activities are first?
Para 4 - from whom to hear?
Para 5 to 7 - Enthusiasm (Utsāhān)
Para 8 - Patience & Confidence (Dhairyāt & Niścayād)
Para 9 – tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt (acting according to the regulative principles Para 10 – sanga tyagat (abandoning the association of nondevotees)
Para 11 - sato vrtti (following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas) Para 12 to 17 –
Explanation
HPS: We've had six things that will surely prevent us from engaging the senses in the service of the Master of the Senses, Hrisikesa (vinaśyati — is destroyed). Now we see six things that will make it very easy (prasidhyati — advances or becomes successful).
BACE: This text explains the impetus for performing bhakti - what is not bhakti, what is bhakti, how to perform bhakti, why perform bhakti, who can perform bhakti, where to perform bhakti.
HPS: Text Three is the Upadeśāmrita text that Śrīla Prabhupāda most often quotes in his books and lectures.
HPS: Paragraphs 1-4 develop the idea of cultivation and then 5-11 explain the six favorable things one after another. In Paragraph 12 we see Śrīla Prabhupāda summarizing all six and starting the Anuvrtti commentary.
CCD: Prescription metaphor –
o Utsāhān – enthusiasm to take medicine o Niścayād – faith that medicine will work o Dhairyāt – be patient that medicine will work
o Tat tat karma pravartanāt – follow dos and don‘ts given by doctor.
o Sanga tyagat – avoid people or things with infection.
o Sato vrtteh -
BACE: We should accept what is favorable for devotional service and reject what is unfavourable for devotional service.
o A- attitude (utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt) o Behaviour – saṅga-tyāgāt
o Character – tat-tat-karma o Direction – sato vṛtteḥ
VTE: Six principles are given that helps us progress on the path of pure devotional service. But before discussing them, Śrīla Rupa Gosvāmī explains exactly what pure devotional service is.
o (Para 1) Devotional service is not a matter of sentimental speculation or imaginative ecstasy. Its substance is practical activity. Definition of devotional service:
Relation is based on commitment. You may say ―I Love You‖, but it depends on how committed are you to each other. Gopīs are exalted to devotees, because they were committed to Kṛṣṇa. Their pastime when Kṛṣṇa got headache showed their commitment.
Closest to pure love in material love is mother-child. Essence of this is activity – she cares even in night. We can‘t even tolerate alarm clock which rings at time – bang!!! Baby is alarm clock without fixed time, mother never bangs.
Real love is seen through selfless service. Love in a way its authenticity is shown. Love means sacrifice.
King Solomon – 2 women came claiming a baby.
Śrīla Prabhupāda exemplified this practical activity most vividly. He could have dreamt of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. He had completed his family duties and retired. He was 69. But he spread the movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Practical Activity. He would cook for hippies.
We went to Gaudiya Matha in Puri. A boy from Pune wanted to serve the sannyasi from Gaudiya Matha. But was not allowed as he was not initiated. But Prabhupāda washed hippies‘ plates. Practical activity.
If we give ecstasy to Kṛṣṇa, we get ecstasy. Prabhupāda – These purports are his devotional ecstasies.
We feel these purports give such basic points. In Bhagavatam, Kṛṣṇa going to Dwarka, Arjuna holding His hands, everyone crying, but in purport Prabhupāda is criticizing Modern Civilization. Devotional ecstasy is what gives Kṛṣṇa‘s ecstasy. Kṛṣṇa wants all His children to come back to Him. Duty of Guru to remove obstacles between devotees and Kṛṣṇa. Prabhupāda is breaking the misconceptions which keep us from loving Kṛṣṇa.
Even chanting we do is activity. Prabhupāda didn‘t recommend silent chanting. There have been ācāryas who chanted silently. But modern ācāryas do not recommend silent chanting.
In Mayapur devotees were creating temple. Prabhupāda: Why are we constructing these temples? This land is barren, but it is rich with fruits of love of Kṛṣṇa as Caitanya Mahāprabhu is distributing even today.
We may listen them and get them, but not everyone. So we need to attract them.
Gurudas Prabhu describes – he was in-charge of Vṛndāvana project.
Prabhupāda came first time after Gurudas P came. Devotees had some imagination of Vṛndāvana after reading Kṛṣṇa book. Devotees thought Prabhupāda will tell some exalted pastimes. But when Prabhupāda came from Delhi to Vṛndāvana and while entering Vṛndāvana he said one word, ―Cement?‖ Engage in practical devotional service. BG 6.8 – Pure devotee sees stones, pebbles and gold equally. See application of that. Cement in stone. Prabhupāda valued cement as gold.
