Nos comentários desta publicação um devoto cita Srila Prabhupada que disse que é impossível pensar em Krsna no momento da morte se tal pessoa tem desejos materiais. E isto é totalmente correcto. Tal devoto(a) terá de continuar de onde parou, numa próxima vida.
Mas o ponto da publicação não é este. O ponto é se é possível começar a praticar Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti ainda com desejos materiais. E a resposta é sim. É possível. Como confirmado por Srila Prabhupada e todos os Acaryas.
Srila Prabhupada explica que a menos que estejamos livres da contaminação material não podemos começar. Então Srila Prabhupada explica que estar livre da contaminação material significa estar 50% a 75% livre da contaminação. Não totalmente livre. Um Sadhaka não passa de uma fase para outra de forma abrubta.
E mesmo que um Bhakta tenha algum interesse por Vraja e seus habitantes mesmo sem ser específico, segundo Srila Jiva Gosvami, deve ser considerado um Raganuga Bhakta (Ajata Ruci).
Em seu Bhakti Sandarbha, Sri Jiva Gosvami discute longamente o tema de Raganuga Sadhana, descrevendo dois tipos diferentes de Raganuga Bhaktas:
(1) Jata Ruci - aqueles que alcançaram a fase de saborear esta forma de Bhajana 24 horas através de Japa, Arcana, meditação, etc.
(2) Ajata Ruci - aqueles que ainda não atingiram tal ponto de atracção. A maioria das pessoas irá pertencer a esta segunda categoria.
Este é o verso:
ajata-tadrisa-rucina tu sad-viseshadara-matradrita raganugapi vaidhi-samvalitaivanushtheya
"Os Bhaktas (Ajata Ruci) que desenvolveram algum interesse no caminho do Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti, mas que não possuem um desejo tão profundo como os Jata Ruci Raganuga Bhaktas, devem combinar os princípios de Vaidhi Bhakti com o desempenho de Sadhana Raganuga."
Rupa Gosvami no BRS explica:
śravaṇotkīrtanādīni vaidha-bhakty-uditāni tu |
yāny aṅgāni ca tāny atra vijñeyāni manīṣibhiḥ ||1.2.296||
“The discriminating practitioners should accept the Angas that were mentioned in Vaidhi Bhakti, such as hearing and chanting, as Angas of Raganuga Bhakti.”
Comentário de Jiva Gosvami:
“The path of Raganuga Bhakti is honored simply by feeling special regard for the Ragatmika associates of Lord Krsna. Yet, a person in whom such Ruci as defined above has not yet sprouted (Ajata Ruci) should still execute Raganuga Bhakti combined with the practices of Vaidhi Bhakti.”
"Quando 75% das coisas sujas são purificadas, então a nossa fé em Deus torna-se fixa.
Então Nasta-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityam bhagavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18). Nem tudo limpo, mas Praya, digamos, setenta e cinco por cento purificado. Neste momento você se torna fixo em serviço devocional, Naiṣṭhikī.
Existem diferentes fases do serviço devocional. Como já expliquei várias vezes. Primeiro de tudo, śraddhā, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛttiḥ syat. Quando anartha-nivṛttiḥ syat, todas as coisas indesejáveis terminam, neste momento, Nistha, fé firme. Então bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī.
Assim, enquanto houverem coisas sujas, nossa fé e devoção em Krsna não será muito fixa, por vezes, nos desviamos, vamos embora. Mas, em seguida, Nasta-prāyeṣu, quando setenta e cinco por cento das coisas sujas são purificadas, então a nossa fé em Deus torna-se fixa. Bhagavaty uttama-śloke.
Se todas as coisas indesejáveis são vencidas, então você vai ter uma fé firme. Bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī. Nityam bhagavata-sevayā, Nasta-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu ... Nasta [SB 1.2.18].
Não é que eu estarei completamente livre de todas as actividades pecaminosas, mas Prāyeṣu, digamos, cinqüenta por cento, sessenta por cento da sujidade foi-se.
Neste momento, Nasta-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu ... Como isto ocorreu? Nityam bhagavata-sevayā."
(Śrīla Prabhupāda - Palestra SB 1.2.18 - 21/08/72)
Então, o começo de Raganuga Sadhana para um Bhakta, não tem a ver com este estágio ou aquele estágio. Tem a ver com interesse. Se um Bhakta, que tem contaminação material (50%), mas também tem desejos espirituais (50%), demonstra algum interesse por Vraja e seus habitantes, já começou Raganuga.
Claro, terá que praticar muito serviço devocional para purificar e intensificar este interesse.
Srila Visvanatha no Raga Vartma Candrika explica que tal interesse também é gradual na exata proporção da purificação.
Dois cenários no Blog.
Edith Best
There can be bhava abhasa that can quickly become real bhava by the association of sadhus. Also one can become fully Krishna conscious in one moment, which might appear to be happening at a "lower stage." So there is the general process and then there are other possibilities which are more unusual but do occur.
Hari Pārṣada Dās
Thank you Mother Cintamani Dhama for this post. In my tiny little attempts to read the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, i have found that rāgānuga-bhakti *can* begin at any stage of one's development.
