18 obstacles from sri krsna samhita cha 8-vs 13-31

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from sb 10.87.39 purport

 

Srila Sridhara Svami prays,

dambha-nyasa-misena vancita-janam bhogaika-cintaturam

sammuhyantam ahar-nisam viracitodyoga-klamair akulam

ajna-langhinam ajnam ajna-janata-sammananasan-madam

dinanatha daya-nidhana paramananda prabho pahi mam

"The hypocrite who cheats himself by a pretense of renunciation thinks only

of sense enjoyment and thus suffers constantly. Bewildered day and night, he

is overwhelmed by the exhausting endeavors he contrives for himself. This

fool disobeys Your laws and is corrupted by greed for respect from other

fools. O protector of the fallen, O bestower of mercy, O supremely blissful

master, please save that person, myself."

 

etasyam vraja-bhavanam sampattau prati-bandhakah

asta-dasa-vidhah santi satravah priti-dusakah

There are eighteen obstacles that pollute one's ecstatic love in the

wonderful mood of Vraja. Contemplating the names of these obstacles is the

indirect consideration of the mood of Vraja.

TEXT 14

adau dusta-guru-praptih putana stanya-dayini

vatya-rupa-kutarkas tu trnavarta itiritah

Persons who are on the path of attachment should avoid the first obstacle,

accepting a bogus guru, by discussing Putana's arrival in Vraja in the guise

of a nurse [see Appendix A]. There are two types of gurus-antaranga, or

internal, and bahiranga, or external. The living entity who is situated in

samadhi is his own antaranga guru<$Fatmano gurur atmaiva<_>purusasya

visesatah

yat pratyaksanumanabhyam<_>sreyo 'sav anuvindate

An intelligent person, expert in perceiving the world around him and in

applying sound logic, can achieve real benefit through his own intelligence.

Thus sometimes one acts as one's own instructing spiritual master. (Bhag.

11.7.20)>. One who accepts argument as his guru and who learns the process

of worship from such a guru is said to have accepted the shelter of a bogus

guru. When argument poses as nourishment for the living entities'

constitutional duties, this may be compared with Putana's falsely posing as

a nurse. Worshipers on the path of attachment must immerse all arguments in

spiritual subjects and take shelter of samadhi. The external guru is he from

whom the science of worship is learned. One who knows the proper path of

attachment and who instructs his disciples according to their qualification

is a sad-guru, or eternal guru. One who does not know the path of attachment

yet instructs others in this path or who knows that path and instructs his

disciples without considering their qualification is abogus guru and must be

given up. The second obstacle is false arguments. It is difficult for one's

ecstatic emotion to be awakened until Trnavarta, in the form of a whirlwind,

is killed in Vraja. In the form of Trnavarta, the arguments of philosophers,

Buddhists, and logicians are all obstacles to the ecstatic emotion of Vraja.

TEXT 15

trtiye bhara-vahitvam sakatam buddhi mardakam

caturthe bala-dosanam svarupo vatsa-rupa-dhrk

Those who do not understand the purpose of the regulative principles but

simply carry the burden of following them out of formality are unable to

develop attachment. When one destroys Sakata, who personifies carrying the

burden of the regulative principles, the third obstacle is overcome. Bogus

gurus who did not consider their disciples' qualification for the path of

attachment and thus instructed many Sakata-like people to accept service in

the mood of manjaris and sakhis committed offenses in the form of

disrespecting confidential subject matters and fell down. Those who worship

according to such instructions also gradually fall away from spiritual life,

because they do not attain the symptoms of deep attachment for those topics.

Yet they may still be delivered by the association of devotees and proper

instructions. This is called breaking Sakata. The living entities are sober

by nature, but when they are disturbed due to possessing a body made of

blood and flesh it is called bala-dosa, or juvenile offenses This is the

fourth obstacle, in the form of Vatsasura [see Appendix B].

TEXT 16

pancame dharma-kapatyam namaparadha rupakam

baka-rupi mahadhurtto vaisnavanam virodhakah

The most clever Bakasura, who is the personification of cheating religion,

is the fifth obstacle for Vaisnavas. This is called namaparadha, offenses

against the holy name of the Lord. Those who do not understand their

qualification but accept the instruction of a bogus guru and engage in the

process of worship meant for exalted devotees are cheated asslike people.

