In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes, upon being questioned by Arjuna: Kesu kesu ca bhavesu cintyo si bhagavan maya – in what material form can I think of you? So while being engaged in chanting and hearing, the holy name of the Supreme Lord, one should perceive the presence of the Lord in his material manifestation. This is the philosophy that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught: acinta beda beda tattva, nothing is apart from him. At the same time, the Lord has his separate identity.
We perceive Krishna through this material manifestation first, then gradually by spiritualising the mind and senses, one is able to concentrate upon Lord Vishnu. There is a verse in the scriptures that says one who can understand three Vishnu manifestations in this material world is liberated.
The first Vishnu has entered into the material energy, mahat tattva, the second enters into each universe as Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, the third as Kshirodakashayi, he enters into the heart of every living entity and atom.
So the form of Vishnu as paramatma is for the purpose of realising the presence of the Supreme Lord within oneself and within the heart of every living entity. Now this realisation helps the devotee to actually focus his concentration on the form of the Lord but not material form. The Lord in the heart has got a transcendental form as four-handed Vishnu accompanied by the chanting and hearing of the holy name.
This means the gradual development of the understanding that the Supreme Absolute Truth is Krishna, not different from his name, his form, his glories, his manifestation. In the Bhagavad Gita, after the description of the universal form and the manifestation of the gross forms, there is a description of the Lord: not only in his gross manifestation but also as the controller – ishvara.
He is the ultimate controller of every living being, or everything — he gives knowledge, he is the sanctioner. In this manner, the devotee becomes conscious of the presence of the Lord in every step of his life. With this consciousness, when he continues to chant and hear holy names of the Lord, it results in a change of heart and consciousness, which are characterised by ecstasy, when tears fill the eyes and hairs stand on end.
Actually, there are eight kinds of transformations of the body called asta sattvika vikara. At times somebody who is really not advanced also displays some such symptoms – they are pseudo devotees. They are somehow making a show of devotion, trying to cheat innocent people or trying to win some cheap adoration. So how to detect whether somebody is actually advanced or is imitating? The scriptures describe that not only are there external symptoms of ecstasy in an advanced devotee, but also there are other symptoms.
These symptoms are described by Rupa Goswami in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu – ksantih – the first symptom of a person who is really advanced is that he is free from all material desires. Avyartha kalatvam is an advanced devotee who is always interested in spending every moment in the service of the Lord. They have no attraction for any material enjoyment. They only know viraktih – detachment. Then fourth is mana sunyata, who are completely prideless. They are not interested in receiving honour from others. Asa bandhana is next; they are always hopeful for the mercy of the Lord — ‘Krishna is the maintainer, he will provide for me, he is my well wisher’. Then comes samuthkantah, which means he is always eager to glorify the Lord.
All these symptoms are never found in a pseudo devotee. Nama gana sada ruci – and he has taste for always chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord. Asaktih tad guna akhyane want to always glorify the Lord. Just like Prabhupada, who was always glorifying Krishna, wherever he went, whatever conversation he was having.
Then last one — pritis tad vasati sthale is always attracted to living in the land of the Lord, just like living in a temple or a holy place. These different characteristics distinctly separate a real devotee from a pseudo devotee.
So Prabhupada says that one begins devotional service by hearing and chanting. But as a neophyte, one should not imitate the advanced devotees by making a false show of devotion. One has to wait for the heart to actually change. One more characteristic of an advanced devotee is that – just like Lord Chaitanya, when he met Ramanandaraya, he actually developed all the symptoms of ecstasy. But because there were some non-devotee brahmanas accompanying Ramanandaraya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu suppressed these symptoms.
Simply by seeing sosme external symptoms we cannot recognise a pure devotee who has come to the stage of bhava. If the heart is not manifesting these external symptoms of ecstasy despite continuously chanting and hearing, it is only due to offences committed while chanting the holy names of the Lord. Even though we are engaged in chanting and hearing God’s name, we should avoid the 10 offences against the holy name. Prabhupada made the system so that we remember to avoid these offences while in devotional service.
Through Prabhupada says that if somebody is serious about really making advancement, then one has to strictly follow the instructions of the revealed scriptures as directed by a realised devotee. What is the need, then, for a spiritual master? Chanting will benefit a person but he cannot make advancement on the path of devotional service without the expert guidance of a realised devotee. At some stage, he will realise the necessity of getting the specific direction of the realised devotee.
Therefore Rupa Goswami advises in the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu – adau guru asrayam – 64 principles on vidhi bhakti or vaidhi bhakti, following the rules and regulations for a beginner. The first thing is to approach a spiritual master and take initiation from him, instructions from him in the beginning so that you are not misled and you are able to make progress quickly.
