I continue the discussion from the previous article on Śrī Sanātana Goswami’s commentary on Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswami’s Hari Bhakti Vilāsa. Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa further explains why not observing Śivarātri is displeasing to Śrī Bhagavān by citing another verse from the Kūrma purāṇa:

yo māṁ samarcayennityam ekāntaṁ bhāvamāśritaḥ |

vinindan devamīśānaṁ sa yāti narakāyutam ||190|| 

He goes to ten thousand hells who with one-pointed devotion worships me regularly but criticizes Lord Īśāna.

anyatra ca—

madbhaktaḥ śaṅkaradveṣī maddveṣī śaṅkarapriyaḥ | 

ubhau tau narakaṁ yātau yāvaccandradivākarau ||191|| iti |

And elsewhere:

My devotee who hates Śankara, and Śankara’s devotee who hates me, both go to hell for as long as the sun and moon last.

ataeva hayaśīrṣapañcarātre śrīhariharapratiṣṭhāyāṁ śrībhagavataivoktam—

yaḥ śivaḥ so’hameveha yo’haṁ sa bhagavān śivaḥ | 

nāvayorantaraṁ kiñcidākāśānilayoriva ||192||

It is for this reason, Śrī Bhagavān Himself states in the Śrī Harihara Pratiṣṭhā of the Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra:

He who is Śiva is Me, and I am Bhagavān Śiva. There is not the slightest difference between the two of us, like the sky and the wind.

Śrī Sanātana Goswami comments:

nanu nānyaṁ devaṁ namaskūryān nānyaṁ devaṁ nirīkṣayet | cakrāṅkitaḥ sadā tiṣṭhenmadbhaktaḥ pāṇḍunandana || iti bhaviṣyottarokta-śrībhagavadvacanādināvirodhaḥ syāt tatra śrībhagavadvacanameva likhati—yaḥ śiva iti | ākāśanilayoriveti dīpāddīpāntaravat kāraṇena saha kāryasyābhedābhiprāyeṇāvatāriṇātmanā sahāvatārasya śrīśivasyābhedo darśitaḥ ||192||

Objection: in the Bhaviṣyottara purāṇa, it is stated —

My devotee should not look at another deva or bow down to another deva but should always remain marked with the cakra, O son of Pāṇḍu.

This statement of Śrī Bhagavān will become opposed [by the recommendation to observe Śivarātri]. To this, he cites Bhagavān’s own words. Here, non-difference (abheda) between the avatāra, Śrī Śiva, is shown with the avatārī Himself, similar to how the effect is considered non-different from the cause, as is the case with a lamp and another lamp [that lighted it].

As we see above, Śrī Sanātana explains how statements in scriptures which warn against faith in other devas should be reconciled with the above recommendation to observe Śivarātri. When observing Śivarātri, Śrī Śiva is to be considered non-different from Śrī Bhagavān just as the effect is considered non-different from the cause. What about other devas like Indra then? Why not observe vratas related to them? Śrī Bhagavān is pleased by observing Śivarātri, and is offended by indifference to it as we saw in the previous article. A person who is offensive cannot get prema.

Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa further emphasizes this one-ness between Śrī Bhagavān and Śrī Śiva in #193 and #194, which I did not include here for brevity. In #195, he explains what I think is the crux of the matter:

kāryaṁ guṇāvatāratvenaikyādrudrasya vaiṣṇavaiḥ | 

vaiṣṇavāgryatayā śreṣṭhyāt sadācārācca tadvratam ||195||

This vrata must be always done by Vaiṣṇavas because Śrī Śiva is eminent because of being the best among Vaisnavas, because He is non-different from Śrī Bhagavān because of being a Guṇāvatāra, and because this is proper behavior.

