“I offer my lust to the service of Kṛṣṇa, my anger towards the enemies of His devotees and my greed towards association with saints and topics of Lord Hari. I am deluded without my beloved Lord, and I am proud when I sing Kṛṣṇa’s glories. Thus I engage all the enemies in Kṛṣṇa’s service!”   (PBC, verse 22)

The service of Kṛṣṇa rendered by lust and others

Sudhā kaṇikā vyākhyā—

In this tripadī Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya defines in what proper places to engage the enemies like lust in the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

First he says, kṛṣṇa sevā kāmārpaṇe “I will engage my lust in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s service”. ātmendriya prīti icchā— tāre boli kāma. kāmera tātparya— nija sambhoga kevala (C.C.) “The desire to please one’s own senses is called lust. The main aim of lust is personal enjoyment.”

In such statements we learn that the desire to give pleasure to oneself is called lust. If that desire is directed towards giving happiness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then this lust will culminate into prema or pure love, which is considered the highest human pursuit. kṛṣṇendriya prīti icchā— dhare prema nāma. kṛṣṇa sukha tātparya— hoy prema to prabal (C.C.)

From these statements we can learn that the desire to give pleasure to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is called prema. Adding the suffix ghaṅ to the verbal root kam makes the word kāma and adding the suffix iman to the verbal root prī makes the word prema. Both the verbal roots kam and prī indicate desire. Therefore although there is no difference between the verbal roots of the words kāma and prema there is an enormous difference between their objectives. kāma is disloyal, aiming at many sense objects and prema is one-pointed, going straight to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the river Ganges flows straight to the ocean.

If the rejectable part of kāma, that is the tendency to seek one’s own happiness, is removed and it thus becomes possible to seek the pleasure of the Lord, then this lust culminates into the supreme human pursuit or prema, and thus becomes most praiseworthy.

A ladder can be used to climb to a certain height, but he who descends on the ladder must look downwards and he who ascends on the ladder must look upwards. Similarly he whose desires are aimed at his own gratification is bound by sensual desires and must wander through various species and suffer pain in hell, and he who treads the path of bhajana engages his heart’s desires for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and by the force of Bhakti devī he gradually becomes spiritualised. Finally his desires merge with the essence of the Lord’s pleasure potency and become renowned as prema.

In Śrīmad Bhāgavata (11.11.24) the Lord Personally tells Śrī Uddhava: mad arthe dharma kāmārthān ācaran mad apāśrayaḥ; labhate niścalāṁ bhaktiṁ mayyuddhava sanātane “O Uddhava! A person who surrenders unto Me will engage his occupational duties, his money and his desires in My service and thus becomes blessed with attaining prema for Me, the Eternal Man!”

All sensual cravings will come to an end when one acts out of desire for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The Lord told Śrī Nārada: mat kāmaḥ śanakaiḥ sādhu sarvān muñcati hṛcchayān “Taking a desire for Me within the heart, the sādhus manage to discard all personal desires.” Being free from all ulterior desires and filling the heart with desires for Kṛṣṇa is called prema.

After this the blessed author says: krodha bhakta dveṣi jane — “Anger must be directed at the enemies of the devotees.” The great enemy of mankind anger, who is creating great havoc, can certainly not be engaged directly in any activity in Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service, but if it is engaged against those who hate the devotees, it can nourish devotion. If the practising devotee tolerates the enemies of the devotees’ blasphemy of the devotees and their engagement in activities of hatred towards them, and he does not become angry or intolerant of this, it is not shown that he has any love for Śrī Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas. During the sacrifice of progenitor Dakṣa, Śrī Satī devī saw that Śrī Mahādeva was being insulted, so she became very angry and said (Bhāg. 4.4.17)—

karṇau pidhāya niriyād yad akalpa īśe dharmāvitaryaśṛṇibhir nṛbhir asyamāne chindyāt prasahya ruṣatīm asatīṁ prabhuś cej jihvāmasūnapi tato visṛjet sa dharmaḥ

“If someone hears a blasphemer insulting the master of religion and is not able to either kill the blasphemer or commit suicide, then he must at least cover his ears and angrily leave the assembly. If, however, he is able to do so, he should cut out the tongue of the blasphemer and then commit suicide. That is dharma or virtue.”

For the Vaiṣṇavas, committing suicide is considered improper, for the body is suitable for performing bhajana, and therefore they should instead cover the ears and angrily leave the assembly, remembering Śrī Viṣṇu. Therefore anger, or intolerance, which usually causes wholesale destruction, should be aimed at the enemies of the devotees; thus it can nourish the Vaiṣṇavas’ bhajana. Then it is said lobha sādhu saṅge harikathā “Greed should be after association with the devotees and discussing topics of Hari.” lobha means greed, and although greed after material things is greatly troublesome for the conditioned souls and lies at the root of the material disease, if it is engaged in hearing topics of Hari in the company of the sādhus it will swiftly bless the students with the easy attainment of prema. As a concomitant result thirst, hunger, fear and illusion will also perish. It gives prema in the following way: tam eva nityaṁ śṛṇuyād abhīkṣnaṁ kṛṣṇe’malāṁ bhaktim abhīpsamānaḥ (Bhāg. 12.3.15) “Simply by hearing the great saints singing the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, loving devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is attained.” Devarṣi Nārada said the following to Prācīnabarhi about the destruction of material miseries like hunger and thirst (Bhāg. 4.29.41)—

tasmin mahan mukharitā madhubhic caritra pīyūṣa śeṣa saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti tā ye pibantyavitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha karṇais tān na spṛśantyaśana tṛṅ bhaya śoka mohāḥ

“O King! Some people think that loving devotion for the Supreme Lord is automatically achieved by personally thinking and talking about Hari, without doing so in the company of the sādhus. However, this is completely impossible. The assembly of sādhus is like a nectar-river of topics of Hari, where no other topic is discussed but the nectar-topics of Hari. Hunger, thirst, fear, lamentation and delusion can not touch those who are seated in such an assembly, where these topics are constantly billowing in all directions, and drink the nectar of topics of Hari there through attentive ears, without wasting any efforts (this indicates sacred greed).”

