There is a common misconception that a rāgānugā bhakta does not follow śāstra. Here I examine Śrī Viśvanātha’s commentary on kārikā 1.2.293 from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu and then Śrī Jīva’s commentary on the previous kārikā which can help remove this misconception.
A rāgānugā bhakta follows śāstra
The context of BRS 1.2.293 is that a rāgānuga bhakta performs bhakti motivated not by injunctions of śāstra or logical arguments offered for it but rather by an intense desire for it. This, however, does not apply to a vaidha bhakta:
vaidha-bhakty-adhikārī tu bhāvāvirbhavanāvadhi |
atra śāstraṁ tathā tarkam anukūlam apekṣate ||However, the vaidha-bhakta depends on vidhi-vākyas [of śāstra] and favorable logic till the appearance of rati [but not after its appearance].
I translated the word śāstra as vidhi-vākyas or injunctions because this is how Śrī Jīva Goswami explains it in the previous kārikā (which is translated later below). Śrī Viśvanātha explains:
viśvanāthaḥ: atra sādhana-prakaraṇe vaidha-bhakty-adhikārī tu bhāvasya rater āvirbhāva-paryantaṁ śāstraṁ tathānukula-tarkaṁ cāpekṣate | raty-uttaraṁ tu nāpekṣate | rāga-bhaktau tu prathama-pravṛttim ārabhya lobhotpattau kadāpi nāpekṣate iti mahān utkarṣaḥ | kintu yatra lobho jātas tat-prāpty-arthaṁ śāstrādy-anusandhānam | evaṁ śāstrokta-sādhanānusandhānaṁ cāvaśya-kartavyam eva ||293||
However, here in the context of sādhana, an adhikārī for vaidha-bhakti depends on vidhi-vākyas [of śāstra] and favorable logic till the appearance of rati, but not after it. The great superiority of rāga-bhakti is that from its very beginning, there is no such dependence in the generation of intense desire for it. But wherever intense desire has come into being, there is investigation into śāstra and other items for the purpose of obtaining that bhakti. In this way, one must compulsorily inquire into sādhana that is described in the śāstras [whether one is a vaidha-bhakta or a rāgānuga-bhakta].
As seen above, the rāgānuga bhakta has intense desire for bhakti, and this desire impels his or her bhakti. This bhakti is not performed out of an obligation to follow vidhis or injunctions in the śāstra. However, there is need for śāstra for properly executing rāgānuga bhakti as śāstra is the only source of information on how to perform bhakti. Thus, the rāgānuga bhakta also must compulsorily follow śāstra, just like the vaidha-bhakta.
The intense desire for rāgānugā bhakta is generated by hearing śāstra
The independence of rāgānuga bhakti from śāstra is only in the sense that this bhakti is not impelled by obedience to śāstric injunctions. It is motivated by intense desire for it, but that desire also is generated by hearing śāstra. In this sense, even rāgānuga bhakti is dependent on śāstra. This is seen from the previous kārikā 1.2.292:
tat-tad-bhāvādi-mādhurye śrute dhīr yad apekṣate |
nātra śāstraṁ na yuktiṁ ca tal-lobhotpatti-lakṣaṇaṁ ||
I will translate Śrī Jīva’s commentary on the kārikā —
śrī-jīvaḥ: tat-tad-bhāvādi-mādhurye śrī-bhāgavatādiṣu siddha-nirdeśa-śāstreṣu śrute śravaṇa-dvārā yat kiṁcid anubhūte sati yac chāstraṁ vidhi-vākyaṁ nāpekṣate | yuktiṁ ca, kintu pravartata evety arthaḥ | tad eva lobhotpatter lakṣaṇam iti ||292||
After hearing about the sweetness of that bhāva etc. [for Śrī Kṛṣṇa described] in śāstras like Śrī Bhāgavata, which contain siddha-nirdeśas i.e. indirect instructions [that do not use a potential case], and after having some sort of experience by [that] hearing, the mind does not depend on vidhi-vākyas, nor some logic, [but simply proceeds in bhakti] — this is the symptom [from which is inferred] the generation of intense desire for that [bhakti].
His commentary above should be taken as a direct translation of the kārikā; I do not provide a separate translation. The important point is that hearing, śravaṇa, of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the very source of the desire for rāgānuga bhakti. Siddha-nirdeśa is an indirect instruction. There are no verbs in these instructions in the potential mood, which is typical of vidhi-vākyas. Rather, they create a desire in the listener on the strength of just hearing them.
Interestingly, there is also some sort of an experience upon hearing the Bhāgavata, which contributes to the arising of the lobha or intense desire. This is also how intense desire for any object arises in general- one may taste ice-cream for the first time, feel really good, and then develop an intense desire for ice-cream on a regular basis.
Summary
The intense desire for rāgānugā bhakti is generated by hearing about the sweetness of of the bhāva for Śrī Kṛṣṇa described in the Bhāgavata.
These narrations do not contain vidhi-vākyas, but are a type of siddha-nirdeśa.
Because the intense desire arises from hearing śāstra and some experience associated with that hearing, rāgānuga bhakti is dependent on śāstra for its very existence.
The intense desire in a rāgānuga bhakta impels him or her to follow śāstra in order to perform rāgānugā bhakti. Here rāgānuga bhakti is dependent on śāstra for its practice.
Leave a Reply