Prabhupāda translated bhakti as devotional (adjective-internal component) service (noun-external component). Some translate as devotion or divine love. What is the relationship between service and devotion? Service is the vehicle of devotion and service is the engine of devotion.
People – ―why do you exhibit bhakti? Why do you raise arms and dance? Bhakti in matter of heart‖ Kirtan is not exhibition but expression of bhakti. Exhibition is for public show but expression is for the object of devotion.
Anyone can say I am an advanced devotee. How does the other person know? By commitment. Love is both noun and verb.
―But why God needs service, He is self-satisfied? For sake of reciprocating. Suppose in spiritual world if everyone is just meditating on Lord, it won‘t be so attractive. But there also devotees act and display their love for Kṛṣṇa. Yaśodā is churning butter.
Prabhupāda – when you come before deity, you should feel deity asking – ―What are you doing for Me?‖ Engine: By service our devotional feeling are stimulated. Nitya siddha Kṛṣṇa Prema… E.g. in a movie hero forgets his memory, his memory is revived by showing him old items which he liked. So the hero doesn‘t have to make a new relationship with the father, he has to just revive his memory. So service acts as engine. When we do service, our forgotten memory becomes revived and our love is revived.
o BACE:
Jananivasa Prabhu once said Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is so simple that you will miss it – just chanting and following regulative principles.
People like complex philosophy, but someone like Prabhupāda gives everything so philosophy, they take it cheaply.
One Indian lady came to ISKCON Melbourne and started showing ecstatic symptoms. Devotees felt inferiority complex. They wrote to
Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda said kick her, if she comes out of her ecstasy that means she is fake.
One lady worshipping ladu gopal in vatsalya rasa. One day deity fell from her hand – ―O Gopal why are you running from me?‖ All fake, due to her negligence the deity fell.
o (Para 2 - O.K. Devotional service is Śīlanaṁ, activity, but what activities?) Anusilam: Bhakti is a sort of cultivation. As soon as we say "cultivation," we must refer to activity. Cultivation of spirituality does not mean sitting down idly for meditation, as some pseudo-yogīs teach. Such idle meditation may be good for those who have no information of devotional service, and for this reason it is sometimes recommended as a way to check distracting materialistic activities. (BP: This leaves aside negative, but this does not cultivate positive – devotion to Kṛṣṇa.) Meditation means stopping all nonsensical activities, at least for the time being.
o Devotional service, however, not only puts an end to all nonsensical mundane activities, but also engages one in meaningful devotional activities.
BP: Teacher to gurukula student: stop doing this. Negative is stopped, but positive can be done by engaging him in reading some good book, etc.
CCP: Nonsense activities - -ve X axis. Meditation: Zero. Bhakti:
positive X axis.
o (CCP: When Prahlada was asked what bhakti is, he also mentions activities.
Except śravaṇaṁ all are active, only śravaṇaṁ is passive.) The nine processes of devotional service are as follows:
1. hearing the name and glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead 2. chanting His glories
3. remembering the Lord 4. serving the Lord's feet 5. worshiping the Deity
6. offering obeisances unto the Lord 7. acting as the Lord's servant 8. making friends with the Lord
9. surrendering oneself fully to the Lord
o BP: One has to do them, but he can‘t do it whimsically because he will make so many blunders. It will be as bad as an uneducated person trying to teach himself.
o Para 3 - And which of these activities are first?
BP: So Prabhupāda explains how to learn. Arjuna had so many good reasons to not fight. But he was confused, so he surrendered to his guru Kṛṣṇa.
Śravaṇaṁ, or hearing, is the first step in acquiring transcendental knowledge. One should not give aural reception to unauthorized persons, but should approach the proper person.
E.g. Bali Maharaja
Sastric Support: BG 4.34 (tad vidhi …) – humility, service and inquiry.
Para 4 - from whom to hear?
Mundaka Upaniṣads (tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evabhigacchet MU 1.2:12)
This method of submissively receiving transcendental confidential knowledge is not merely based on mental speculation.
CC Madhya 19.151 (brahmanda bhramite…).
The living entities are wandering throughout the material universe. When by good fortune one comes in contact with a pure devotee and hears from him patiently, one begins to follow the path of devotional service.
o BACE: How many souls are in body? Uncountable.
Consider how many might be in 14-planetary system of world. How fortunate are we, Lord Caitanya appeared just 500 years ago.
BACE: Reporter: Do you feel liberated? Prabhupāda: If I eat a samosa, how do you what I am feeling, unless you also eat?
