Uttama-bhakti

etad eva kevalaṁ paramaṁ śreya iti jāta-śraddho jāta-viśvāsaḥ … madīyānanyatākhya-bhaktāv adhikārī syāt, na tu jñānavaj jāte samyag-vairāgya eva | tasyāḥ svataḥ sarva-śaktimattvenānya-nirapekṣatvād … | … na ca karma-nirveda-sāpekṣatvam āpatitam | sa tu bhakteḥ sarvottamatva-viśvāsena svata eva pravartate | … ata eva yadyapi jñāna-karmaṇor api śraddhāpekṣāsty eva, tāṁ vinā bahir antaḥ samyak pravṛtty-anupapatteḥ, tathāpy atra śraddhā-mātrasya kāraṇatvena viśeṣatas tad-aṅgīkāraḥ | atrāpi ca tad-apekṣā pūrvavat samyak-pravṛtty-arthaiva, tāṁ vinānanyatākhya-bhaktis tathā na pravartate | kadācit kiñcit pravṛttā ca naśyatīti | … bhakti-mātraṁ tu tāṁ vinā siddhyati | … tat-pūrvato’pi tasyāḥ phala-dātṛtva-śravaṇāt | … sā ca śraddhā śāstrābhidheyāvadhāraṇasya evāṅgaṁ, tad-viśvāsa-rūpatvāt | tato nānuṣṭhānāṅgatve praviśati | … bhaktiś ca phalotpādane vidhi-sāpekṣāpi na syāt, dāhādi-karmaṇi vahny-ādivat, bhagavac-chravaṇa-kīrtanādīnāṁ svarūpastha-tādṛśa-śaktitvāt | tatas tasyāḥ śraddhādy-apekṣā kutaḥ syāt ? … helā tv aparādhādy-abuddhi-pūrvaka-kṛtā ced daurātmyābhāve na bhaktyā bādhyate … | jñāna-lava-durvidagdhādau tu tad-vaiparītyena bādhyate, yathā matsareṇa nāmādikaṁ gṛhṇati veṇe | kvacid vastu-śaktir bādhitā dṛśyate, ārdrendhanādau vahni-śaktir iva | … sa tu bhagavat-toṣa-lakṣaṇa-phala-viśeṣasyotpattāv anādara-lakṣaṇa-tad-vighātakāparādhasya nirasana-paraḥ | tasmāt śraddhā na bhakty-aṅgaṁ, kintu karmaṇy arthi-samartha-vidvat tāvad ananyatākhyāyāṁ bhaktau adhikāri-viśeṣaṇam eveti |

(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā and Bhakti Sandarbha: 172)

“‘One who has śraddhā’ (jāta-śraddhaḥ), that is, one who has the conviction, ‘This itself [i.e., ananyā-bhakti] alone is the supreme good’ … can become a bearer of eligibility for the [form of] bhakti related to me [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] that is known as being unalloyed (ananya) [starting from that state], and not, rather, [can one become so] only after the emergence of complete detachment (vairāgya) as in [the case of] jñāna, because of its [i.e., bhakti’s] being independent of others [i.e., of the other paths, viz., karma and jñāna] on account of its being self-endowed with all potencies. … Dependence on disinterest in karma also does not arise [in regard to eligibility for the path of ananyā-bhakti, i.e., disinterest in karma is not a requisite for taking up the path of ananyā-bhakti]. That [i.e., disinterest in karma], rather, comes about of its own accord through conviction (viśvāsa) in the preeminence of bhakti. … Therefore, although there is certainly dependence on śraddhā in [i.e., on the paths of] jñāna and karma because of the non-emergence of a complete external and internal propensity [to follow any such path] without it [i.e., with śraddhā], still here [i.e., in regard to the path of ananyā-bhakti], its [i.e., śraddhā’s] acknowledgement in particular [as the principal criterion of eligibility] occurs because of śraddhā’s alone being the cause [of eligibility], since here as well [i.e., on the path of ananyā-bhakti], as in the previous [cases of the paths of karma and jñāna], dependence on it [i.e., śraddhā] is because of necessity for a complete propensity [to follow the path], and without it, the [form of] bhakti that is known as being unalloyed (ananya) does not come about [i.e., a complete, external and internal propensity to follow the path of ananyā-bhakti does not come about without śraddhā in ananyā-bhakti]. [If ananyā-bhakti is seen to be performed by someone without śraddhā, then that should be understood as follows:] It is sometimes engaged in somewhat and [then] lost. … Simply bhakti [i.e., bhakti that is not ananya], however, is accomplished without it [i.e., śraddhā], since its [i.e., bhakti’s] being a bestower of results even before it [i.e., śraddhā] is heard of [in SB 3.25.25, SB 6.2.49, etc.]. … Furthermore, this śraddhā [i.e., the śraddhā that manifests as a result of sādhu-saṅga or some form of engagement in bhakti], is certainly a part of ascertainment of the abhidheya [i.e., the import, or, principal directive] of the śāstra, because of its being a form of conviction (viśvāsa) in that [i.e., śraddhā is an instrumental cause of learning the import of śāstra, since one who has no śraddhā in śāstra will not have any propensity to learn its import and adhere to it]. Therefore, it does not enter into being a part of the practice [thereof, i.e., śraddhā is not a part of practice of bhakti itself]. … Furthermore, bhakti cannot be dependent on injunctions [i.e., injunctions given in śāstra] to produce [its] results, just as fire and so forth are not [dependent on injunctions] to cause burning and so forth, because hearing, praising, and so forth related to Bhagavān have such inherent potency [i.e., as fire burns things just by its nature, so bhakti by virtue of its inherent potency produces its effect in one in whom it manifests]. Therefore, how can it [i.e., bhakti] have any dependence on śraddhā and so forth? [It cannot]. … If carelessness or any other such aparādha is expressed unintentionally [in the course of an act of bhakti], then in the absence ill-heartedness (daurātmya), it [i.e., such carelessness and the like] is not obstructive of bhakti. … But in the case of those who are deluded by a meager modicum of knowledge (jñāna-lava-durvidagdha), it [i.e., carelessness or any other form of aśraddhā] is obstructive [of bhakti] because of contrariety to it [i.e., because of being an intentional expression of irreverence arising from ill-heartedness (daurātmya)], as in the case of Veṇa, who took the name [of Bhagavān] with enmity [towards Bhagavān]. Sometimes an inherent capability [in an object] is seen to be obstructed, like the capability to burn in wet wood and so forth [and thus even though bhakti has the inherent potency to purify its bearer and please Bhagavān, it does not do so when aparādha is present]. … This [i.e., ādara, reverence], however, is a dispeller of aparādha, the impediment, in the form irreverence (anādara), to the production of the special result of satisfying Bhagavān [which can ensue from performance of any act of bhakti, such as hearing, when its inherent potency is not obstructed by anything]. Therefore, śraddhā is not a part of bhakti, but is only an attribute of a bearer of eligibility for the [form of] bhakti that is known as being unalloyed [ananya], just as a possessor of wealth, capability, and knowledge is [a bearer of eligibility] for ritual action (karma) [i.e., śraddhā is a property of an adhikarī for ananya-bhakti, just as wealth, capability, and knowledge are properties of, or requisites for, a performer of karma].”

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