BHAKTI IN THE JĪVA: INHERENT OR INHERITED?

Part 1: Bhakti Comes from Bhakti

Part 1 of an eleven-part series by Swāmī Bhakti Praṇaya Padmanābha

The inquisitive nature that accompanies the human species is particularly inclined toward the quest for origins.
There is a remarkable tendency in all of us toward this direction, which differentiates us humans from other
beings in different bodies and their respective series of questions and answers. Eventually, to the extent that our
consciousness becomes covered by successive layers of illusion within the worldly sojourn, this nature then
impels us to become more and more interested (to the point of absorption) in the mere external facts and
consequences of existence, without delving deeper into the causal reality of things, the active principle that sets in
motion the “dynamic machinery” of our own lives. So with even more reason, it should not be an exception to
this rule that those who undertake the path of bhakti come to this very important question: What is the very
genesis of devotion?

In this regard, we find valuable information revealed by our ācāryas that, being known and properly assimilated,
will allow us to further establish the independent and absolute position of bhakti within our own selves. Unlike in
other processes (in which, as practitioners approach the goal, their practice is increasingly reduced and they
ultimately abandon all practice to absorb themselves in their attained goal), the sādhana and sādhya of bhakti are
actually the same. So as a bhakta gets closer to his or her goal, the practice intensifies more and more, which
shows the supremacy of bhakti as an ongoing post-liberated situation. Also, hypothetically, if we were to analyze
the origins of bhakti and find some specific factor that is independent of devotion (which would be thus
considered its starting point), this component would naturally lead us to reconsider the supreme nature of bhakti,
conferring on it an origin different than itself. In order to avoid such a contradiction, the Bhāgavata thus declares
that bhakti emerges from bhakti, with the sole purpose of further expressing an ongoing greater and better type of
devotion ad infinitum:

Remembering and inspiring other devotees to remember the Lord, who destroys all sins, they
will develop hairs standing on end in ecstasy by prema-bhakti produced from sādhana-bhakti.1

It is precisely in this important śloka that we find the famous statement bhaktyā sañjātayā bhaktyā—bhakti
comes from bhakti.2 In other words, the fact that bhakti has its origins in bhakti implies that the beginning of
devotion is generated by sādhu-saṅga, one of the central aṅgas of devotional practice. This same idea is clearly
established in a famous quote from the Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa:

bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-saṅgena parijāyate

sat-saṅgaḥ prāpyate puṁbhiḥ sukṛtaiḥ pūrva-sañcitaiḥ

The inclination toward bhakti is awakened by association with the bhaktas of Bhagavān. The
jīva obtains such sat-saṅga through the accumulated effect of its bhakti-sukṛti, generated over a
long time.3

The meaning of this verse must be properly understood. It is generally established that the very beginning of
devotional life is śraddhā (faith), and only then one continues with sādhu-saṅga. But in analyzing this process in
greater detail, we find that prior to this initial faith, the concept of sukṛti (pious merit) is mentioned, which is
generated initially without proper awareness (ajñāta) and then eventually consciously (jñātā). For example, in the
former case, a jīva may show a favorable predisposition toward a Vaiṣṇava and thus accumulate its first
impression of sukṛti still without being officially inclined toward (or even aware of) bhakti; the latter case applies
to those practitioners who have accepted and understood the need to continue nurturing their own devotional
credit in order to remain within the progressive parameters of bhakti. The idea of sukṛti that we find in either of
these two cases refers specifically to bhakti-sukṛti (or the type of merit that brings us closer to devotion), while in
other cases we may speak about various kinds of pious credit that incline us toward other directions, such as
bhukti or mukti.