A person may be falling down at this point of time, but if he acquires the stage of bhāva, his/her falldowns will immediately stop. In some fortunate cases one can acquire bhāva immediately without following sādhana-bhakti. I like to quote the original text. Srila Rupa Goswami says:
sādhanena vinā yas tu sahasaivābhijāyate
sa bhāvaḥ kṛṣṇa-tad-bhakta-prasādaja itīryate
"That bhāva which is automatically produced *without any sādhana-bhakti* is understood to be produced (i) due to Krishna's mercy or (ii) due to his devotee's mercy." — (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhuḥ 1.3.15)
So it is Srila Rupa Goswami's understanding that bhāva can also be produced in devotees without any cultivation of sādhana-bhakti. However, this does not mean that all devotees should give up sādhana-bhakti and keep waiting endlessly for that moment. The general rule is to engage in sādhana-bhakti and if one gets bhāva even if one is falling down, they are very fortunate and the falldowns will stop immediately. Srila Prabhupada also explains the same in his Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 17:
[Quote]: Elevation to this stage of ecstasy can be possible in two ways. One way is by constant association with pure devotees. The other way is by the special mercy of Krishna or by the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. Elevation to the ecstatic stage of life is generally attained through association with pure devotees, while elevation to that stage by the special mercy of Krishna or His devotee is very rare. [End of Quote]
So even though he mentions it as rare, it is still possible and therefore the siddhānta is that bhāva and higher stages of rāga-bhakti can potentially begin at any point of time in one's devotional life. If we start saying that vairāgya (detachment) is mandatory for rāga-bhakti, we are making the sweet lady named rāga-bhakti dependent on vairāgya. This is something our ācāryas do not like. They like the soft-hearted lady named bhakti-devī to stay independent of the influences of jñāna and vairāgya.
Also we sometimes make a big thing out of falldowns, maybe because the falldowns we have experienced in our society in the past have been very damaging to other devotees. Personal falldowns however (which do not harm other devotees in any way) are not on the same level and are not treated as cardinal sins in the śāstra. The devotee stays unaffected even though he/she succumbs to sense gratification. Krishna says (SB 11.14.18):
bādhyamāno 'pi mad-bhakto
viṣayair ajitendriyaḥ
prāyaḥ pragalbhayā bhaktyā
viṣayair nābhibhūyate
My dear Uddhava, if My devotee has not fully conquered his senses, he may be harassed by material desires, but because of his unflinching devotion for Me, he will not be defeated by sense gratification.
So in Krishna's own view its not really a major disqualification and the devotee immediately comes back to his/her usual spotless reputation as soon as they perform bhakti again. There are also specific techniques mentioned in śāstra whereby a devotee can offer one's nasty habits to Krishna, but I will not get into the details here. Dāso'smi _/\ò_
Edith Best
Although raga generally awakens only after 50-75% of the anarthas are destroyed, at nistha or higher, such destruction of anarthas are not vairagya, are they? Such detachment is simply a by-product of one's bhakti sadhana.
There are a few points to keep in mind, here. The first is that Prabhupada and Visvanatha clearly define nistha as half to three-quarters of anarthas being destroyed. So there are still anarthas up to prema, which definitely means there are anarthas in raganuga-sadhana.
The main difference between vaidhi sadhana and raga sadhana is the impetus for sadhana. In vaidhi one is impelled by sastric conviction, and in raga one is impelled by attraction to Krishna, generally with such attraction manifesting in at least a slight awareness of one's particular mood. Therefore, raga sadhana does not imply some sort of perfection. It is still sadhana, after all.
The second difference between vaidhi sadhana and raga sadhana is in the sadhana itself. In both one should engage in the angas of bhakti according to one's personal taste, but in raganuga sadhana one's personal taste is linked to one's internal attraction.
Finally, we do see evidence in tradition and sastra, for devotees (such as Bilvamangala Thakura and Bharata Maharaja) having some manifestation of difficulty even after having realized a very high and pure level of bhakti.
Considering all that, what is the point of our acaryas--including Srila Prabhupada--writing so extensively about stages and qualifications? First of all, those instructions, as a general guide, serve to help us understand the process of bhakti for our own position, as Bhaktivinoda explains in the niyamagraha section of Bhaktyaloka. Second, those general guidelines help us to choose how to associate with others in terms of their position relative to our own (do we learn from them, be their friend, or teach/help them).
It's rare that we, or anyone else, is firmly and totally on one "stage" in every aspect of bhakti. Indeed, in Madhurya Kadambini Visvanatha writes about being fixed in body, mind, speech, and good qualities. One may become fixed in these in any order! So, a devotee may have a mind fixed on Krishna, and at the same time not yet be fixed in devotional qualities or in the activities of thee body! In fact, if we are honest we will understand that in some areas of bhakti things are very easy for us, in other areas we do the right things with some effort, and other aspects of bhakti seem impossible. Other devotees will have those same degrees of ease, but probably in other areas. So, when something that is easy for us is difficult for another, we may feel superior. When something that is a great struggle for us is effortless for another, we may feel hopeless. But the truth is that we are complex individuals. Each of has an individual journey to prema, even though a general progression can be described.
