This is a wonderful lecture by Lectures of His Holiness Sri Shachinandan das Maharaj about being “FOCUSED” on our Ishta-deva, our worshipful deity.

As followers of Sriman Mahaprabhu, Srimati Radhika is our Istha-devi.

Lecture

Srila Narottama das Thakur about “one-pointedness”in his Prema Bhakti Chandrika:

āpana āpana patha, tāte hobo anurata,
iṣṭadeva sthāne līlā gāna
naiṣṭhika bhajana ei, tomāre kohilo bhāi
hanumān tāhāte pramāṇa (28)

“I will remain attached to my own path of worship and sing the glories of my own beloved deity in His sacred abode. O brother, I tell you, this is exclusive worship, and the example is given by Hanumān.”

Fixation in bhajana :
Sudhā kaṇikā vyākhyā— Here Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya mentions fixation in bhajana. Fixation both in his worship and in his worshipable deity — both these loyalties of the devotee are shown in this tripadī. First the blessed author mentions fixation in bhajana: āpana āpana patha, tāte hobo anurata, iṣṭadeva sthāne līlā gāna “I will always remain attached to my own path of worship.” niṣṭhā means motionless, and when niṣṭhā awakens one remains motionlessly fixed in bhajana. Hearing topics of Śrī Hari from the mouths of the sādhus all vices disappear and fixation in bhajana awakens. In Śrīmad Bhāgavata it is described —

śṛṇvataḥ sva kathā kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya śravaṇa kīrtanaḥ
hṛdyantaḥ stho hyabhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām
naṣṭa prāyeṣvabhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata sevayā
bhagavaty uttama śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

“When he engages in the pious hearing and chanting of the glories of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Lord travels on the path of the practitioner’s recollection and destroys all inauspicious sensual desires from his heart. In the same way all inauspiciousness is practically destroyed by constantly serving the Bhāgavata (the book or the saint) and naiṣṭhikī bhakti for Lord Uttamaśloka or Śrī Kṛṣṇa arises..” The five vices laya, vikṣepa, aprattipatti, kaṣāya and rasāsvāda that cause obstacles in advancement do not appear anymore when one becomes fixed in bhajana. Drowsiness during the practice of hearing and chanting is called laya, relating to mundane things during bhajana is called vikṣepa, inability to do bhajana even in the absence of laya and vikṣepa is called apratipatti, inclination towards being angry, greedy or proud is called kaṣāya and losing concentration on bhajana when sensual happiness arises is called rasāsvāda. If these obstacles no longer occur during bhajana then that is the hallmark of niṣṭhā. When niṣṭhā awakens the practitioner will not feel exhausted from doing bhajana, even if he constantly engages in hearing and chanting. Therefore being attached to one’s own form of worship and constantly remaining attracted to this is called naiṣṭhika bhajana.
One of the items of this naiṣṭhika bhajana is singing the glories of the iṣṭa-deva in his place. The iṣṭa deva is the worshipable deity in the temple, or Śrī Guru or similar great Vaiṣṇavas who are as worshipable as Śrī Hari Himself. To sing the pastimes of the Lord to them is the unadulterated means to attain prema. The Lord Himself becomes very happy when He hears about His own pastimes. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard His glorification through the mouth of Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, He became most happy and personally called his poetry ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛtam’. It is also a special service to Śrī Gurudeva and the greatly realised devotees to sing about Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes to them. Through these items of worship the grace of Śrī Guru, Vaiṣṇavas and the Supreme Lord is attained, and then nothing remains unattainable for the practitioner.
Another meaning of iṣṭadeva sthāne is that to live in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s playground Śrī Vṛndāvana or other such places and to sing of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s exploits there is one of the greatest items of worship. Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma is the place which greatly reminds one of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, and no place like this can create visions of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlā rasa in the heart of the singer or speaker. And again, singing of such pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Vraja dhāma is such a great service of the great saints that reside in Vraja that as a result the practitioner becomes blessed with the attainment of the most incredible human perfection. My most worshipable Śrī Śrīla Guru Mahārāja one said: “When you serve the Vaiṣṇavas that reside in Śrī Vṛndāvana by speaking topics of Śrī Hari to them, you will achieve a greater treasure even than the attainment of the Lord.” The purport of this is that the mere attainment of the Lord does not guarantee the relish of Him. Just look at the demons. But the hearing and chanting of topics of Śrī Hari in the company of the great saints who reside in Śrī Vṛndāvana will certainly yield a delicious taste of the flavours of God. Hence Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has said: — iṣṭa deva sthāne līlā gāna.
After this the blessed author says: naiṣṭhika bhajana ei, tomāre kohilo bhāi, hanumān tāhāte pramāṇa — Now the example of Hanumān is given in how to be fixed in one’s worship and in one’s worshipable deity. On Śrī Hanumān’s loyalty to his chosen deity Śrīmat Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda has written in his commentary on verse 1.4.107 of Śrī Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta ¬”One day in Dvārakā City Śrī Dvārakānātha thought of a joke to break the pride of Śrī Garuḍa and other devotees, and to show them how to be fixed in the lotus feet of the Lord. He ordered Garuḍa: “Ohe Garuḍa! Go to Kimpuruṣa Varṣa and announce My order there that Hanumān should be brought to Me!” Śrī Garuḍa thus flew to Kimpuruṣa Varṣa and told Hanumān: “Hey Hanumate! Lord Yādavendra, the master of Dvārakā, is calling you! Quickly go to see Him!” Śrī Hanumān, though, was exclusively fixed in the lotus feet of Śrī Raghunātha (Rāma) and engaged in His service, so, afraid to break his loyalty to the lotus feet of Raghunātha he did not heed Garuḍa’s call. This made Śrī Garuḍa angry and he tried to take Hanumān to Dvārakānātha’s palace by force. Śrī Hanumān, though, just casually whisked the end of his tail and thus threw Garuḍa far away back to Dvārakā. When Garuḍa thus crash-landed in Dvārakā and the Lord saw him all upset, the Lord smiled and asked him: “O Garuḍa! Go back to Hanumān now and tell him: “Śrī Raghunātha is calling you!” After saying this Śrī Kṛṣṇa became Śrī Rāmacandra, Śrī Balarāma became Lakṣmaṇa and the Lord told Śrī Satyabhāmā to become Sītā, but she could not assume the form of Sītā, so the Lord mocked her and told Śrī Rukmiṇī instead to assume the form of Sītā. Thus Śrī Rukmiṇī-devī sat on the left side of the Lord on the throne of Dvārakā, assuming the form of Sītā . Meanwhile Śrī Garuḍa had gone again to Śrī Hanumān and had relayed to him the Lord’s message. As soon as Śrī Hanumān had heard the message he became overwhelmed of ecstasy and jumped at once to Dvārakā, where he saw the Lord as his beloved Raghunātha and satisfied Him with his service. The Lord saw his loyalty to his beloved deity and gave him his desired boon with paramount love.” After this a verse will be quoted which was spoken by Śrī Hanumān himself.