कृतिसाध्या भवेत्साध्यभावा सा साधनाभिधा ।
नित्यसिद्धस्य भावस्य प्राकट्यं हृदि साध्यता ॥
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā |
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.2)
“[When it is] To be accomplished by activity and that by which bhāva is to be accomplished, that [viz., uttama-bhakti] shall be known as sādhana [-bhakti]. Eternally accomplished bhāva’s manifestation into the heart is [the intended sense of] its being to be accomplished.”
Commentary
The commentaries on this verse of Śrī Jīva Gosvāmīpāda and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda are as follows.
Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā
kṛtīti sāmānyato lakṣitā uttamā bhaktiḥ kṛtyā indriya-preraṇayā sādhyā cet, sā sādhanābhidhā bhavati | kṛtyās tad-antarbhāvaś ca pūrva-kriyāyā yajñāntarbhāvavat | tatra bhāvādy-anubhāva-rūpāyā vyavacchedārtham āha—sādhyeti sādhyo bhāvo bhāva-premādi-rūpo yayā sā, na tu bhāva-siddhā | sā hi tad-aṅgatvāt sādhya-rūpaiveti | sādhya-bhāvety anena sā sādhya-pumarthāntarā ca parihṛtā | arthāntaraṁ svārtha-kriyā-viśeṣaḥ, uttamāyā evopakrāntatvāt | bhāvasya sādhyatve kṛtrimatvāt parama-puruṣārthatvābhāvaḥ syād ity āśaṅkyāha—nityeti | bhagavac-chakti-viśeṣa-vṛtti-viśeṣatvenāgre sādhayiṣyamāṇatvād iti bhāvaḥ |
In kṛti … [i.e., in BRS 1.2.2, it is said that] when uttama-bhakti as [it is] defined in general [in BRS 1.1.11] is to be accomplished (sādhyā) by activity (kṛtyā), that is, by action of the senses [i.e., hearing, speaking, and so forth], it is called sādhana [i.e., sādhana-bhakti]. Activity’s [i.e., actions of the senses’] inclusion therein [i.e., in uttama-bhakti], furthermore, is like the inclusion in a sacrifice (yajña) of preliminary activities [i.e., as the preparatory activities that precede a sacrifice, such as cleaning an area and preparing a fire pit, are regarded as being a part of the sacrifice because they are instrumental in the sacrifice being accomplished, so actions of the senses are regarded as being part of uttama-bhakti because they are instrumental in the enactment of it]. For the purpose of exclusion of that [i.e., of an action of the senses] the nature of which is an anubhāva of bhāva and so forth [i.e., actions of the senses that are expressions of bhāva, prema, or other higher manifestations of uttama-bhakti] therein [i.e., from the sādhana division of uttama-bhakti], he says sādhya … [i.e., the author further qualifies sādhana-bhakti in the definition under discussion as sādhya-bhāvā, meaning, sādhana-bhakti is] that by which bhāva the nature of which is bhāva [-bhakti, syn., rati], prema [i.e., prema-bhakti], and so forth [i.e., and other higher manifestations of uttama-bhakti like sneha] is to be accomplished (sādhya), and not, rather, that in which bhāva [i.e., rati, prema, etc.] is [already] accomplished (siddha). That [viz., sādhana-bhakti] is indeed a form of the sādhya [i.e., of sādhya-bhakti, viz., of the bhāva- and prema-bhakti form of uttama-bhakti] because of [its] being a part of that [in the sense that it is instrumental in those manifestation of sādhya-bhakti]. Sādhya-bhāvā [‘that by which bhāva is to be accomplished’]: by this [qualifier] that [viz., sādhana-bhakti] being that by which another puruṣārtha is to be accomplished is repudiated [i.e., by defining sādhana-bhakti as that by which bhāva is to be accomplished (sādhya-bhāvā), sādhana-bhakti having any object other than bhāva-bhakti is negated]. That [i.e., any form of bhakti] which has another aim [i.e., an aim other than sādhya-bhakti, meaning bhāva- and prema-bhakti] is [merely] a particular of self-directed process (svārtha-kriyā) [i.e., acts of bhakti do not qualify as sādhana-bhakti unless they are performed specifically with the aim of manifesting bhāva- and