And those who have understood their ineligibility yet with a goal to

accumulate money and prestige still follow the process of worship meant for

exalted devotees are called cheaters. Until this cheating in the name of

religion is destroyed, one's attachment will not awaken. Such people deceive

the entire world by making a show of sectarian formalities and

pseudo-renunciation.

TEXT 17

tatraiva sampradayanam bahya-linga-samadarat

dambhikanam na sa pritih krsne vraja-nivasini

Those who see and respect such proud people's show of external formalities

cannot attain love for Krsna and are like thorns in the side of the world.

It is to be understood here that one should not disrespect a swanlike person

just because he has accepted external formalities that are generally

considered detestable. It is the eternal duty of Vaisnavas to develop the

symptoms of love by associating with and serving devotees, while remaining

indifferent to external formalities.

TEXT 18

nrsamsatvam pracandatvam aghasura svarupakam

sasthaparadha rupo 'yam vartate pratibandhakah

Aghasura, the personification of intolerance and cruelty, is the sixth

obstacle. Due to a lack of compassion for the living entities there is a

possibility that one's attachment will gradual diminish, because compassion

cannot remain separated from attachment. The basis of compassion for the

living entities and devotion to Krsna is the same.

TEXT 19

bahu-sastra-vicarena san moho vartate satam

sa eva saptamo laksyo brahmano mohane kila

If one intensely absorbs his mind in various arguments, opinions, and their

respective literatures, then all realizations attained through samadhi are

practically lost. This is called illusion based on the flowery words of the

Vedas. Being overwhelmed with this illusion, Brahma doubted the supremacy of

Krsna. The Vaisnavas should regard this illusion as the seventh obstacle.

TEXT 20

dhenukah sthula-buddhih syad garddabhas tala-rodhakah

astame laksyate dosah sampradaye satam mahan

Subtle discrimination is extremely important for Vaisnavas. Those who invent

social distinctions and preach the unbreakable principles of Vaisnavism

while breaking them to suit their needs are said to possess gross

discrimination. This gross discrimination takes the form of the ass Dhenuka.

The ass cannot eat the sweet palm tree fruits, and he opposes others'

attempts to eat them. The purport is that the previous acaryas of the

authorized sampradayas have written many spiritual literatures, which people

with gross discrimination neither understand nor allow others to see.

Asslike devotees who are simply interested in the regulative principles and

under the control of gross discrimination are unable to attain a higher

platform. Vaisnava principles are so unlimitedly exalted that those who

simply remain entangled in the regulative process without endeavoring to

understand the science of attachment are comparable to ordinary fruitive

workers. Therefore, until the ass Dhenukasura is killed, one cannot advance

in he science of Vaisnavism.

TEXT 21

indriyani bhajanty eke tyaktva vaida-vidhim subham

navame vrsabhas te 'pi nasyante krsna-tejasa

Many weak-hearted people give up the path of regulative principles and enter

the path of attachment. When they are unable to realize the souls' spiritual

attachment, they behave like Vrsabhasura [Aristasura, the bull] by

cultivating perverted material attachment. They will be killed by the

prowess of Krsna. The example of this obstacle is regularly found among the

selfish dharma-dvajis, the show-bottle devotees.

TEXT 22

khalata dasame laksya kaliye sarpa-rupake

sampradaya-virodho 'yam davanalo vicintyate

Kaliya's malice always pollutes the water of the Yamuna, which is the

spiritual liquid of the Vaisnavas. It is everyone's duty to give up this

tenth obstacle [see Appendix C]. The eleventh obstacle of the Vaisnavas is

sectarianism, which takes the shape of the forest fire. Due to sectarianism

a person cannot accept anyone outside of his own group as a Vaisnava, and as

a result he faces many obstacles in finding a guru and associating with

devotees. Therefore extinguishing the forest fire is most important.

TEXT 23

pralambo dvadase cauryam atmano brahma-vadinam

pravistah krsna-dasye 'pi vaisnavanam sutaskarah

The impersonalists desire to merge the soul in the impersonal Brahman. In

other words, searching for the liberation of complete merging is the defect

of stealing the self, because there is no happiness in this state. Neither

the living entity nor the Lord gain anything from this. If one believes the

impersonalists' philosophy, then he must accept this material world as

false. One then denounces Brahman as indifferent and gradually develops

doubts about the basis of Brahman. If one deeply discusses this topic, then

he is compelled to accept meaningless nescience and nonexistence of the

living entities. Thus all of mankind's endeavors and considerations become

meaningless. Sometimes this philosophy enters amongst Vaisnavas in the form

of Pralambasura to spread anarthas, in the form of stealing the self. This

is the twelve obstacle in the Vaisnavas' science of love.

