Suffering

ṣaḍ-vargādy-ari-kṛta-saṁsāra-bhaya-bādhyamāna eva hi śaraṇaṁ praviśaty ananya-gatiḥ | bhakti-mātra-kāmo’pi tat-kṛta-bhagavad-vaimukhya-bādhyamānaḥ | ananya-gatitvaṁ ca dvidhā darśyate—āśrayāntarasyābhāva-kathanena, nātiprajñayā kathañcid āśritasyānyasya tyājanena ca | pūrveṇa yathā—‘martyo mṛtyu-vyāla-bhītaḥ palāyan lokān sarvān nirbhayaṁ nādhyagacchat | tvat-pādābjaṁ prāpya yadṛcchayādya susthaḥ śete mṛtyur asmād apaiti ||’ iti | uttareṇa yathā—‘tasmāt tvam uddhavotsṛjya codanāṁ praticodanām | pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca śrotavyaṁ śrutam eva ca || mām ekam eva śaraṇam ātmānaṁ sarva-dehinām | yāhi sarvātma-bhāvena mayā syā hy akuto-bhayaḥ ||’ iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 236)

“Being troubled by the fear [i.e., suffering] of saṁsāra caused by the enemies beginning with the ṣaḍ-varga [i.e., ‘the group of six,’ viz., desire (kāma), anger, greed, delusion, conceit, and envy], one who is devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatiḥ) [i.e., one who feels oneself to have no shelter from such trouble] enters shelter [i.e., takes shelter in Bhagavān], as also does one whose sole desire is bhakti, being troubled by the obliviousness (vaimukhya) [i.e., forgetfulness] of Bhagavān caused by them [i.e., by the aforementioned enemies, meaning, one whose sole desire is bhakti takes shelter in Bhagavān for the sake of becoming free from the impediments to apt enactment of bhakti created by the ṣaḍ-varga so that one can aptly engage in bhakti to Bhagavān]. [The stage of] Being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) is seen, furthermore, to be of two types: [it comes about] (1) by [hearing and understanding] explanation of the absence of any other shelter [from the troubles one undergoes in saṁsāra apart from Bhagavān], and (2) by abandoning another in which one has somehow taken shelter [for the sake of attaining relief from the trouble one is undergoing in saṁsāra] out of a lack of great discrimination [as to who is truly a capable shelter in this regard, i.e., as a result of not having earlier understood that Bhagavān alone, and nothing and no one else, is truly capable of providing shelter to jīvas in saṁsāra]. [Being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) coming about] By the former [i.e., by the first aforementioned means, that is, by explanation of the absence of any real shelter other than Bhagavān] is [described in SB 10.3.27] as follows, ‘Scared of the serpent of death and fleeing throughout all the planes [that constitute this universe], a mortal cannot attain fearlessness [anywhere]. [But] Upon reaching your lotus feet fortuitously [i.e., by means bhakti somehow attained by the grace of a mahat], O Foremost Being [i.e., O Bhagavān], one rests peacefully, and death withdraws from one.’ [The state of being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) coming about] By the latter [i.e., by the second aforementioned means, that is, by abandoning another in which one has unwisely taken shelter] is [described by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself in SB 11.12.14–15] as follows: ‘Therefore, O Uddhava, abandoning injunctions and prohibitions [i.e., the injunctions and prohibitions given in the Śruti and the Smṛti], engagement and resignation [i.e., the dharmas of a gṛhastha and of a sannyāsī], and that which can be heard and that which has been heard [i.e., all that pertains to such dharmas and the injunctions and prohibitions related to them in śāstra; alt., all else that can be heard from śāstra, that is, all that is said in śāstra related to the jñāna-mārga], you should take shelter exclusively in me alone, the Self of all embodied beings, with the full existence of your self. With me [i.e., by thus becoming situated in my shelter], be completely fearless.’”

Read on →