Eligibility of the Candidate - Part 1

[Guest guest]

!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

 

The below content is extracted from the book " Nectar of devotion " (ISCKON). It

will be a very beneficial reading to all & will essentially help clear most of

the spiritual doubts & querries upfront. It impacts equally well for a beginner

& learned devotees.

 

In order to avoid a long reading for all of you, I have bisected the entire

write-up into 2 sections. Here is the first part ---

 

--

1) The exceptional fortune (classes of devotee):

--

 

 

On account of his association with mahatmas, or great souls one hundred percent

in the devotional service of the Lord, one may attain a little bit of attraction

for Sri Krsna. But at the same time one may remain very much attached to

fruitive activities and material sense enjoyment and not be prepared to undergo

the different types of renunciation. Such a person, if he has unflinching

attraction to Krsna, becomes an eligible candidate for discharging devotional

service. This attraction for Krsna consciousness in association with pure

devotees is the sign of great fortune. It is confirmed by Lord Caitanya that

only the fortunate persons, by the mercy of both a bona fide spiritual master

and Krsna, will get the seed of devotional service. In this connection, Lord

Krsna says in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 8, " My

dear Uddhava, only by exceptional fortune does someone become attracted to Me.

And even if one is not completely detached from fruitive activities, or is not

completely attached to devotional service, such service is quickly effective. "

Devotees may be divided into three classes. The devotee in the first or

uppermost class is described as follows. He is very expert in the study of

relevant scriptures, and he is also expert in putting forward arguments in terms

of those scriptures. He can very nicely present conclusions with perfect

discretion and can consider the ways of devotional service in a decisive way. He

understands perfectly that the ultimate goal of life is to attain to the

transcendental loving service of Krsna, and he knows that Krsna is the only

object of worship and love. This first-class devotee is one who has strictly

followed the rules and regulations under the training of a bona fide spiritual

master and has sincerely obeyed him in accord with revealed scriptures. Thus,

being fully trained to preach and become a spiritual master himself, he is

considered first class. The first-class devotee never deviates from the

principles of higher authority, and he attains firm faith in the scriptures by

understanding with all reason and arguments. When we speak of arguments and

reason, it means arguments and reason on the basis of revealed scriptures. The

first-class devotee is not interested in dry speculative methods meant for

wasting time. In other words, one who has attained a mature determination in the

matter of devotional service can be accepted as the first-class devotee. The

second-class devotee has been defined by the following symptoms: he is not very

expert in arguing on the strength of revealed scripture, but he has firm faith

in the objective. The purport of this description is that the second-class

devotee has firm faith in the procedure of devotional service unto Krsna, but he

may sometimes fail to offer arguments and decisions on the strength of revealed

scripture to an opposing party. But at the same time he is still

undaunted within himself as to his decision that Krsna is the supreme object of

worship. The neophyte or third-class devotee is one whose faith is not strong

and who,

at the same time, does not recognize the decision of the revealed scripture. The

neophyte's faith can be changed by someone else with strong arguments or by an

opposite decision. Unlike the second-class devotee, who also cannot put forward

arguments and evidences from the scripture, but who still has all faith in the

objective, the neophyte has no firm faith in the objective. Thus he is called

the Neophyte devotee.

 

 

Further classification of the neophyte devotee is made in the Bhagavad-gita. It

is stated there that four classes of men--namely those who are distressed, those

who are in need of money, those who are inquisitive and those who are

wise--begin devotional service and come to the Lord for relief in the matter of

their respective self-satisfaction. They go into some place of worship and pray

to God for m itigation of material distress, or for some economic development,

or to satisfy their inquisitiveness. And a wise man who simply realizes the

greatness of God is also counted among the neophytes. Such beginners can be

elevated to the second-class or first-class platform if they associate with pure

devotees. An example of the neophyte class is Maharaja Dhruva. He was in need of

his father's kingdom and therefore engaged himself in devotional service to the

Lord. Then in the end, when he was completely purified, he declined to accept

any material benediction from the Lord. Similarly, Gajendra was distressed and

prayed to Krsna for protection, after which he became a pure devotee. Similarly

Sanaka, Sanatana, Sananda and Sanat-kumara were all in the category of wise,

saintly persons, and they were also attracted by devotional service.

 

A similar thing happened to the assemblage in the Naimisaranya Forest, headed by

the sage Saunaka. They were inquisitive and were always asking Suta Gosvami

about Krsna. Thus they achieved the association of a pure devotee and became

pure devotees themselves. So that is the way of elevating oneself. In whatever

condition one

may be, if he is fortunate enough to associate with pure devotees, then very

quickly he is elevated to the second-class or first-class platform. These four

types of devotees have been described in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita,

and they have all been accepted as pious. Without becoming pious, no one can

come to devotional service. It is explained in Bhagavad-gita that only one who

has continually executed pious activities and whose sinful reactions in life

have completely stopped can take to Krsna consciousness. Others cannot. The

neophyte devotees are classified into four groups--the distressed, those in need

of money, the inquisitive and the wise--according to

their gradations of pious activities. Without pious activities, if a man is in a

distressed condition he becomes an agnostic, a communist or something like that.

