Obstacles to Devotion
Our ultimate goal is to attain Shri Krishna. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to understand both the medicine and the precautions needed to protect its effect.
The Medicine: The ultimate goal can be achieved solely through devotion (Bhakti).
There are three types of devotion:
- Saṅga-siddhā bhakti - This is the lowest class of devotion. This form of bhakti is mixed with karma and gyān. In other words, in this form of devotion, your mind is engaged in devotion to Shri Krishna. At the same time, you perform the duties prescribed by varṇāśrama-dharma for your social order and stage of life, according to the rules and injunctions of the Vedas.
- Āropa-siddhā bhakti - This is the intermediate class of devotion. In this, you offer the fruits of your actions to Shri Krishna while practising devotion.
- Svarūpa-siddhā bhakti - This is the highest class of devotion. It is characterised by selfless love for Shyamsundar with the sole aim of making Him happy. This is what you should strive for. It includes three types of devotional activities:
- shravan - hearing about God
- kirtan - singing His glories
- smaran - lovingly remembering Him.
Among these, smaran is the most important. Without smaran, you cannot attain true devotion to God. Therefore, either practice smaran alone or combine smaran with kirtan. Without smaran, however, no devotional activity can unite you with God.
By taking this medicine faithfully, you can overcome your material afflictions.
The Precautions: Protecting Your Spiritual Progress
But precautions are equally necessary. Spiritual earning is not the great thing; the great thing is not losing what you have earned.
The first precaution is to avoid bad association (kusang) and faults.
Suppose you earn one crore rupees, leave it at a crossroads, and walk away. When you return the next day, nothing will be left. Such is the influence of bad association.
Ajamil was a 'jitendriya', meaning that he had complete control over his senses and was virtuous. Yet, because of a moment of bad association, he became such a great sinner that his life became a cautionary example for others throughout history.
Therefore, understanding the obstacles to devotion is even more essential than practicing devotion.
There are two obstacles to devotion:
- Kapūyācharaṇ and
- Ādhyātmik Tuṣṭi.
These are two of the greatest impediments to devotion. They prevent you from progressing toward Shri Krishna and can cause you to fall from the spiritual path before reaching your goal. - Kapūyācaraṇ
Kapūyācaraṇ has three subcategories:
i) Jihma Bhāv -
Jihma bhāv means that, on the one hand, there is deceit in your mind, while, on the other hand, you are worshiping Shri Krishna.
You have been habituated to privacy for countless births. Only you know your most private matters. You may share somewhat less private matters with your husband or wife; less private matters with your mother or son; still less private matters with friends; and the most ordinary matters with a servant.
The most private matters - the things that a wife hides from her husband or a husband hides from his wife - are what constitute true privacy.
This very sense of privacy is causing your downfall. When you are alone, you may harbor negative thoughts about someone. You may even harbor negative thoughts about your Guru while sitting in front of him, yet simultaneously flatter him by saying, "Guru Ji, you are omniscient!"
A genuine Guru, however, immediately knows what a disciple is hiding from him.
ii) Anṛta Bhāv
Anṛta bhāv means pretending to be virtuous while concealing one's faults.
For example, on the one hand, a person may give charity, while, on the other hand, they may steal a bundle. Such a person constantly thinks about what they can say or do to appear good in front of others, rather than actually becoming good.
They reveal their good qualities to everyone while hiding their faults. They may even show off by crying loudly during sādhanā, pretending to have the devotional sentiments of a Gopī, without having genuine control over their emotions.
iii) Māyā Bhāv
Māyā bhāv involves false propaganda and ritualistic worship performed without engaging the mind.
A person becomes concerned with pleasing the world and publicizes their devotional activities merely to gain popularity.
You must abandon all three of these - jihma bhāv, anṛta bhāv, and māyā bhāv.
Whether you give them up today or after countless lifetimes, you must eventually abandon them. Otherwise, you will not attain devotion to Shri Krishna, nor will you be able to receive the Guru's grace.
