Bhakti is always nirguṇā or transcendental, being Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti. Yet there is enormous variety among bhaktas, many of whom perform bhakti for their own selfish ends. Many often wonder why some bhaktas act in ways that are far worse than ordinary people. The reason is simple: such people are tāmasika or rājasika bhaktas. Nirguṇa bhaktas are extremely rare, maybe one in a million. It is therefore a serious mistake to trust someone blindly in just because they look and dress like bhaktas. Many have paid dearly for such misplaced trust.

Below, I examine a verse from the Bhāgavata on tāmasika bhaktas and Śrī Viśvanātha’s commentary on it.

|| 3.29.8 ||

abhisandhāya yo hiṁsāṁ dambhaṁ mātsaryam eva vā |
saṁrambhī bhinna-dṛg bhāvaṁ mayi kuryāt sa tāmasaḥ ||

A practitioner who is prone to anger (saṁrambhī), whose vision is rooted in duality (bhinna-dṛk), and who renders devotion to Me with the intent to harm others, to uphold some pretense, or to bear malice, is influenced by tamas. (SB 3.29.8)

I reproduced Babaji’s translation from the Sandarbhas above. Here, the goal of the bhakta, if he can be called that, is to harm others, to fool others, or to nurse envy for others. Such a bhakta is a tāmasika bhakta. The word ‘bhinna-dṛk’ here implies pṛthag-bhāva, meaning the feeling of independence from Bhagavān, which causes one to be selfish. pṛthag-bhāva can be of different types, which are referred to in the Bhāgavatam verses 3.29.8-10. Nirguṇā bhakti is completely devoid of such pṛthag-bhāva. I will examine this concept in a latter article.

I now turn to Śrī Viśvanātha’s commentary–

viśvanātha-cakravartī (sārārtha-darśiṇī) : tatra prathamaṁ tāmasīṁ bhaktiṁ lakṣayan bhaktis tāmasī syād iti vaktum anaucityaṁ parāmṛśan tadvān puruṣa eva tāmasādi-śabdair ucyate |

In that context [i.e. that bhakti is nirguṇa but becomes of different types when practiced by a person under the guṇas], characterizing tāmasi bhakti first, but considering it inappropriate to term bhakti as tāmasi, the word tāmasaḥ is used to indicate a person who possesses that type [of bhakti].

Bhakti cannot be tāmasi, for it is by its very nature nirguṇā. But the bhakta who performs bhakti can be tāmasika. This is what confuses most people. They think that anyone who does japa or kīrtana or recites Sanskrit verses must be a nirguṇa bhakta. In truth, one must distinguish the act of bhakti from the disposition of the bhakta.

Śrī Viśvanātha continues —

ity āha—abhisandhāya saṅkalpya | saṁraṁbhī sakrodhaḥ | bhinna-dṛk bheda-darśī, svasminn iva parasminn api sukha-duḥkhaṁ samānaṁ na paśyatīti niranukampa ity arthāh | yo mayi bhāvaṁ bhaktiṁ kuryāt sa trividho’pi tāmasaḥ | asyās tāmasyā bhaktes traividhyaṁ spaṣṭam uktam | bṛhan-nāradīye, yathā—

The word abhisandhāya means ‘intending to’. saṁraṁbhī means ‘angry’. The word bhinna-dṛk means one whose vision is rooted in bheda or difference, that is, one who is devoid of compassion, because he does not see the happiness and distress of others as the same as his own. He, who does bhakti (bhāvam) to me, he is tāmasa, inclusive of three types. The three-foldness of this tāmasi bhakti is clearly stated [in the verse]. This is similarly stated in the bṛhan-nāradīya purāṇa —

Below, Śrī Viśvanātha quotes the verse that delineates three types of tāmasa bhaktas, which directly map onto the three categories (hiṁsā, dambha, mātsarya) in the Bhāgavata verse cited above. The lowest tāmasa bhakta corresponds to one who has the intent to harm others, the medium grade upholds the pretense of doing bhakti, while the highest grade of tāmasa bhakta does bhakti out of malice – a sense of rivalry with others.

Note the meaning of the word bhinna-dṛk here – it indicates persons who lack empathy for others. All these three tāmasa bhaktas have a singular type of selfishness, in which they cannot see how their actions can cause others distress. They are concerned entirely with their own happiness, and that is their pṛthag-bhāva – putting themselves first and foremost instead of recognizing their shared humanity with others. Modern psychology would classify such persons as sociopaths. Though they may have practiced bhakti for many years and convinced themselves that they are serving guru or Bhagavān, they actually take pleasure in belittling others under the guise of service.

yaś cānyasya vināśārthaṁ bhajate śraddhayā harim | phalavat pṛthivī-pāla sā bhavati tāmasādhamā ||

O protector of the earth! He is the lowest tāmasa type who worships Hari with faith for the destruction of another, [even if] successfully.

yo’rcayet kaitava-dhiyā svairiṇī sva-patiṁ yathā |nārāyaṇaṁ jagannāthaṁ sā tu tāmasī madhyamā ||

But that bhakti is tāmasi of the medium grade, [in him ] who deceitfully worships Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of the universe, like an unchaste wife her husband.

deva-pūjā-parān dṛṣṭvā spardhayā yo ’rcayed dharim |
śṛṇuṣva pṛthivī-pāla sā bhaktis tāmasottamā ||

One who, seeing the worship of devas by others, out of rivalry, worships Hari, O protector of the earth, hear that [his] bhakti is of the highest tāmasa grade.

The latter type of tāmasika bhakta can also be taken to mean those who have the misbegotten idea of ‘transcendental competition’ in which one competes with other devotees to bring in the most amount of money to one’s temple. In that case, the word ‘deva-pūjā’ can be taken to mean Hari-pūjā, where the word deva refers to Hari.

All of the above tāmasika bhaktas are best avoided if one is to perform bhakti peacefully and effectively. In general, these people lack empathy for others, and are harmful both to others and to themselves. The other types of bhakti (rājasi and sāttviki) are similarly three-fold – which I will take up elsewhere.

evaṁ rājasyā sāttvikyāś ca bhaktes traividhyam uktaṁ draṣṭavyam ||8||

In like manner, it should be understood that the three-foldness of rājasi and sāttviki bhakti is stated [in the upcoming verses].

Summary

Bhakti is nirguṇā but the bhakta may be tāmasika. Recognizing this distinction is critical, otherwise one may be led down the garden path.

Tāmasika bhaktas of the lowest type actively seek to harm others.

Tāmasika bhaktas of the medium grade pretend to worship Bhagavān exclusively, but their heart is actually elsewhere (other devas or God outside the Vedic tradition).

Tāmasika bhaktas of the highest grade worship Bhagavān to compete with others.