मद्गुणश्रुतिमात्रेण मयि सर्वगुहाशये ।
मनोगतिरविच्छिन्ना यथा गङ्गाम्भसोऽम्बुधौ ॥
लक्षणं भक्तियोगस्य निर्गुणस्य ह्युदाहृतम् ।
अहैतुक्यव्यवहिता या भक्ति: पुरुषोत्तमे ॥
mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye |
mano-gatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso’mbudhau ||
lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam |
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.11–14; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.13–15; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)
“‘[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] Bhakti which is an uninterrupted, causeless, and unobstructed flow of the mind—solely because of hearing my qualities—towards me, the Supreme Person, who dwells in the hearts [lit., “caves”] of all, like [the flow of] the water of the Gaṅgā towards the ocean, is said to be the characteristic of nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga.”
Commentary
atha yasyā evotkarṣa-jñānārtham ete bhakti-bhedā nirūpitāḥ, sā bhakti-mātra-kāmatvān niṣkāmā nirguṇā kevalā svarūpa-siddhā nirūpyate | iyam evākiñcanākhyatvena sarvordhvaṁ pūrvam apy abhihitā | tām āha—mad-guṇeti-yugmakena | mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa na tu tatroddeśāntara-siddhy-abhiprāyeṇa | prākṛta-guṇa-maya-karaṇānāṁ sarveṣāṁ guhā karaṇāgocara-padavī tasyāṁ śete guhyatayā niścalatayā ca tiṣṭhati yas tasmin mayi avicchinnā viṣayāntareṇa viccettum aśakyā yā manogatiḥ sā | avicchinnatve dṛṣṭānto yatheti | … lakṣaṇaṁ svarūpam | nanu tasyā guṇa-śruteḥ kā vārtā, uddeśyāntarābhāvena mano-gatitvābhāvena ca dvidhāpi nirdeṣṭum aśaktyatvāt? tatrāha—ahaitukī, phalānusandhāna-rahitā | avyavahitā svarūpa-siddhatvena sākṣād-rūpā, na tv āropādi-siddhatvena vyavadhānātmikā | tādṛśī yā bhaktiḥ śrotrādinā sevana-mātraṁ, sā ca tasya svarūpam ity arthaḥ | mātra-padenāvicchinnety anena ca mano-gater ahaitukītvādi-siddheḥ pṛthag-yojanānarhatvāt, sāttvikaḥ kārako’saṅgīty-ādiṣu, nirguṇo mad-apāśraya ity-ādibhis tad-āśraya-kriyādīnāṁ nirguṇatva-sthāpanāt, māṁ bhajanti guṇāḥ sarve nirguṇaṁ nirapekṣakam | suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ sāmyāsaṅgādayo’guṇāḥ || ity atra tad-guṇānām apy aprākṛtatva-śravaṇāt |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)
“This [type of bhakti] for the sake of understanding the excellence of which [all] these [various] divisions of bhakti have been described [i.e., bhakti divided in terms of it being colored by the three guṇas], is described as desireless (niṣkāmā), nirguṇa, and exclusively svarūpa-siddhā because of it having desire only for bhakti [i.e., because it and the person who performs it are possessed of desire only for bhakti and nothing else]. This [type of bhakti] was also previously said to be foremost because of [its] being known as ‘unconditional’ (akiñcanā) [-bhakti]. He [i.e., Kapiladeva] describes this [i.e., nirguṇa-bhakti] in the two verses beginning mad-guṇa …. ‘Solely because of hearing my qualities’ (mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa) implies ‘and not because of an intention to accomplish another objective therein [i.e., to attain anything other than bhakti by that act of bhakti].’ This is a flow of the mind (manogati) which is uninterrupted, that is, unable to be cut asunder by another object, towards me (mayi), that is, he who dwells (āśaye), that is, remains secretly and immovably, in the cave (guhā), that is, the sphere beyond the senses, of all (sarva), that is, of the all senses which are constituted of the material guṇas. The illustration ‘like the water of the Gaṅgā towards the ocean’ is for its [i.e., that flow of the mind’s] being [by nature] uninterrupted. … ‘Characteristic’ (lakṣaṇa) means nature (svarūpa) [i.e., the mind flowing as aforesaid is stated so as to define the nature of nirguṇa-bhakti].