prema-bhakti] because of specifically uttama’s [i.e., uttama-bhakti’s] being commenced [i.e., because discussion of uttama-bhakti has already commenced in this section of the text and thus the sādhana-bhakti being defined here is the sādhana form of uttama-bhakti specifically, which is free from desirousness of all objects other than bhakti (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam), unlike bhakti in general, wherein a performer may have a desire for objects other than bhakti]. Expecting [the objection], “Because of bhāva’s being [said to be] a sādhya [i.e., an object to be accomplished], negation of [bhāva’s] being the supreme puruṣārtha shall occur on account of [bhāva’s] artificiality [i.e., if bhāva is said to be a sādhya, then it is a created, non-eternal existent and thus cannot be the supreme puruṣārtha since only an eternal existent is fit to be accepted as the supreme puruṣārtha],” he says nitya … [i.e., the author speaks the second half of the verse wherein he explains that bhāva’s sādhyatā, that is, its being an object to be accomplished (sādhya), is only in the sense of its being something that becomes manifested into the heart; there is no implication in its being described as an object to be accomplished (sādhya) that it is a non-eternal existent that has to be brought into existence]. “[Bhāva is indeed non-artificial, that is, an uncreated, eternal existent, and thus worthy of acceptance as the supreme puruṣārtha] Because of [its] being established ahead [i.e., in BRS 1.3.1] as being a particular function (vṛtti) of a particular potency (śakti) of Bhagavān [i.e., its being an expression of an eternally existent function (vṛtti) of Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti]” is the purport.
Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā
kṛtīti sā sāmānyato lakṣitoktā bhaktir indriya-vyāpāreṇa sādhyā cet sādhanābhidhā bhavati | atrendriya-vyāpārasya bhakty-antarbhāvaḥ | yāgasya pūrva-kriyāyā yathā yāgasyāntarbhāvas tathaiva jñeyaḥ | tena bhakti-bhinnasya na bhakti-janakatvam iti siddhānto’pi saṅgacchate | atra bhāva-bhakter anubhāva-rūpasya śravaṇa-kīrtanādeḥ sādhanatva-vyavahārābhāvāt tad-vāraṇāyāha—sādhyeti sādhyo bhāvo yayā sā bhāva-janikety arthaḥ | tena dharmārthādi-puruṣārthāntara-sādhaka-bhaktiś ca parākṛtā, uttamāyā eva upakrāntatvāt | bhāvādīnāṁ sādhyatve kṛtrimatvāt parama-puruṣārthatvābhāvaḥ syād ity āśaṅkyāha—nityeti | bhāvasyety upalakṣaṇam, ataḥ śravana-kīrtanādayo’pi grāhyāḥ | teṣām api karṇa-jihvādau prākaṭya-mātram, yathā śrī-kṛṣṇo vasudeva-gṛhe’vatatāra | bhaktīnāṁ bhagavac-chakti-vṛtti-viśeṣatvenāgre sādhayiṣyamāṇatvād iti bhāvaḥ |
In kṛti … [i.e., in BRS 1.2.2, it is said that] when the [afore] stated bhakti defined in general [in BRS 1.1.11] is to be accomplished (sādhyā) by operation of the senses [i.e., hearing, speaking, and so forth], it is called sādhana [i.e., sādhana-bhakti]. In this regard, there is inclusion in bhakti of operation of the senses. As there is inclusion in a sacrifice (yāga) of the preliminary activities of the sacrifice, so exactly it is to be understood [i.e., as the preparatory activities that precede a sacrifice, such as cleaning an area and preparing a fire pit, are regarded as being a part of the sacrifice because they are instrumental in the sacrifice being accomplished, so operation of the senses is regarded as being part of uttama-bhakti because it is instrumental in the enactment of it]. Thus, the conclusion [derived from SB 11.3.11] that anything distinct from bhakti has no causativeness of bhakti is also proper [i.e., thus the principle that bhakti alone is the cause of bhakti is affirmed by the definition of sādhana-bhakti given here in BRS 1.2.2]. Because of non-existence of the hearing, praising, and so