So if we establish the concept of ajñāta-sukṛti as the ultimate origin of bhakti, our search again culminates
inevitably at the feet of the sādhu, by whose merciful association a soul receives its first connection with the
world of devotion.4 It is in the context of presenting the adhikāra to participate in bhakti that Śrīla Rūpa
Goswāmīpāda declares this same point in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:

When, by a stroke of inconceivable luck, a person develops faith and liking for serving Kṛṣṇa
by special impressions (arising from previous association with devotees) and is not too attached
to or detached from material objects—such a person is eligible for sādhana-bhakti.5

In this way, this first type of sādhu-saṅga that the jīva receives (without even being aware of it) constitutes the
very beginning of bhakti in its life. And this association is one of the central expressions of devotion itself, which
will continue generating new stages of upgraded bhakti in the form of sādhana, bhāva, and eventually prema, as
Bhagavān himself declares in the following verse of the Bhāgavata:

In the association of the most exalted devotees, the topics of my glorious pastimes are directly
and internally realized, bringing the devotee to the platform of niṣṭha. Then those same themes
become an elixir for the heart and the ears at the stage of ruci. As these topics are savored, the
stages of āsakti, bhāva, and finally prema quickly unfold sequentially.6

Although the aforementioned sukṛti can at times be described as “merit,” it should be understood that what moves
a genuine sādhu in his or her interaction with the jīvas in this world is not the principle of justice but that of
causeless grace. Therefore, we are taught to always receive bhakti as a grace that descends from above our heads,
without our truly deserving such a gift but needing it profusely. The entirety of this topic is expertly presented
and analyzed by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura at the beginning of his Mādhurya-kādambinī, in connection
with which we will offer a brief explanation next.7

Initially, Śrīla Cakravartīpāda declares that Bhakti-devī has the same attributes as Bhagavān himself, total
freedom being one of them, which leads to her manifesting out of her own desire, regardless of any cause that we
may try to establish (this being one of the meanings of “bhakti comes from bhakti”). We find statements that
support this idea in the Bhāgavata (1.2.6), where we are informed that devotion is causeless (ahaitukī) and
irrepressible (apratihatā).8 Similarly, we find in the Bhāgavata the cryptic term yadṛcchayā, which appears more
than twenty times throughout the text and which refers to how devotion can be accomplished. In most of these
cases, yadṛcchayā is translated as “by his own volition.” The dictionary defines the word yadṛcchā as
“independence” or “freedom from desire and action,” thus indicating the principle of divine intervention, by
which someone may be moving in this world but not under the influence of its karmic waves, being actually
carried by a very different wave—bhakti.
In his commentary to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.15, Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī quotes Bhāgavata 1.19.25, where
yadṛcchayā is also used to indicate how Śukadeva Goswāmī appeared “out of his own volition” in the assembly
of the wise. In this commentary, Śrī Jīva also mentions that yadṛcchayā indicates “the association with a great
devotee, which arises by the mercy of that same devotee.” In other words, the idea that bhakti comes from bhakti
implies that bhakti comes from the bhaktas or, in other words, from one of the main limbs of bhakti itself—
sādhu-saṅga. This is even further confirmed by the Bhāgavata once again when Prahlāda indirectly hints that
sādhu-saṅga is the only way through which devotional regard can be awakened:

For those who are intent solely upon householder life, who, due to their unrestrained senses, are
immersed in the hell [of saṁsāra], and who repeatedly chew that which has already been
chewed, a devotional regard is never aroused toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa, either by the instructions of
others [who are similarly attached], by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.9

This point is also established by Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s purport two verses later: “Prahlāda understands that
bhakti does not arise in his father, because his father does not have the dust from the feet of the devotees.”

In Mādhurya-kādambinī’s introduction, Viśvanātha then beautifully describes the causeless nature of the
devotee’s mercy, which is just like Kṛṣṇa’s, since all of Kṛṣṇa’s qualities are transferred to his devotee. In this
regard, someone might say that such grace may not be equally distributed by the devotee. While in the case of
God this would be considered a fault (since his quality of impartiality would be affected), in the case of the
devotee this perfectly fits in with the śāstric description of a madhyama-bhakta, who acts with discernment and
consequently benefits everyone. Thus, despite showing an apparent bias, he or she does not cease to be impartial
(because even when neglecting certain people, he or she does so based on the criterion of whatever is best for
each person), and therefore his or her bhakti is not affected. In fact, it is by the grace of such madhyama-bhaktas
that ordinary souls can obtain bhakti. And the cause of such mercy is the bhakti that resides within the heart of
that great soul. And since such mercy cannot appear without the existence of bhakti, again the conclusion is that
bhakti is the cause of bhakti.