Śrī Śiva is a great Vaiṣṇava and therefore disrespecting him by not observing his vrata is an offense. Śrī Sanātana’s commentary on #195 gives a conclusive vision on the issue:

ato’trāyaṁ siddhāntaḥ—śrīviṣṇureko devaḥ śivaścānyā deva ityevamanyatve bhāsamāne tannamaskārādikaṁ vaiṣṇavānāmayuktameva kintu yathā matsyādayo līlāvatārāstathā śrīśivaścaguṇāvatāro’yamitya bhedena na doṣāvahamapi tu guṇa eva bhagavadbhaktiviśeṣa eva paryavasānāditi ||195|| 

For 195, he writes:

Therefore, this is the conclusion: Offering respect to Śrī Śiva considering him to be different, thinking “Śrī Viṣṇu is one deva, Śrī Śiva is another deva”, is not at all appropriate for Vaiṣṇavas. But, [offering respect] considering non-difference, thinking that Śrī Śiva is a Guṇāvatāra, just as Matsya and others are lilāvatāras, is free from fault, and is actually a virtue. This is because [such a vision] culminates specifically in bhakti for Bhagavān.

Having provided what Śrī Sanātana construes as the siddhānta or conclusion on this topic, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa notes that some disagree with this conclusion. He writes,

caturthaskandhadṛṣṭyā tu naike kurvanti tadvratam ||196|| 

Some do not observe the vrata from the view point of the fourth canto.

tathā ca bhṛguśāpaḥ (śrībhā. 4.2.28)—

bhavavratadharā ye ca ye ca tān samanuvratāḥ | 

pāṣaṇḍinaste bhavantu sacchāstraparipanthinaḥ ||197|| iti | 

According to the curse of Bhṛgu (4.2.28):

May those who observe your vrata, and those who follow them, become heretics, opposed to the devotional scriptures.

#197 is followed by a description of Śivarātri, after which Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa concludes with this statement:

śrīkṛṣṇe vaiṣṇavānāntu premabhaktirvivardhate | kṛṣṇabhaktirasāsāravarṣirudrānukampayā ||221||

For the Vaiṣṇavas, however, prema bhakti in Śrī Kṛṣṇa increases, owing to the grace of Śrī Rudra which showers the essence of the bhakti rasa for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

This was the same point he had made earlier, which is included in the previous article, except now he is mentioning the grace of Śrī Rudra. To understand this, we turn to Śrī Sanātana’s commentary where he gives two meanings to the compound word kṛṣṇabhaktirasāsāravarṣirudrānukampayā. I note that the second meaning is generally favored by the commentator.

nanu śrīkṛṣṇacaraṇāravindabhaktyekāpekṣakāṇāṁ vaiṣṇavānāṁ śivavratena kiṁ syāt ityapekṣāyāṁ likhati—śrīkṛṣṇe iti | nanu śrīśivavratena kathaṁ śrīkṛṣṇapremabhaktirvarddhatām tatra likhati—kṛṣṇeti | kṛṣṇabhaktirasāsāravarṣiṇo rudrasyānukampayā śrīśaṅkarakaruṇayaiva śrīkṛṣṇapremabhaktiviśeṣasiddheḥ | yadvā kṛṣṇasya yā bhaktirasavarṣiṇī rudrānukampā tayā evaṁ śrīśivavratenaiva śrīkṛṣṇakṛpāviśeṣotpattestatpremabhaktivṛddhirbhavatīti dik ||221||

A question is raised: what is the outcome of the Śivarātri vrata for the Vaiṣṇavas who desire devotion to the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa? Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa writes this statement. But how can prema for Śrī Kṛṣṇa increase by Śivarātri vrata? He writes: only because of Śrī Rudra’s, meaning Śrī Śankara’s compassion, which showers the essence of bhakti rasa for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, this specific type of bhakti called prema is attained. Alternatively, rudrānukampayā means by the grace of Śrī Kṛṣṇa for Śrī Rudra, which showers bhaktirasa. By observing Śivarātri vrata, a special grace of Śrī Kṛṣṇa arises, by which prema bhakti increases for Him. This is the general direction.

Summary

Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas must offer respect to Śrī Śiva by the observance of Śivarātri.

The vision should be that Śrī Śiva is a Guṇāvatāra such that there is abheda between Him and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or that he is the best among Vaiṣṇavas.

By observing Śivarātri vrata, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace is invoked. Pleased, he offers prema for Him.

It is an offense to not observe Śivarātri.