There is a popular claim that we need not learn the śāstras, lest we become jñānis! It is sufficient to just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa to achieve our goals. Such claims are false! Our concepts shape our desires, our desires determine our actions and actions bring results. Our resolve determines the result. This principle, also called tat-kratu nyāya, applies to everything, including the chanting of Bhagavān’s names.
The importance of learning śāstra
Suppose we get into a car and start driving without any destination in mind. All we will get for our efforts is wastage of a lot of fuel. Only those who have a clear destination in mind will achieve it. Our concepts are shaped by learning the śāstras, and concepts in turn determine our saṅkalpa or steady resolve. Therefore, it is critical to learn the śāstras.
Consider the desire:
I must go back home, back to God.
If we harbor this type of desire, it means we are aspiring for sālokya-mukti. And sālokya-mukti is not the goal of uttama-bhakti. But, if bhakti is performed with such a steady resolve, the result will be sālokya-mukti. It cannot be anything else, because of tat-kratu nyāya (see below).
The above type of desire springs from the false concept that we were with God at some point in the past and left Him. It is the breeding ground of many different types of misconceptions. Indeed, the vast majority of Caitanya bhaktas I have encountered harbor endless questions on all manner of topics, all derived from a robust ignorance of foundational concepts of scripture.
tat-kratu nyāya
In the Prīti Sandarbha Anuccheda 51.2, Śrī Jīva Goswami explains that one’s destination accords with one’s resolve. He quotes tat-kratu nyāya, which goes as follows:
tat-kratu nyāya = the principle that the result of an action accords with the performer’s resolve
This nyāya is derived from śāstra of course. He cites the following statement from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad:
yathā kratur asmin loke puruṣo bhavati, tathetaḥ pretya bhavati
Just as what a person becomes in this world is determined by his resolve, so too what one becomes after death accords with the same resolve (chu 3.14.1).
Śrī Jīva Goswami cites the commentary by Śrī Śaṅkarācārya who gives the meaning of the word ‘kratu’–
kratur atra saṅkalpa iti bhāṣya-kārāḥ —
The Bhāṣyakāra [Śrī Śaṅkarācārya] comments that the word kratu here means “resolve” (saṅkalpa).
Śrī Jīva Goswami cites this nyāya to prove that those gopis who worshiped Kṛṣṇa to attain Him as their husband, assuredly attained Him as their husband. Knowledge of their saṅkalpa is sufficient to determine their destination. Śrī Jīva Goswami, in characteristic fashion, cites several other statements in quick succession to support the validity of tat-kratu nyāya, which I list below:
śruty-antaraṁ ca—sa yathā-kāmo bhavati, tat kratur bhavati | yat-kratur bhavati, tat karma kurute | yat karma kurute, tad abhisampadyate [bṛ.ā.u. 4.4.6] iti |
There is also another Śruti [confirming the same principle]: “As one desires, so one resolves. As one resolves, so does one act. As one acts, so follows the result” (bau 4.4.5).
anyac ca, yad yathā yathopāsate tad eva bhavanti iti |
Elsewhere also it is said: “One verily becomes that which one worships, according to the manner in which he worships.”
śrī-bhagavat-pratijñā ca—ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham [gītā 4.11] iti |
Śrī Bhagavān has also made a solemn vow to this effect: “I bestow upon those who worship Me a result precisely in accord with the essential nature of their surrender” (gītā 4.11).
tathaiva brahma-vaivarte—yadi māṁ prāptum icchanti prāpnuvanty eva nānyathā iti |
The same idea is expressed in Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa: “If people desire to attain Me, they certainly do so without fail.
resolve is necessary but not sufficient to achieve the goal
I get questions on this site of the following type, “I want to be Kṛṣṇa’s friend. I have a very strong emotion for HIm as my friend. Can I become a friend in the next life?” My response is, “The relationship we will get is the relationship of the guru. We do not have choice in the matter.”
Is this at odds with tat-kratu nyāya? No, because resolve is necessary but not sufficient. There is a difference between ‘desire’ and ‘deserve’. This principle applies even to material goals. One does not become successful simply by desiring it. One must also become qualified to attain the result. This is particularly true in the field of bhakti. To become qualified to achieve a specific relation with Kṛṣṇa, one must perform bhakti. For performing bhakti, one must have a guru. And the bhāva of the guru is what one will get.
Summary
tat-kratu nyāya states that one’s steady resolve determines the result of one’s practices.
Desire is shaped by concepts. Therefore it is crucial to learn śāstras from a genuine guru.
Resolve is necessary but not sufficient to attain the goal.
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