Śrī Viśvanātha then establishes the fact that when Kṛṣṇa finds himself under the affectionate control of his
devotee, his mercy follows theirs, or he chooses to manifest himself through such devotees. Thus, the bhakti that
resides in the heart of a devotee leads Śrī Kṛṣṇa to bestow his mercy on others, and thus again it is established
how only bhakti can be the cause of bhakti. Regarding the possible argument that a devotee is under Kṛṣṇa’s
control and therefore his or her mercy is not independent of Bhagavān (which would contradict the independent
nature of bhakti), it is explained that Śrī Kṛṣṇa has voluntarily subordinated himself to his devotees by fully
granting them his kṛpā-śakti.10 Thus, they do not depend on Kṛṣṇa to deliver mercy but can do it in complete
freedom. If this were not the case, it would be impossible for jīvas to obtain Kṛṣṇa’s grace, since he is absorbed in
his own divine joy. And although he understands the painful condition of the baddha-jīvas, he does not have
personal experience of the suffering that a soul undergoes when under the influence of the māyā-śakti (and full
compassion can arise only when one is aware of the pain of the other). Because Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate embodiment
of visceral bliss, it is impossible for him, despite his omnipotence, to experience full empathic pain for the
conditioned souls.11 Thus, the only chance a jīva has to obtain liberation is through the sādhu, who is also beyond
the guṇas. But just as someone who wakes up from a nightmare still remembers that feeling, a sādhu still
remembers the miseries he or she had to suffer in previous lives in this world, and it is this feeling that allows the
sādhu to be compassionate and thus pour out his or her mercy on the jīvas. Accordingly, the emphatic final
conclusion delivered by Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda is that souls can receive God’s grace only through the
channel of his devotee, and in no other way. Again, bhakti comes from bhakti in the context of sādhu-saṅga.12

This particular and unique concept (bhakti as the cause of bhakti itself) then teaches us that the fruit of bhakti in
practice (sādhana-bhakti) is eventually bhakti in pure love for Kṛṣṇa (prema-bhakti), which shows us how bhakti
is in itself puruṣārtha-śiromaṇi, the crest-jewel of all goals of life and the greatest manifestation of Śrī Hari’s
svarūpa-śakti, which is all-pervasive, all-charming, all-vitalizing, superexcellent, completely independent, and
self-manifest, just like Hari himself. As stated earlier, unlike in other processes, where as much as practitioners
get closer to the goal, the practice becomes more and more reduced and they ultimately abandon it in order to
absorb themselves in their achieved goal, both the sādhana and sādhya of bhakti are the same (both are bhakti).
So as a bhakta approaches his or her respective goal, the practice intensifies further, from sādhana, the immature
stage of bhakti, to bhāva and prema, its advanced stages. And regardless of which stage one may be in at the
present moment, one will find that what acted as the root cause for the birth of bhakti (sādhu-saṅga) still retains
its primary influence all along the path, even within the highest ultimate arena of divine love:

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-janma-mūla haya ‘sādhu-saṅga’

kṛṣṇa-prema janme, teṅho punaḥ mukhya aṅga

The root cause that gives birth to Kṛṣṇa bhakti is sādhu-saṅga. Even when Kṛṣṇa prema is
born, sādhu-saṅga remains as most essential.13

Therefore, if bhakti comes from bhakti and this in turn involves sādhu-saṅga and obtaining from such saṅga a
unique kind of undeserved grace (which will be always beyond our grasp), our following natural conclusion is
that devotion is but a gift that comes from outside of us, and not an element that is inherently present within the
very constitution of the jīva-śakti.