forth the natures of which are anubhāvas of bhāva-bhakti having the designation of being sādhana [i.e., because anubhāvas of bhāva-bhakti in the form of hearing, praising, and so on are not meant to be designated as being forms of sādhana-bhakti], he speaks for the sake of precluding that: sādhya … [i.e., the author further qualifies sādhana-bhakti is sādhya-bhāvā, meaning, sādhana-bhakti is] that by which bhāva is to be accomplished (sādhya), meaning, [sādhana-bhakti is] that which is causative of bhāva. Thus [i.e., because sādhana-bhakti is further defined as that by which bhāva is to be accomplished (sādhya-bhāvā)], bhakti that is causative of the accomplishment of other puruṣārthas, such as dharma and artha, is also rejected [i.e., excluded from being sādhana-bhakti], because of specifically uttama’s [i.e., uttama-bhakti’s] being commenced [i.e., because discussion of uttama-bhakti has already commenced in this section of the text and thus the sādhana-bhakti being defined here is the sādhana form of uttama-bhakti specifically, which is free from desirousness of all objects other than bhakti (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam), unlike bhakti in general, wherein a performer may have a desire for objects other than bhakti and thus perform bhakti for the sake of attaining, dharma, artha, kāma, or mokṣa]. Expecting [the objection], “Because of bhāva and so forth’s being [said to be] a sādhya [i.e., because of bhāva, prema, sneha, and so forth’s being objects to be accomplished], negation of [their] being the supreme puruṣārtha shall occur on account of [their] artificiality [i.e., if bhāva and so forth are said to be a sādhya, then they are a created, non-eternal existents and thus cannot be the supreme puruṣārtha since only an eternal existent is fit to be accepted as the supreme puruṣārtha],” he says nitya … [i.e., the author speaks the second half of the verse wherein he explains that bhāva and so forth’s sādhyatā, that is, their being objects to be accomplished (sādhya), is only in the sense of their being something that becomes manifested into the heart; there is no implication in their being described as objects to be accomplished (sādhyas) that they are non-eternal existents that have to be brought into existence]. [The word] Bhāvasya is an indicator (upalakṣaṇa). From it, hearing, praising, and so forth are also to be understood [i.e., as the bhāva that becomes manifested in the heart by means of sādhana-bhakti is eternally accomplished (nitya-siddha), that is, eternally existent, so too the hearing, praising, and so forth that are expressions (anubhāvas) of that bhāva-bhakti are also eternally existent (nitya-siddha) and only brought into manifestation by means of sādhana-bhakti; they are not merely operations of the senses that are no different from worldly activities]. Only the manifestation even of them in the ear, on the tongue, and so forth occurs [i.e., they are eternal existents that only become manifest through the senses; they are not mere non-eternal creations of the senses], just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended into the room of Vasudeva [i.e., as Śrī Kṛṣṇa was not created by Vasudeva but rather only appeared to him, so eternally existent (nitya-siddha) acts of bhakti like hearing, praising, and so forth only become manifested in the ear, on the tongue, and so forth, and not, rather, created by those senses]. [This is so] Because of bhakti’s being established ahead [i.e., in BRS 1.3.1] as being a particular function (vṛtti) of a particular potency (śakti) of Bhagavān [i.e., because of these forms of bhakti’s being expressions of an eternally existent function (vṛtti) of Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti]. This is the purport.