Characteristics of the uttama bhāgavata

I am routinely asked about how to recognize a siddha bhakta, particularly by those who are searching for a genuine guru. In the Bhakti Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami undertakes an extensive analysis of the bhāgavatas described in the eleventh canto of the Bhāgavatam. He first classifies them into three types: uttama, madhyama and kaniṣṭha, which I have discussed here, here, and here. After having defined these types of Bhāgavatas, Śrī Jiva then turns to eight verses in the Bhāgavata that further elucidate the characteristics of the uttama bhāgavata. It is this analysis that I examine below.

Śrī Jīva notes that the eight verses, beginning with SB 11.2.48, have two interpretations. They may read as describing the different attributes of the uttama-bhāgavata. Alternatively, the verses can be taken to define different types of uttama-bhāgavatas. I will take up the latter interpretation elsewhere; here, I will take these different verses to describe the uttama-bhāgavata (who is of one type only in this context).

1. The uttama-bhāgavata is unattached while engaging with sense objects

gṛhītvāpīndriyair arthān yo na dveṣṭi na hṛṣyati |
viṣṇor māyām idaṁ paśyan sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.48]

He who directly perceives this world as a manifestation of Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s extrinsic potency (māyā), and who, although engaging with sense objects through the medium of the senses, neither delights in them nor is repulsed by them, is indeed an uttama-bhāgavata, or a superlative devotee. (sb 11.2.48)

Śrī Jīva explains that the above characteristic is both mental (mānasika) and physical (kāyika).

2. The uttama-bhāgavata is unperturbed by worldly existence

dehendriya-prāṇa-mano-dhiyāṁ yo janmāpyaya-kṣud-bhaya-tarṣa-kṛcchraiḥ |
saṁsāra-dharmair avimuhyamānaḥ smṛtyā harer bhāgavata-pradhānaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.49]

One who, by virtue of constant remembrance of Bhagavān Hari, is never bewildered by the fundamental attributes of material existence — including the physical body’s origination and demise, the senses’ fatigue, the vital body’s hunger and thirst, the mind’s fear, and the intellect’s desire — is a superlative devotee (bhāgavata-pradhāna). (sb 11.2.49)

Śrī Jīva categorizes the above characteristic as purely mental. He correlates this mental quality with a verse from the Gītā

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām |
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ || [gītā 7.28] iti ||

Those virtuous human beings whose misdeeds have come to an end, being freed from the delusion of duality, worship Me with firm resolve. (gītā 7.28

3. The uttama-bhāgavata is free from the seeds of material desire

na kāma-karma-bījānāṁ yasya cetasi sambhavaḥ |
vāsudevaika-nilayaḥ sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ ||

One in whose mind expectation, striving, and the seeds of desire never arise and whose one and only refuge is Bhagavān Vāsudeva is indeed an uttama-bhāgavata.

4. The uttama-bhāgavata is devoid of material ego

na yasya janma-karmabhyāṁ na varṇāśrama-jātibhiḥ |
sajjate’sminn aham-bhāvo dehe vai sa hareḥ priyaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.51]

One whose sense of identity (aham-bhāva) is never invested in the body on the basis of birth ( janma), deeds (karma), vocation (varṇa), stage of life (āśrama), or caste ( jāti), is certainly dear to Bhagavān Hari. (sb 11.2.51)

5. The uttama-bhāgavata is established in the vision of nonduality

na yasya svaḥ para iti vitteṣv ātmani vā bhidā |
sarva-bhūta-suhṛt śāntaḥ sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.52]

One who makes no distinction between his possessions and those of others, between his own body (ātmani) and that of others, and who is thus benevolently disposed toward all living beings and established in unwavering peace (śānta), is indeed an uttama-bhāgavata.

6. The uttama-bhāgavata’s unflinching remembrance of Bhagavān

tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave’py akuṇṭha-smṛtir ajitātma-surādibhir vimṛgyāt |
na calati bhagavat-padāravindāllava-nimiṣārdham api yaḥ sa vaiṣṇavāgryaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.53]

He is the foremost Vaiṣṇava whose unabated remembrance never strays even for half a moment — not even for the sake of the opulence of the three worlds — from the lotus feet of Bhagavān, which are sought even by the gods for whom Ajita is their very Self. (sb 11.2.53)

7. Material desire can never re-appear in the uttama-bhāgavata

bhagavata uru-vikramāṅghri-śākhā-nakha-maṇi-candrikayā nirasta-tāpe |
hṛdi katham upasīdatāṁ punaḥ sa prabhavati candra ivodite’rka-tāpaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.54]

Just as the heat of the sun is dissipated upon the moonrise, the fever (tāpaḥ) of worldly desire can never reappear in the heart of a devotee for whom this fever has been dissipated by the cool luster emanating from the gem-like nails of the toes of Bhagavān’s splendorous feet. (sb 11.2.54)

8. The essential characteristic of the uttama-bhāgavata

visṛjati hṛdayaṁ na yasya sākṣād dharir avaśābhihito’py aghaugha-nāśaḥ |
praṇaya-raśanayā dhṛtāṅghri-padmaḥ sa bhavati bhāgavata-pradhāna uktaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.55]

One whose heart Bhagavān Hari Himself — who destroys all sins even if addressed unintentionally — is unable to abandon, because His lotus feet are bound by the rope of love, is proclaimed as the topmost of all devotees (bhāgavata-pradhāna). (sb 11.2.55)

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī explains that this last verse is the essential nature of an uttama-bhāgavata, and subsumes all the other characteristics mentioned in the preceding verses. The reason for this is that Bhagavān is bound in their hearts, due to which unflinching remembrance of Him, freedom from material desire etc. automatically develop.