To be continued.
1
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.3.31
2
Interestingly, the word sañjātayā includes the term jāta (born), which speaks of how bhakti is actually born at some point
in time and thus not inherent in the jīva.
3
Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa 4.33. See Bhagavad-gītā 7.28 for a similar version of this Purāṇic verse.
4
In his commentary to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.21, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives an alternative list of fourteen
stages in bhakti, beginning with sādhu-saṅga. (This list is similar to but also different from the well-known nine stages
given by Rūpa Goswāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.) First he describes the mercy of devotees, then service to devotees
(these two being the first type of sādhu-saṅga, which is somewhat “accidental”). Only then comes faith and the
“intentional” second type of sādhu-saṅga, as a necessary response to conversion. Viśvanātha mentions these fourteen stages
again when commenting on Nārada’s conversion. In the context of doing so, he says the following in his purport to verse
1.5.23: “There is no cause for pure bhakti other than the fortunate mercy of the devotees of the Lord.”
5
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.14
6
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.25.25
7
This same topic has also been nicely described by Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī in Bhakti-sandarbha 179–180.
8
In his commentary to this Bhāgavata verse, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, “How is bhakti said to be without cause
in this verse? Because the Lord’s mercy is included in the mercy of the devotee, and because that mercy is included in
association with devotees, and because devotee association is an aṅga of bhakti, bhakti is said to be without cause (since an
aṅga of bhakti causes bhakti). Moreover, the cause of a devotee’s mercy is but the bhakti present in the heart of that
devotee, because without that bhakti in his or her heart, there is no possibility of his or her mercy arising. In all ways,
therefore, bhakti is the cause of bhakti.”
9
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.30
10
In this regard we can quote Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.31, where the expression sad-anugrahaḥ (“he whose grace
manifests through the saints”) is found in connection to Bhagavān. In his Bhakti-sandarbha (180), Śrī Jīva Goswāmī
elaborates on this term, saying that sad-anugrahaḥ means that “Bhagavān is he who blesses others (anugṛhṇāti) only
through the gateway of his authentic devotees (the sat).” Alternatively, it means that “Bhagavān is he whose grace is the
devotees themselves.” In either case, the import is that the grace of Bhagavān that is available in the world is present only in
the form of authentic devotees, not in any other form.
11
God is not ignorant of the suffering of conditioned beings, but such suffering does not touch his heart. Nonetheless, he
refers to the jīvas’ suffering while instructing Arjuna in the Gītā and while speaking to Uddhava in the Bhāgavata. In terms
of modern psychology, we could speak here about cognitive empathy and affective empathy. With cognitive empathy, one
knows about the suffering of others and may act to help them (but such a person has not experienced their suffering
personally). With affective empathy, one actually feels the suffering (because of having gone through it oneself). Thus, it
can be said that Kṛṣṇa is cognizant of living beings’ suffering but does not feel it. Therefore, he does not grant bhakti to
them, although he does instruct about bhakti. Bhagavān transmits his own svarūpa-śakti in the form of bhakti to his
devotees. By his own nature, Bhagavān is directly and personally involved only with his svarūpa-śakti. Thus, he
reciprocates directly only with his devotees, in whom (and as much as) the svarūpa-śakti is present. In regard to those
whose awareness is diverted away from him, he remains neutral. This means that his way of dealing with them is indirect,
via the impersonal laws of cosmic administration. See Bhagavad-gītā 9.29 for an example of this.
12
For a more detailed and comprehensive analysis of this introductory section of Mādhurya-kādambinī, see the first eleven
episodes of Dulal Chandra dasa, Madhurya Kadambini, Krishna Bhajan, YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWdjq9djo4&list=PL_RPvkYaL9m3EVJGyDZ9OXpKa0MLp4Cm6.
13
Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.22.83