The proof of pudding is in eating.
BACE: Prabhupāda: How do you know Kṛṣṇa is Supreme Personality of Godhead? Gurudas Prabhu: Because you say so.
Prabhupāda: Anyone can say anything; I am just an old man.
Gurudas Prabhu: Because you feel the ecstasy when you serve Kṛṣṇa. Prabhupāda: Yes. So bhakti is not just a theoretical proposition, it is experienced practically.
BACE: BG says it is performed blissfully – rajvidya rajguhyam…. If we follow instructions of Sri Upadeśāmrita we‘ll experience the bliss. Because we are going from śraddhā to prema. Straight to Rādhā Kunda.
BACE: If it so simple, the price must be high? It must be for very exceptional people. An automatic washing machine with all functions must be costly? Devotees: What was our qualification? Prabhupāda: I created your qualification. So guru creates the qualification and Kṛṣṇa preserves what a devotee has and supplies what he lacks. E.g. Parīkṣit Maharaja.
Purpose of ISKCON: (who can perform bhakti?) Such an opportunity is offered to a person who is sincere. (Where to perform bhakti?) The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is giving such a chance to humanity at large.
Caitanya rejected Chhota Haridasa. With tears in his eyes Prabhupāda said I‘m not Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I need sincere souls like you to preach. Please continue practicing. If one is sincere he can continue practicing even after a fall down. There is no loss or diminution.
o BP: If one doesn‘t find time to hear, soon he‘ll have no time for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
o BP: If preaching doesn‘t go on in ISKCON, the whole institution becomes rubbish. There is no proper becomes sweeter. We should take 2nd quality – the fruit becomes sweeter by realization. SB became sweeter because Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke by realization and not simply like parrot.
BACE: Sampradāya vihina mantra… In Kaliyuga patients are so unfortunate that the doctor locks his clinic and goes out giving prescriptions and medicines. And doctor instructs his assistants / apprentices to do the same.
(Para 5-7) Enthusiasm (Utsāhān)
o (Para 5) One should accept this opportunity to return home, back to Godhead, very enthusiastically. Without enthusiasm, one cannot be successful.
BP: enthusiastically means with great eagerness.
BACE: Charlie Chaplin example. Enthusiasm is contagious.
BACE: Śrīla Prabhupāda‘s travelling at 70 yrs. was enthusiasm. He was always enthusiastic – whether following Gandhi or his guru maharaja.
o Even in the material world one has to be very enthusiastic in his particular field of activity in order to become successful.
o Enthusiasm means action, but action for whom? One should always act for Kṛṣṇa — kṛṣṇārthākhila-ceṣṭā (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu).
BP: Where does enthusiasm for a devotee comes from? Nalakuvera and Manigriva were bathing in Ganges but were not purified, because they didn‘t had attitude. The enthusiasm comes from sense of pleasure.
For devotee the pleasure comes from service. We are predominated enjoyer, not predominant enjoyer.
o (Para 6 - Very practical course of enthusiasm) In all phases of life one has to perform devotional activities under the direction of the spiritual master in order to attain perfection in bhakti-yoga.
BP: This is the essential principle which will make the rest of the page makes sense.
Under the direction of the bona fide spiritual master, one has to make everything favorable for Kṛṣṇa's service. For example, at
present we are using a dictaphone. The materialist who invented this electronic functions, are made from different combinations and interactions of the five basic types of material energy—namely, bhūmi, jala, agni, vāyu and ākāśa. The inventor used his brain to make this complicated machine, and his brain, as well as the ingredients, were supplied by Kṛṣṇa. According to the statement of Kṛṣṇa, mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni: [Bg. 9.4] "Everything is depending on My energy."
Thus the devotee can understand that since nothing is independent of Kṛṣṇa's energy, everything should be dovetailed in His service.
o Para 7 – (excellent summary definition of enthusiasm):
Endeavor executed with intelligence in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is called utsāha, or enthusiasm.
CCD: Enthusiasm is no replacement for competence. If you do not cooking, you should have intelligence to at least ask
CCD: Enthusiasm can also be shown by using more and more ways to serve. E.g. lecturing on internet. It is shown by our creativity.
BP:
o Yukta vairagya was a great gift of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thakura. Without utilizing everything it the whole world cannot be made Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
o But, while using everything in Kṛṣṇa‘s service, guidance of spiritual master is necessary. Devotees were using rock n roll to promote chanting, but they were falling down due to this. Prabhupāda stopped them, yes I want to use everything in Kṛṣṇa‘s service, but not in this way.