“[A question is raised:] ‘Well, because of it’s [i.e., bhakti’s] being impossible to designate even as twofold [in the aforesaid manner, i.e., as being uninterrupted and as taking the form of a singular flow of the mind] on account of the absence of another objective [being sought by enacting it] and on account of the absence of the mind’s having any sort of singular flow, what is this talk of its [i.e., of bhakti’s, being constituted of the act of] hearing of [your, i.e., Bhagavān’s] qualities? [i.e., how can an act of bhakti in the form of hearing about your qualities or otherwise even be enacted when such an act has no further objective for its being enacted considering that generally no action is ever performed without the goal of attaining something by performing it, and even if it could, how could it take the form of a flow of the mind, since the mind moving continuously in a flow focused on only one object is something no one has any experience of?]’ In this regard, he says [this bhakti is] ‘causeless’ (ahaitukī), that is, [this bhakti is] free from pursuit of any result [other than itself, i.e., nirguṇa-bhakti requires no further objective for one to become motivated to enact it because it is a producer of fulfillment in and of itself and thus one performs it simply for the sake of performing it and not to attain something else by performing it]. [Furthermore, to preclude the idea that the mind can never move in a singular flow, he says this bhakti is] ‘Unobstructed’ (avyavahitā), that is, a direct (sākṣāt) form [of bhakti] because of [its] being svarūpa-siddhā, and not, rather, constituted of an obstruction on account of being āropa-siddhā or otherwise [i.e., saṅga-siddhā; this type of bhakti is constituted of nothing other than bhakti itself, and thus when this type of bhakti manifests in the mind, the mind under its direction remains one-pointedly focused on Bhagavān as there is no other content than bhakti and bhakti’s object present in the mind and thus no scope for the mind to become focussed on anything else]. Bhakti which is such [i.e., of such causeless and unobstructed nature] is solely service [to Bhagavān] with the ears and so forth [i.e., and the other senses], and this is its [i.e., nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga’s] nature (svarūpa). This is the meaning (1) because of the impropriety of separate grammatical construction [of the modifiers ‘causeless’ (ahaitukī) and ‘unobstructed’ (avyavahita), i.e., the impropriety of construing the modifiers ‘causeless’ (ahaitukī) and ‘unobstructed’ (avyavahita) to not refer to bhakti so described as a flow of the mind] on account of the establishment of the flow of the mind’s (manogati) being ‘causeless’ (ahaitukī) and so on [i.e., and ‘unobstructed’ (avyavahita)] by the words ‘solely’ (mātra) and ‘uninterrupted’ (avicchinna); [bhakti is indeed service to Bhagavān with the senses that is unobstructed and not motivated by anything other than itself, i.e., causeless] (2) because of the establishment of the actions and so forth in its [i.e., in this nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga’s] shelter being nirguṇa by [the statement in SB 11.25.26], ‘An agent fully in my shelter is nirguṇa’ and so forth in [the statement] ‘An agent without attachment is sāttvika …’ and so on [i.e., and in other statements in śāstra]; and [bhakti is indeed service to Bhagavān with the senses that is unobstructed and causeless] (3) because of hearing here [in SB 11.13.40] of its [i.e., bhakti’s] qualities also being supramundane (aprākṛta): ‘All qualities (guṇas), such as equanimity and detachment, which are not [products] of the [material] guṇas serve me, who am nirguṇa, independent, and the friend of all beings.’”
