अजाततादृशरुचिना तु सद्विशेषादरमात्रादृता रागानुगापि वैधीसंवलितैवानुष्ठेया, तथा लोकसंग्रहार्थं प्रतिष्ठितेन जाततादृशरुचिना च । अत्र मिश्रत्वे च यथायोग्यं रागानुगयैकीकृत्यैव वैधी कर्तव्या । केचिदष्टादशाक्षरध्यानं गोदोहनसमयवंशीवाद्यसमाकृष्टतत्तत्सर्वमयत्वेन भावयन्ति, यथा चैके “तादृशमुपासनं साक्षाद्व्रजजनविशेषायैव मह्यं श्रीगुरुचरणैर्मदभीष्टविशेषसिद्ध्यर्थमुपदिष्टं भावयामि, साक्षात्तु श्रीव्रजेन्द्रनन्दनं सेवमान एवास” इति भावयन्ति ।
ajāta-tādṛśa-rucinā tu sad-viśeṣādara-mātrādṛtā rāgānugāpi vaidhī-saṁvalitaivānuṣṭheyā, tathā loka-saṁgrahārthaṁ pratiṣṭhitena jāta-tādṛśa-rucinā ca | atra miśratve ca yathā-yogyaṁ rāgānugayaikīkṛtyaiva vaidhī kartavyā | kecid aṣṭādaśākṣara-dhyānaṁ go-dohana-samaya-vaṁśī-vādya-samākṛṣṭa-tat-tat-sarvamayatvena bhāvayanti, yathā caike “tādṛśam upāsanaṁ sākṣād vraja-jana-viśeṣāyaiva mahyaṁ śrī-guru-caraṇair mad-abhīṣṭa-viśeṣa-siddhy-artham upadiṣṭaṁ bhāvayāmi, sākṣāt tu śrī-vrajendra-nandanaṁ sevamāna evāsa” iti bhāvayanti |
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 312)
“Rāgānugā [-bhakti] too, which is honored just by honoring a particular sādhu [i.e., a particular rāgātmikā associate of Bhagavān], is to be practiced in conjunction with vaidhī [-bhakti, i.e., bhakti directed by śāstric injunctions] by those in whom such taste (ruci) has not appeared [i.e., those in whom taste for a specific form of rāgātmikā-bhakti that produces disinterest in everything apart from such bhakti has not appeared], and [is also to be practiced] by those in whom such taste has appeared and who are established [in society, i.e., those whose conduct is followed by others] for the sake of social cohesion. Also, in regard to this mixture [of vaidhī-bhakti with rāgānugā-bhakti], vaidhī [i.e., bhakti directed by śāstric injunctions] is to be performed befittingly making it one with rāgānugā [-bhakti, i.e., in a manner that supports the sādhaka progressing on the path of rāgānugā-bhakti]. [For example,] Some [i.e., some rāgānugā-sādhakas performing rāgānugā-sādhana-bhakti in conjunction with vaidhī-bhakti] visualize a meditation on the eighteen-syllable mantra with [Kṛṣṇa] being accompanied by them all [i.e., all the groups of his associates, viz., Śrī Rādhā and other young gopīs; Nanda, Yaśodā, and other elders; Baladeva and other peers; and so forth] drawn together by the song of the flute at the time of milking the cows [i.e., in the late afternoon when Kṛṣṇa plays his flute as he returns from the pastures into the village with the cows so they can be milked before the end of the day], and accordingly in one [i.e., in the midst of this general meditation] visualize this [integrated specific meditation as well], ‘I am performing such worship (upāsana) [i.e., worship in the form of the aforementioned meditation as enjoined in vaidhī-bhakti], taught to me—[I am who am] directly a particular person [i.e., native resident] of Vraja—by [my] revered guru, for the purpose of attaining my particular cherished object (abhiṣṭa) [i.e., the particular rāga and service to Bhagavān therewith that I aspire to attain]; [in this way] I am directly serving the beautiful Prince of Vraja [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa].’”
Commentary
In this example presented by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī of how rāgānugā-sādhana-bhakti can be performed in conjunction with vaidhī-bhakti, the rāgānugā-sādhaka performs a standard form of meditation on Śrī Kṛṣṇa accompanied by all his principal associates in Vraja as is enjoined in vaidhī-sādhana-bhakti, yet the sādhaka does not only meditate on this as a scene in one’s purview, but rather one also meditates that one is present in Vraja as a native resident of Vraja and is personally engaging in service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa there. This means that one mediates that one is present in Vraja in a siddha-deha, a mentally conceived body of a resident of Vraja that is suited to the rāga and service one aspires to attain. See Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary on BRS 1.2.295 for further explanation. In this way, a general form of meditation as found in vaidhī-sādhana-bhakti is made one with rāgānugā-sādhana-bhakti in a manner that facilitates one advancing towards one’s goal as a rāgānugā-sādhaka of attaining a particular form of rāgātmikā-bhakti.