A question regarding gradual detachment

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TEXT 8

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage

all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a

doubt.

PURPORT

One who is engaged in Lord Krsna's devotional service lives in a direct

relationship with the Supreme Lord, so there is no doubt that his position

is transcendental from the very beginning. A devotee does not live on the

material plane -- he lives in Krsna. The holy name of the Lord and the Lord

are nondifferent; therefore when a devotee chants Hare Krsna, Krsna and His

internal potency are dancing on the tongue of the devotee. When he offers

Krsna food, Krsna directly accepts these eatables, and the devotee becomes

Krsna-ized by eating the remnants. One who does not engage in such service

cannot understand how this is so, although this is a process recommended in

the Bhagavad-gita and in other Vedic literatures.

Bg 12.9

TEXT 9

TRANSLATION

My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me

without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In

this way develop a desire to attain Me.

PURPORT

In this verse, two different processes of bhakti-yoga are indicated. The

first applies to one who has actually developed an attachment for Krsna, the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, by transcendental love. And the other is for

one who has not developed an attachment for the Supreme Person by

transcendental love. For this second class there are different prescribed

rules and regulations one can follow to be ultimately elevated to the stage

of attachment to Krsna.

Bhakti-yoga is the purification of the senses. At the present moment in

material existence the senses are always impure, being engaged in sense

gratification. But by the practice of bhakti-yoga these senses can become

purified, and in the purified state they come directly in contact with the

Supreme Lord. In this material existence, I may be engaged in some service

to some master, but I don't really lovingly serve my master. I simply serve

to get some money. And the master also is not in love; he takes service from

me and pays me. So there is no question of love. But for spiritual life, one

must be elevated to the pure stage of love. That stage of love can be

achieved by practice of devotional service, performed with the present

senses.

This love of God is now in a dormant state in everyone's heart. And, there,

love of God is manifested in different ways, but it is contaminated by

material association. Now the heart has to be purified of the material

association, and that dormant, natural love for Krsna has to be revived.

That is the whole process.

To practice the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga one should, under the

guidance of an expert spiritual master, follow certain principles: one

should rise early in the morning, take bath, enter the temple and offer

prayers and chant Hare Krsna, then collect flowers to offer to the Deity,

cook foodstuffs to offer to the Deity, take prasadam, and so on. There are

various rules and regulations which one should follow. And one should

constantly hear Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam from pure devotees. This

practice can help anyone rise to the level of love of God, and then he is

sure of his progress into the spiritual kingdom of God. This practice of

bhakti-yoga, under the rules and regulations, with the direction of a

spiritual master, will surely bring one to the stage of love of God.

Bg 12.10

TEXT 10

PURPORT

One who is not able even to practice the regulative principles of

bhakti-yoga, under the guidance of a spiritual master, can still be drawn to

this perfectional stage by working for the Supreme Lord. How to do this work

has already been explained in the fifty-fifth verse of the Eleventh Chapter.

One should be sympathetic to the propagation of Krsna consciousness. There

are many devotees who are engaged in the propagation of Krsna consciousness,

and they require help. So, even if one cannot directly practice the

regulative principles of bhakti-yoga, he can try to help such work. Every

endeavor requires land, capital, organization and labor. Just as in business

one requires a place to stay, some capital to use, some labor and some

organization to expand, so the same is required in the service of Krsna. The

only difference is that in materialism one works for sense gratification.

The same work, however, can be performed for the satisfaction of Krsna, and

that is spiritual activity. If one has sufficient money, he can help in

building an office or temple for propagating Krsna consciousness. Or he can

help with publications. There are various fields of activity, and one should

be interested in such activities. If one cannot sacrifice the results of his

activities, the same person can still sacrifice some percentage to propagate

Krsna consciousness. This voluntary service to the cause of Krsna

consciousness will help one to rise to a higher state of love for God,

whereupon one becomes perfect.

Bg 12.11

TEXT 11

PURPORT

It may be that one is unable even to sympathize with the activities of Krsna

consciousness because of social, familial or religious considerations or

because of some other impediments. If one attaches himself directly to the

activities of Krsna consciousness, there may be objections from family

members, or so many other difficulties. For one who has such a problem, it

is advised that he sacrifice the accumulated result of his activities to

some good cause. Such procedures are described in the Vedic rules. There are

many descriptions of sacrifices and special functions of punya, or special

work in which the result of one's previous action may be applied. Thus one

may gradually become elevated to the state of knowledge. It is also found

that when one who is not even interested in the activities of Krsna

consciousness gives charity to some hospital or some other social

institution, he gives up the hard-earned results of his activities. That is

also recommended here because by the practice of giving up the fruits of

one's activities one is sure to purify his mind gradually, and in that

purified stage of mind one becomes able to understand Krsna consciousness.

Of course Krsna consciousness is not dependent on any other experience,

because Krsna consciousness itself can purify one's mind, but if there are

impediments to accepting Krsna consciousness, one may try to give up the

results of his actions. In that respect, social service, community service,

national service, sacrifice for one's country, etc., may be accepted so that

some day one may come to the stage of pure devotional service to the Supreme

Lord. In Bhagavad-gita (18.46) we find it is stated, yatah pravrttir

bhutanam: if one decides to sacrifice for the supreme cause, even if he does

not know that the supreme cause is Krsna, he will come gradually to

understand that Krsna is the supreme cause by the sacrificial method.

Bg 12.12

TEXT 12

TRANSLATION

If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation

of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than

meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation

one can attain peace of mind.

PURPORT

As mentioned in the previous verses, there are two kinds of devotional

service: the way of regulative principles and the way of full attachment in

love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For those who are actually not

able to follow the principles of Krsna consciousness it is better to

cultivate knowledge, because by knowledge one can be able to understand his

real position. Gradually knowledge will develop to the point of meditation.

By meditation one can be able to understand the Supreme Personality of

Godhead by a gradual process. There are processes which make one understand

that one himself is the Supreme, and that sort of meditation is preferred if

one is unable to engage in devotional service. If one is not able to

meditate in such a way, then there are prescribed duties, as enjoined in the

Vedic literature, for the brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras, which we

shall find in the last chapter of Bhagavad-gita. But in all cases, one

should give up the result or fruits of labor; this means to employ the

result of karma for some good cause.

In summary, to reach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the highest goal,

there are two processes: one process is by gradual development, and the

other process is direct. Devotional service in Krsna consciousness is the

direct method, and the other method involves renouncing the fruits of one's

activities. Then one can come to the stage of knowledge, then to the stage

of meditation, then to the stage of understanding the Supersoul, and then to

the stage of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One may take either the

step-by-step process or the direct path. The direct process is not possible

for everyone; therefore the indirect process is also good. It is, however,

to be understood that the indirect process is not recommended for Arjuna,

because he is already at the stage of loving devotional service to the

Supreme Lord. It is for others, who are not at this stage; for them the

gradual process of renunciation, knowledge, meditation and realization of

the Supersoul and Brahman should be followed. But as far as Bhagavad-gita is

concerned, it is the direct method that is stressed. Everyone is advised to

take to the direct method and surrender unto the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, Krsna.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bg 12.12