What’s more, sacred greed after topics of Hari in the assembly of sādhus is the supreme goal of human life; when the Supreme Lord wanted to give a benediction to Pṛthu Mahārāja, the king replied (Bhāg. 4.20.24):

na kāmaye nātha tad apyahaṁ kvacin na yatra yuṣmac caraṇāmbujāsavaḥ mahantamāntar hṛdayān mukha cyuto vidhatsva karṇāyutam eṣa me varaḥ

“O Lord! I do not require liberation, through which one cannot attain the honey from Your lotus feet in the form of the glorification of You by the great saints, from whose mouths and hearts these topics emanate. May You bestow upon me ten thousand, or innumerable ears so that I can hear the glorification of You to my heart’s content— this is the greatest benediction You can bestow upon me!”

Through this statement we can understand that sacred greed after topics of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the assembly of sādhus is the highest human pursuit. After this the blessed author says: moha iṣṭa lābha vine. When a man is so attached to his desires for sense enjoyment and to bodily things and this covers over his knowledge of the Self, not allowing him to understand the truth, then this is called moha or delusion.

The practising devotee who knows the spiritual truth engages this in bhajana by being deluded or by fainting when he is deprived of the attainment of the Lord or His Personal service. The purport of this is that any practitioner who experiences transcendental bliss from hearing, chanting and thinking of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, should also feel that the direct attainment of the Lord is missing and some eagerness born of separation should awake within him. If not, a condition of self-delight will arise which will cause delay in the attainment of the Lord’s personal service. Just as a child is born as the result of the meeting of a husband and wife, similarly if prema meets with eagerness, the vision of the Lord will become possible.

Although the six Gosvāmīs like Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha etc. are direct associates of Śrīman Mahāprabhu they showed such an extraordinary agitation and eagerness out of separation from their beloved deities— this is learned from their biographies. They are constantly deluded out of great agitation of love in separation from their beloved deities, that their fainting etc. will forever remain the greatest example for all the practising devotees of the world, like the peak of the Sumeru Mountain.

If diligent practitioners accept this delusion, which is originally one of the six enemies, as the ninth stage (swoon) of love-in-separation from the beloved deity, then they could swiftly be blessed with the attainment of the darśana or the direct service of their beloved deity.

Finally it is said: mada kṛṣṇa guṇa gāne. The word mada means pride or arrogance, and this is a formidable obstacle to devotion. The proud person is far removed from the Personality of Godhead.

ahaṅkāra nivṛttānāṁ keśava nahi dūragaḥ; ahaṅkāra yutānāṁ madhye parvata rāśayaḥ – “Keśava is very close to those who have given up their false pride, while for the proud person He is as far away as chains of mountains!”

An intelligent student of devotion, however, does not destroy this pride but engages it in glorification of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s attributes (another meaning of the word mada is intoxication). In other words, the devotee becomes intoxicated by singing Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s glories and will then swiftly be blessed by attaining prema siddhi. Being intoxicated by glorifying Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s attributes is also described as the highest human pursuit in Śrīmad Bhāgavata (8.3.20)—

ekāntinā yasya na kañcanārthaṁ vāñchanti ye vai bhagavat prapannāḥ atyadbhutaṁ yac caritaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ gāyanta ānanda samudra magnāḥ

Śrī Gajendra praised the Supreme Lord as follows: “O Lord! The devotees that are exclusively surrendered to Your lotus feet do not desire anything. They are simply intoxicated by singing of Śrī Hari’s auspicious and wonderful activities, and thus they drown in an ocean of transcendental bliss.”

Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says: “I will engage these enemies like lust, that are great obstacles to devotional practice, in their own individual places in my worship of the Lord, thus turning them into friends of my devotional practice.”

In the previous tripadī Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has vowed to engage the six enemies in his bhajana and in which places they should be engaged, in a truly wonderful way. But amongst them, we cannot find the enemy called ‘envy’. Not being able to tolerate someone else’s superiority and becoming displeased about that, is called mātsarya or envy.

Although Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has vowed to give the six enemies a place in his practice of worship, he remains silent when it comes to mātsarya. From this we must understand that unless the enemy of envy is destroyed one can never become qualified for bhajana. Only non-envious saints are qualified for bhāgavata dharma. In the opening of Śrīmad Bhāgavata it is seen — nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām (Bhāg. 1.1.2)  – If even a semblance of envy gets a place in the heart one is deprived from the right to devotion. Therefore the practising devotee has no other choice than to kick envy out of the heart. There is only one means to remove envy from the heart and that is to love everyone with generosity and with a simple and sincere heart. All living beings must be given due respect with the understanding that Kṛṣṇa dwells in them all— jīve sammāna dibe jāni kṛṣṇa adhiṣṭhāna (C.C.)