TEXT 24

karmanah phalam anviksya devendradi-prapujanam

trayodasatmako doso varjaniyah prayatnatah

The thirteenth obstacle for the Vaisnavas is the worship of minor demigods

such as Indra with a desire for fruitive results even after becoming

situated in the process of devotional service.

TEXT 25

cauryanrta mayo doso vyomasura svarupakah

sri-krsna-priti-paryaptau naranam pratibandhakah

The fourteenth obstacle in developing love for Krsna is stealing others'

property and speaking lies. These create disturbances in Vraja in the form

of Vyomasura.

TEXT 26

varunalaya sampraptir nandasya citta-madakam

varjaniyam sada sadbhir vismrtir hy atmano yatah

The transcendental happiness of the living entities in Vraja is known as

nanda. In order to enhance that happiness, some deluded people drink wine,

and as a result they create the great anartha of forgetting themselves.

Kidnapping Nanda to the abode of Varuna is the fifteenth obstacle for the

Vaisnavas. People who are absorbed in the mood of Vraja never drink wine.

TEXT 27

pratisthaparata bhakti cchalena bhoga-kamana

sankhacuda iti proktah sodasah pratibandhakah

The desire for gaining fame and sense gratification through bhakti is called

Sankhacuda. This is the sixteenth obstacle. Those whose actions are

motivated by a desire for fame are also proud, therefore Vaisnavas should

always be careful of such persons.

TEXT 28

ananda-varddhane kincit sayujyam bhasate hrdi

tan nanda-bhaksakah sarpas tena muktah suvaisnavah

As the Vaisnavas' happiness continually increases in the process of worship,

they sometimes lose consciousness. At that time the feeling of merging

overcomes them. This feeling of merging with the Lord is the snake that

swallowed Nanda Maharaja. A practitioner who remains free from this snake

will become a qualified Vaisnava.

TEXT 29

bhakti-tejo-samrddhya tu svotkarsa-jnanavan narah

kadacid dusta-buddhya tu kesi-ghnam avamanyate

Kesi, a demon in the form of a horse, personifies the practitioner's

conception of being more expert than others in devotional service. When he

comes to Vraja, he creates a great disturbance. As a Vaisnava gradually

begins proclaiming his own superiority, a mentality of disrespect for the

Lord arises and the devotee falls from his position. Therefore it is most

important to prevent this evil mentality from entering the heart. Even if

one is expert in devotional service, a Vaisnava will never give up the

quality of humility. If one does so, then there is a need for killing Kesi.

This is the eighteenth obstacle.

TEXT 30

dosas castadasa hy ete bhaktanam satravo hrdi

damanayah prayatnena krsnananda nisevina

Those who want to happily serve Krsna in the pure mood of Vraja should

carefully destroy the above-mentioned eighteen obstacles. Some of these

obstacles should be destroyed by a person's own endeavor and purity, and

some should be destroyed by the mercy of Krsna. A living entity is able to

personally destroy the obstacles that are found under the shelter of

religious duties through samadhi known as savikalpa. The Srimad Bhagavatam

explains that these obstacles are actually destroyed by Baladeva. But it is

also described that the obstacles that are destroyed by taking shelter of

Krsna are actually destroyed by Him. Swanlike persons with subtle

discrimination should carefully discuss these topics.

TEXT 31

jnaninam mathura dosah karminam pura-vartinah

varjaniyah sada kintu bhaktanam vraja-dusakah

Those who are on the path of jnana should give up the offenses found in the

realm of Mathura, and those who are on the path of fruitive activities

should give the offenses found in Dvaraka. But devotees should give up the

obstacles that pollute the mood of Vraja and be absorbed in love for Krsna.

Thus ends the Eight Chapter of Sri Krsna-samhita, entitled

"Direct and Indirect Considerations on the Moods of Vraja."

May Lord Krsna be pleased.