Bhajan with attachment

Just as a conditioned soul is in māyā while sleeping, dreaming and being awake, the devotee is always absorbed in bhajan, while sleeping, dreaming and being awake. bhajana means keeping the mind fixed and attracted. The mind should be poured into the Yugala Kiśora.

rādhā-kṛṣṇa duhu pāya, tanu mana rahu tāya, āra dūre yāuk vasana – “Let my mind and body dwell in Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, and let all my material desires go far away.”

Śrīpāda Līlāśuka, being attracted to Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness, said:

mādhurya vāridhi madāmbu taraṅga bhaṅgī 
śṛṅgāra saṅkulita śīta kiśora veśam
āmanda hāsa lalitānana candra bimbam
ānanda samplavam anuplavataṁ mano me
(Śrī Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta) 

         “May my mind be immersed in the flood of bliss (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) that always increases the ocean of intoxicating sweetness and causes great waves in that ocean, whose cool adolescent dress is a collection of erotic ornaments and whose lovely moon-like face is beautified by a soft smile.”  

How will the mind ever deviate after it was immersed in an ocean of rasa? Absorption in Svāminī’s maidservice is even deeper!  

“I am a maidservant of She whose form, qualities and sweetness defeat even Govinda’s! What can māyā do to me then?”  

When, by continuously performing bhajan, the mind becomes rasika then the devotee becomes as attached and accustomed to his beloved deity as a conditioned soul is to his wife and children.

That’s why the Gosvāmīs say: “We want sāsaṅga bhajan (worship with attachment to the deity). anāsaṅga bhajana (worship without attachment to Kṛṣṇa) won’t do.”   

“It is my duty to chant the holy name (a fixed number of times), that’s why I do it, but I don’t relish the sweetness of the name!”

Mahāprabhu could not even pronounce the word Jagannātha when He was in ecstasy (while dancing in the Ratha Yātrā).  

jaja gaga jaja gaga gadgada vacana
(C.C.)  

“He was saying ‘jaja gaga jaja gaga’ with faltering voice.”  

Then the Lord relished pratipadam pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanam, the full nectar at every step.
Śrīla Dāsa Gosvāmī has said: 

rādheti nāma nava sundara sīdhu mugdhaṁ
kṛṣṇeti nāma madhurādbhuta gāḍha dugdham
sarva kṣaṇaṁ surabhi rāga himena ramyaṁ
kṛtvā tad eva piba me rasane kṣudhārte 

         “O my tongue suffering from thirst!  Please mix the delicious fresh enchanting nectar of the name Rādhā with the wonderfully sweet condensed milk of the name Kṛṣṇa, add the fragrant delightful ice of pure passionate love and drink this charming drink at every moment!”  

The ācāryas teach us that we must relish each item of devotion in this way. All other desires, from sense-gratification to liberation, are all cheating. As long as such cheating propensities are there there can be no pure devotion, let alone rāga bhakti!

Śrī Līlāśuka has said: 

bhaktis tvayi sthiratarā bhagavan yadi syād
daivena naḥ phalati divya kiśora mūrtiḥ
muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate’smān
dharmārtha kāma gatayaḥ samaya pratīkṣāḥ 

         “O Lord! When our devotion to You becomes firm and fixed we may be so fortunate to behold Your divine adolescent form. Liberation will personally serve us with folded hands and religiosity, economic development and sense-gratification will be waiting for the time to attend to us.”
(Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta 107)  

A person in whose heart the splendor of Rādhārāṇī’s toe-nails arises is fearless and undisturbed. Renunciation is there in the minds of those who are absorbed in these lotus feet. Everything is wasted for someone whose heart does not carry these lotus feet, but a devotee who accepts the mood of the kiṅkarīs will always experience the vicinity of these lotus feet. How blissful it is to even think – “I am close to Her!”
(Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta Dās Bābājī Mahārāja)

Snippets of nectar