- Ādhyātmika-tuṣṭi - Spiritual complacency
The second major obstacle is ādhyātmika-tuṣṭi, or spiritual complacency. It is of four types:
i) Bhagavat-tuṣṭi
- In this, a person does not practice sādhanā and believes that sādhanā can happen only through God's grace. They think, "When God bestows His grace, sādhanā will automatically happen. He will make me do it."
Thinking this way, they become complacent. They remain absorbed in worldly pleasures and do not even fear death. They fail to consider that if they die the very next moment, they will lose the extremely rare opportunity of having attained a human body.
ii) Śaraṇa-varaṇa-tuṣṭi
Such people verbally surrender to God. They say -
tvameva sarvaṁ mama deva deva; śrīkṛṣṇaḥ śaraṇaṁ mama - "I am surrendered to You," but do not follow His instructions. Instead, they continue to follow whatever their mind dictates.
iii) Kāla-tuṣṭi
Such people say, "I will practice devotion when the right time comes. God will make everything happen. Time is powerful; no one can overcome time."
Thinking this way, they make no effort and remain attached to the world.
But when the "right time" finally arrived, it was time for them to leave the world. The time they had been waiting for - the time when they thought they would begin practicing devotion - never came.
iv) Bhāgya-tuṣṭi
Such people say, "Whatever is written in our destiny will happen automatically."
They quote -
hariṇāpi hareṇāpi brāhmaṇāpi surairapi. lalāṭa likhitā rekhā parimārṣṭuṁ na shakyate
With this mindset, they become complacent.
They think, "Why should I worry about practicing devotion? These Babas have no real work anyway. They just keep saying, 'Do bhajan, do bhajan, do bhajan.' I have children to take care of. I must worry about them. Right now, I have accumulated ten lakh rupees for each child. Until that becomes ten crore rupees for each child, how can I sit at ease? If I listen to Baba Ji, I will have to say 'Radhey Radhey' twenty-four hours a day. Am I mad to do that? I already know the philosophical truth - everything will happen according to destiny."
Thinking this way, they make no effort to practice devotion.
The Consequences of These Misconceptions -
When these misconceptions fill one's mind -
so paratra duḥkha pāvai,
sira dhuni dhuni pachitāya।
kālahiṃ karmahiṃ īśvarahiṃ,
mithyā doṣa lagāya॥
One falsely blames God, destiny, time, and karma for one's situation and thereby causes one's own downfall. Thus, one wastes the precious human body, because only through the human body can one practice devotion.
Kabahunka karahi karuṇā nar dehi - after millions of kalpas, when one again receives a human body, these same defects may still remain, preventing one from practicing devotion. Even if you practice devotion without being mindful of these impediments, you will not be able to make real spiritual progress.
Therefore, along with practicing devotion, you must understand and overcome the obstacles that hinder it.
How to Overcome These Obstacles -
It is true that you cannot eliminate these defects immediately. That requires practice.
Through consistent practice and self-reflection, you can gradually reduce their influence. Every night before bed, take two minutes to reflect on the mistakes you made that day. Ask yourself:
- When did I fall into any of the impediments described above?
- When did I act against the principles of surrender and devotion?
- What should I do differently tomorrow?
Then, the following day, remain alert and try not to repeat those mistakes.
In this way, these defects will gradually diminish.
Therefore, practice devotion diligently while remaining aware of these obstacles and consciously working to eliminate them. By doing so, your spiritual progress will accelerate manyfold.
You will begin to recognize your progress when you notice that you are less affected when someone speaks harshly to you and that you do not become as angry as you once did.
Unless you resolve to remove these defects yourself, the Guru cannot bestow divine bliss upon you. Surrender means having only Hari and Guru in your heart, with no worldly disturbance remaining.
Therefore, by practicing smaran-bhakti and continuously overcoming these obstacles, your devotion will grow with every passing moment - pratikṣaṇa-vardhamānam - while your worldly attachments, which were once very strong, will gradually diminish and ultimately disappear.
Then, when bhāva-bhakti reaches completion, your mind will become completely purified. At that point, your Guru will bestow pure devotion through the divine power known as svarūpa-śakti.
Then, what can one say about devotion and God-realization? God Himself will become subordinate to you.
Thus, you will attain your ultimate goal.
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