Because he does not firmly believe in God, he thinks that he can adjust his

distressed condition by totally disbelieving in Him. Lord Krsna, however, has

explained in the Gita that out of these four types of neophytes, the one who is

wise is very dear to Him, because a wise man, if he is attached to Krsna, is not

seeking an exchange of material benefits. A wise man who becomes attached to

Krsna does not want any return from Him, either in the form of relieving

distress or in gaining money. This means that from the

very beginning his basic principle of attachment to Krsna is, more or less,

love. Furthermore, due to his wisdom and study of sastras (scriptures), he can

understand also that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

 

 

------

2) The seed of wisdom (The first step to Krishna):

------

 

 

It is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita that after many, many births, when one becomes

actually wise, he surrenders unto Vasudeva, knowing perfectly well that Krsna

(Vasudeva) is the origin and cause of all causes. Therefore, he sticks to the

lotus feet of Krsna and gradually develops love for Him. Although such a wise

man is very dear to Krsna, the others are also accepted as very magnanimous,

because even though they are distressed or in need of money, they have come to

Krsna for satisfaction. Thus they are accepted as liberal, broadminded mahatmas.

Without being elevated to the position of a jnani, or wise man, one cannot stick

to the principle of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The less

intelligent or those whose intelligence has been taken away by the spell of maya

are attached to different demigods on account of the influence of the modes of

nature. The wise man is he who has thoroughly understood that he is spirit soul

and not simply a body. Because he realizes that he is spirit and Krsna is the

supreme spirit, he knows that his intimate relationship should be with Krsna,

not with this body. The distressed and the man in want of money are in

the material concept of life, because distress and need of money are both in

relationship with this body. One who is inquisitive may be a little above the

distressed and the man in need of money, but still he is on the material

platform. But a wise man who seeks Krsna knows perfectly well that he is spirit

soul, or Brahman, and that Krsna is the supreme spirit soul, or Parabrahman. He

knows that the spirit soul, being subordinate and finite, should always dovetail

himself with the infinite and supreme soul, Krsna. That is the relationship of

the wise man with Krsna.

 

 

It can be concluded that a person who is freed from the bodily concept of life

is an eligible candidate for pure devotional service. It is also confirmed in

the Bhagavad-gita that after Brahman realization, when one is freed from

material anxieties and can see every living entity on an equal level, he is

eligible to enter into devotional service. As stated before, there are three

kinds of happiness--material, spiritual and devotional. Devotional service and

the happiness due to its execution are not possible as long as one is materially

affected. If someone has desire for material enjoyment or for becoming one with

the Supreme, these are both considered material concepts. Because the

impersonalists cannot appreciate the spiritual happiness of association and the

exchange of loving affairs with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, their

ultimate goal is to become one with the Lord. This concept is simply an

extension of the material idea. In the material world, everyone is trying to be

the topmost head man among all his fellow men or neighbors. Either communally,

socially or nationally, everyone is competing to be greater than all others, in

the material concept of life. This greatness can

be extended to the unlimited, so that one actually wants to become one with the

greatest of all, the Supreme Lord. This is also a material concept, although

maybe a little more advanced. However, the perfect spiritual concept of life is

complete knowledge of one's constitutional position, in which one knows enough

to dovetail himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. One must

know that he is finite and that the Lord is infinite. Thus it is not possible to

actually become one with the Lord even if one aspires for this. It is simply not

possible. Therefore, anyone who has any desire or aspiration for satisfying his

senses by becoming more and more important, either in the material sense or in

the spiritual sense, cannot actually relish the really sweet taste of devotional

service. Srila Rupa Gosvami has therefore compared possessing these bhukti

(material) and mukti (liberation) desires with being influenced by the black art

of a witch: in both cases one is in trouble. Bhukti means material enjoyment,

and mukti means to become freed from material anxiety and to become one with the

Lord. These desires are compared to being haunted by ghosts and witches, because

while these aspirations for material enjoyment or spiritual oneness with the

Supreme remain, no one can relish the actual transcendental taste of devotional

service. A pure devotee never cares for liberation. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu

prayed to Krsna, " My dear son of Nanda, I do not want any material happiness in

the shape of many followers, nor immense opulence in wealth, nor any beautiful

wife, nor do I want cessation from material existence. I may take birth many

times, one after another, but what I pray from You is that my devotion unto You

may always remain unflinching. "

--\

------------------------------

 

 

Hare Krishna

Hare Rama