devānāṁ guṇa-liṅgānām ity atra lakṣitām eva nirguṇāṁ bhaktiṁ sukha-bodhārthaṁ punar lakṣayati | mad-guṇa-śravaṇa-mātreṇaiva mayy eva sarva-guhāśaye sarvāntaḥkaraṇa-vartitvena sukha-dhyeya-mūrtau śrī-puruṣottame manaso gatir avicchinno bhavati | yathā ambudhau gaṅgāmbhaso gatir iti hetor etad-artham eva bhakti-yogasya lakṣaṇam udāhṛtam ity anvayaḥ | yato nirguṇa-śravaṇādi-bhakti-yogenaiva mayi manogatir avicchinnā bhaved ato bhakti-yogasya lakṣaṇam udāhṛtam iti phalito’rthaḥ | ambudhinā sva-laharībhiḥ parāvartitasyāpy ambhaso yathā ambudhāv eva gatis tathā mayāpi pārameṣṭhya-sārṣṭi-sālokyādi-phalaiḥ pralobhitasyāpi tasya mayy eva gatir iti | evaṁ ca bhakta-manaso gaṅgā-jala-dṛṣṭāntena drautya-śaitya-pāvitrya-jagat-pūjyatvādīny uktāni | tad eva lakṣaṇaṁ kim ity apekṣāyām āha ahaitukī—hetuḥ kāraṇaṁ phalāntarābhisandhiś ca tad-rahitā, sva-prakāśatvāt svataḥ-phala-rūpatvāc ca neyaṁ jñāna-yogādivad iti bhāvaḥ | sādhu-saṅga-premnos tu prathama-dvādaśa-bhūmikatvān na tayor hetutva-phalatve vastuta iti prathama-skandha eva vyākhyātam | avyavahitā jñāna-karmādi-vyavadhāna-śūnyā yā bhaktiḥ saiva nirguṇety arthaḥ | bhakter āspada-śraddhā-nivāsa-sukhādīnām api nirguṇatvaṁ nirguṇo mad-apāśraya iti, mat-sevāyāṁ tu nirguṇam iti, nirguṇaṁ mad-apāśrayam ity ekādaśa-skandhāj jñeyam |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Here for the sake of easy understanding, he [i.e., Kapiladeva] again defines nirguṇa-bhakti, which was already defined in [the verse] devānāṁ guṇa-liṅgānām … [in SB 3.25.32]. The flow of the mind (manogati) solely because of hearing my qualities (mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa) is uninterrupted (avicchinna) towards me (mayi) alone—the Supreme Person (Puruṣottame) who dwells in the hearts of all (sarva-guhāśaye), that is, who is a form easy to be meditated upon because of being present in the antaḥkaraṇas of all—like the flow of the water of the Gaṅgā (yathā gaṅgāmbhaso) towards the ocean (ambudhau). For this reason, that is, on account of this alone, the characteristic of bhakti-yoga is stated. This is the syntactical order. Since the flow of the mind towards me can become uninterrupted only by the bhakti-yoga of nirguṇa hearing and so forth [i.e., only by hearing about Bhagavān, praising Bhagavān, remembering Bhagavān, and so forth in a manner that is free from any coloring of the guṇas], the characteristic of [this type of] bhakti-yoga [i.e., the nature of nirguṇa-bhakti] is thus stated. This is the resultant meaning [i.e., the import of the statement]. As the flow of the water [of the Gaṅga] is only towards the ocean even when [it is] driven backwards by the the ocean by its [i.e., the ocean‘s] own waves, so its [i.e., nirguṇa-bhakti’s] flow is towards me alone even when [a bhakta with such bhakti is] enticed even by me with [offerings of] the attainments of the position of Brahmā [i.e., the supreme ruling position in the fourteen worlds], sārṣṭi, sālokya, and so on [i.e., various offerings made by me which do not nurture such bhakti but rather test its intensity and provide means for diverting it]. By the illustration [of bhakti given the verse] of the water of the Gaṅgā, the meltedness, coolness, purity, worshipability to the world, and so forth, of a bhakta’s mind are also similarly indicated. In expectation of [the question], ‘What is the characteristic of that [i.e., nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga]?’ he says ‘causeless’ (ahaitukī), that is, free from any cause, that is, motive, pursuit of another goal. Because of [its, i.e., bhakti’s] being self-manifest [i.e., not dependent on anything else to manifest] and being in nature its own goal [i.e., an end in and of itself], it is not like jñāna, yoga, and so forth [i.e., other processes which are dependent on another, viz., bhakti, and which are motivated by the attainment of something other than their own enactment in an of itself]. This is the purport. Sādhu-saṅga and prema, however, are not actually cause and effect of one another [respectively] because of [their] being the first and twelfth stages [in a jīva’s reaching the highest attainment]. This was explained in the First Canto [in the commentary on SB 1.2.21 and SB 1.2.6, where it is stated that bhakti is its own cause, and thus the cause of sādha-saṅga, that is, association with bhaktas and the dispensation of their grace, and the cause of prema, which is a manifestation of bhakti itself]. This bhakti alone, which is ‘unobstructed’ (avyavahitā), that is, free from the obstructions of jñāna, karma, and so forth, is nirguṇa. This is the meaning. The nirguṇa nature of even the bearer, śraddhā, abode, happiness, and so forth of bhakti is to be understood from the Eleventh Canto [i.e., from verses such as SB 11.25.26, 27, and 29]: ‘An agent fully in my shelter is nirguṇa,’ ‘Śraddhā in service to me is nirguṇa,’ and ‘Happiness fully in my shelter is nirguṇa.’”