BACE:
o Prabhupāda stayed in a 5-star hotel. Reporter: Isn‘t it hypocritical? Prabhupāda: Since we are Kṛṣṇa‘s children, and this hotel belongs to Kṛṣṇa, we can use it in Kṛṣṇa‘s service. Not seeing the reporter being satisfied he said, I can stay under tree but no one will come for my press conference.
o Members from Rādhā Damodara Bus Party came – ―We are so enthusiastic that BBT can‘t provide as much as we are distributing. We‘ve defeated them.‖ Prabhupāda:
I‘ve defeated both of you. They are publishing 4th canto and I am on 7th canto.
o Enthusiasm is closely related to tat-tat-pravartanāt. If you do not follow regulative principles, your enthusiasm will dip gradually.
The execution of devotional service is not a matter of idle meditation but practical action in the foreground of spiritual life.
BACE: Enthusiasm is life of faith. Without enthusiasm faith has no meaning. There are many believers of God, but not many enthusiastic.
Patience & Confidence (Dhairyāt & Niścayād) Para 8
o (BP: Balance mode of passion, be enthusiastic, but not impatient.) These activities must be executed with patience.
o One should not be impatient in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Indeed, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started single-handedly, and in the beginning there was no response, but because we continued to execute our devotional activities with patience, people gradually began to understand the importance of this movement, and now they are eagerly participating.
BACE:
Prabhupāda waited 11 yrs. for initiation. Many devotees get restless after 3 yrs. Devotees become restless – I am doing so much austerity and sadhana, still those thoughts coming.
Prabhupāda single headedly did writing, publishing, cooking, distributing, etc. Result – no disciple.
He had complete plan ready for League of Devotees – but that also failed. Prabhupāda had vision – bhakti Sastri, he wrote Bhagavad Gita commentary when he was a grhastha. He told his god brothers – this mission will spread beyond India. He told New York bus conductor – I‘ve temple, books, etc. Swami Ji I can‘t see that.
Real vision is to see the invisible, feel the intangible and achieve the impossible. Even Juhu land so many problem.
―Don‘t you want to get purified?‖
o (1) One should not be impatient in discharging devotional service, but (2) should take instructions from the spiritual master and execute them with patience, (3) depending on the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa.
In CC Mukunda – Lord Caitanya will see after so many millions of years. He was ecstatic.
o The successful execution of Kṛṣṇa conscious activities requires both patience and confidence.
BP: Confidence is essential for enthusiasm and patience.
BACE: In early years, one has lot of enthusiasm. But in later years, confidence carries a devotee. Confidence that the process works. Fuel of enthusiasm will run out if there is no confidence. For running a car
we need both fuel and coolant. Enthusiasm is fuel and confidence is the coolant. Doubt comes when there is no confidence. And doubting person can‘t find success in this world or next.
o A newly married girl naturally expects offspring from her husband, but she cannot expect to have them immediately after marriage. Of course, as soon as she is married she can attempt to get a child, but she must surrender to her husband, confident that her child will develop and be born in due time.
o Similarly, in devotional service surrender means that one has to become confident.
o Definition: The devotee thinks, avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa: "Kṛṣṇa will surely protect me and give me help for the successful execution of devotional service." This is called confidence.
CCD: The confidence being talked about here is faith that this process of bhakti will take me to Kṛṣṇa.
BP: Ref saranagati song by Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
BACE: Bhakti is the only way. In a LA meeting Śrīla Prabhupāda collection of mundane opulence by the advancement of fruitive activities, and the desire for yoga-siddhis, material perfections, are all contrary to the principles of devotional service. One has to become thoroughly callous to such non-permanent activities and turn his intention instead to the regulative principles of devotional service. BG 2.69 – ya nisa …..pasyato muneh.
BP: Till para 11 Prabhupāda was telling what to cultivate, now Śrīla Sarasvatī Thakura will tell what not to cultivate.
HPS: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is emphasizing acquisition of Yoga-siddhis, mystical powers, as a real danger in Atyāhāra. Nowadays, people don't have that temptation. Nowadays we are tempted by hamburgers and milkshakes, but at the time of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī people really performed Hatha-yoga and had mystical powers. In India, even to this day and rarely other places some people
HPS: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is emphasizing acquisition of Yoga-siddhis, mystical powers, as a real danger in Atyāhāra. Nowadays, people don't have that temptation. Nowadays we are tempted by hamburgers and milkshakes, but at the time of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī people really performed Hatha-yoga and had mystical powers. In India, even to this day and rarely other places some people