All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru Gaurāṅga.
By Śrī Śrīla Shyām Dās Bābā Mahārāja
(Date – 28.09.2026)
Gaudīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda said that – “We are put to test as a trial run in this material world, and only those who attend the kīrtana by those pure devotees can succeed. In this world of Māyā — aversive to the Lord, full of trials and tribulations, only patience, humility and respect for others are our friends for Hari-bhajana.”
Many devotees are coming to me and asking – How can I understand that I am making progress on the path of bhakti? I say — If you have love for pure guru-vaiṣṇava-bhagavān which is in increasing order than be sure you are on the right track. If that is not the case then be sure there must be some hidden anyābhilāṣa, anartha, aparādha etc. inside heart. The Prabhupāda used to say –“Those who are engaged in Haribhajana 24 hours, than be sure they are Vaiṣṇavas .”
Actual sevā and so-called sevā surely not the same
When Bhagavān appeared as Śrī Vāmanadeva, He played the līlā as the younger brother of Indra. We can see that externally Indra rendered service to the Lord in various ways, but inside his heart another purpose was nourished. He thought — “By serving the Lord in this manner, I shall secure my position as the king of heaven. My enjoyment will become permanent, and I shall never again be deprived of my desired objects.” Such service, though externally appearing to be devotional, but still contaminated by the desire for personal gain can never be called actual seva. This is the dirty nature of our mind in devotional life. Those who are not sincere they always try to employ Bhakti Devi for the gratification of their separate self-interest. Such a person can get engaged in the various limbs of devotional service like hearing Hari-kathā, chanting Harinama or going for parikrama etc., and even they may appear to be greatly enthusiastic in the service of the Lord, but if their secret motive is to seek lābha-pūjā-pratiṣṭhā etc. then such service can never be effective.
A sincere servant can never have any separate desire. So naturally to serve guru-vaiṣṇava-bhagavān without any smell of self-interest can be appreciated in devotional life. A sincere bhakta never utilize Bhakti Devi as a means for establishing himself. He never thinks that– “Through my seva, I can establish myself as a great personality.” Rather, he prays that, “Let me just become a humble instrument in the hands of Guru and Kṛṣṇa.” Therefore, the true testing of sincerity is not the quantity of our external devotional activities, but the purity of the motive behind them. Bhakti is not meant to decorate the false ego; it is meant to destroy the false ego inside our heart. Until and unless our heart becomes free from selfish ambition and the desire to take undue advantage of devotional service rendered by us till then our false ego can never go away from our heart.
One of the most practical questions in the way of devotional life is that – How can we realise that whether we are making any progress or not?
Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura used to say that – “Every Ekādaśī, we should consider how much advancement in our bhajana we have made since the last Ekādaśī. If it is seen that we have made no advancement, or if at all there has been some deterioration, then we should understand that bad association must be the cause for that and we should try to give that up.”
We may attend many programs, or can read many books, or can chant many rounds of Harinama, or can perform many sevās and also can acquire knowledge, but none of these, by themselves, are sufficient proof of spiritual progress.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpad has given us a very scientific map for the development of bhakti. He never wanted to present devotional life like something vague or sentimental, but as a progressive transformation of our consciousness level.
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā tato rucis
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati
(BRS — Verse 1.4.16)
“In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is matured in bhāva, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life.”
If genuine bhakti is being properly cultivated under the guidance of sādhu-guru-vaiṣṇava, then there must be some gradually transformation of heart. If years of devotional practice under the guidance of a sat-guru are not eliminating anarthas or no improvement seen regarding ācāra-ācaraṇa, or if no genuine taste found in Harināma, Hari-kathā etc., then we should honestly examine our sincerity, or our association or the quality of our sādhana.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpad has given us another very important guideline regarding our progress in devotional life–
vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt (Upadeśāmṛta verse 1)
“A dhīra or an absolutely self-controlled person, who can have the controlling over those urges like the urge to speak, the agitation of the mind, the onset of anger, the vehemence of the tongue, the urge of the belly and the agitation of the genitals can instruct the entire world. In other words, such a person is a sannyāsī with his body, mind & speech (can be treated as genuine tridanḍī sannyāsī), I mean he can be treated as Jagat-Guru in true sense.”
In this way we can have a survey about our controlling over our sense organs and mind.
Also inside Bhagavad-gītā we can find many ways to check our progress in our devotional life. In the verses below Śrī Kṛṣṇa has given Arjuna the list of daivī-sampat, divine qualities, which all should be there inside a devotee.
abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhir jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ
dānaṁ damaś ca yajñaś ca svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam
ahiṁsā satyam akrodhas tyāgaḥ śāntir apaiśunam
dayā bhūteṣv aloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr acāpalam
tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam adroho nātimānitā
bhavanti sampadaṁ daivīm abhijātasya bhārata
(Bhagavad-gītā 16.1–3)
Abhayam — fearlessness; sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ — Purity of heart and consciousness; jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ — firm establishment in spiritual knowledge; dānam — the spirit of giving; damaḥ — control of the senses; yajñaḥ — sacrifice; svādhyāyaḥ — study of the Vedic scriptures; tapaḥ — austerity; ārjavam — simplicity and straightforwardness; ahiṁsā — nonviolence; satyam — truthfulness; akrodhaḥ — freedom from anger; tyāgaḥ — renunciation; śāntiḥ — peacefulness; apaiśunam — aversion to fault-finding; dayā bhūteṣu — compassion for all living beings; aloluptvam — freedom from greed; mārdavam — gentleness; hrīḥ — modesty; acāpalam —freedom from fickleness; tejaḥ — vigor; kṣamā — forgiveness; dhṛtiḥ — determination and fortitude; śaucam — cleanliness and purity; adrohaḥ — freedom from envy and hostility; nāti-mānitā — absence of excessive pride; These qualities, O Bhārata, belong to one who is born with the divine nature.
All those symptoms are not merely some moral decorations, rather they can give us another way of testing whether our consciousness is becoming more divine or not.
And immediately after that Śrī Kṛṣṇa has described just the opposite of what spoken above.
dambho darpo ’bhimānaś ca
krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca
ajñānaṁ cābhijātasya
pārtha sampadam āsurīm (Bhagavad-gītā 16.4)
Dambhaḥ — hypocrisy; darpaḥ — arrogance; abhimānaḥ — pride and false identification with oneself; krodhaḥ — anger; pāruṣyam — harshness and cruelty; ajñānam — ignorance.
These are the qualities of one who is born with the demoniac nature, O Pārtha.
So the question we can ask ourselves is — Am I gradually moving toward the qualities of the divine nature, or am I merely becoming more sophisticated in displaying so called devotional activities while all those lower demoniac qualities are still there? Bhakti is not a cosmetic covering placed over the old ego. Bhakti means a gradual transformation of heart, and nothing else.
Also, in Chapter 12 of the Bhagavad-gītā, which is the chapter about Bhakti-yoga, we can find many ślokas mentioning what is dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ
maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī
santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī
yatātmā dṛḍha-niścayaḥ
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ (Bg. 12.13-14)
My devotee, who is non-envious, compassionate and friendly toward all living beings, free from feelings of possessiveness for sons and family members, devoid of false ego and even-minded in both happiness and distress, who is forgiving, ever-content, endowed with bhakti-yoga, in control of his senses, resolute in determination and dedicated to Me in both mind and intelligence, is very dear to Me.
yasmān nodvijate loko
lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair
mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ (Bg. 12.15)
He who neither disturbs anyone nor is himself disturbed by others, and who is free from mundane happiness, intolerance, fear and anxiety, is certainly dear to Me.
anapekṣaḥ śucir dakṣa
udāsīno gata-vyathaḥ
sarvārambha-parityāgī
yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ (Bg. 12.16)
Dear to Me is that devotee who is not dependent on mundane or social activities, who is pure, expert, detached, free from all agitation and careful to avoid any activity unfavourable to bhakti.
yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
śubhāśubha-parityāgī
bhaktimān yaḥ sa me priyaḥ (Bg. 12.17)
He who neither delights upon attaining that which is pleasing to the materialists nor detests attaining something undesirable, who neither laments for the loss of anything dear to him nor hankers to attain something he does not have, who renounces pious and impious activities, and who has devotion to Me, that devotee is indeed dear to Me.
samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca
tathā mānāpamānayoḥ
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu
samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ
tulya-nindā-stutir maunī
santuṣṭo yena kenacit
aniketaḥ sthira-matir
bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ (Bg. 12.18-19)
Being blessed with My bhakti, he who looks equally upon friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honour and dishonour, heat and cold, joy and anguish, who does not take any kind of mundane association, who is equal in both praise and criticism, who speaks nothing but bhagavat-kathā, who remains satisfied with whatever comes to him by the desire of the Lord for the maintenance of the body, be it to his taste or otherwise, who has no fixed place of residence and who has unflinching faith in the conclusions of spiritual matters – such a devotee is dear to Me.
ye tu dharmāmṛtam idaṁ
yathoktaṁ paryupāsate
śraddadhānā mat-paramā
bhaktās te ’tīva me priyāḥ (Bg. 12.20)
Certainly, those devotees who engage in exclusive devotion to Me with firm faith and who worship this nectarean religion that I have described are exceedingly dear to Me.
From all these ślokas given by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, we can have a very clear picture with regard to our progress in our devotional line. Are we moving towards all those qualities mentioned above or rather we are doing the opposite? Our progress in devotional life is always in relation to Guru-Vaiṣṇava-Bhagavān, because it is only when they are satisfied with us that we can move forward. So to get the satisfaction of Guru-Vaiṣṇava-Bhagavān we must try our best to develop all those divine qualities mentioned by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Below Srila Rūpa Gosvāmīpad has given us the definition of uttamā-bhakti:
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu
śīlanaṁ bhaktir-uttamā (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11)
“The cultivation of activities that are meant exclusively for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or in other words the uninterrupted flow of service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, performed through all endeavours of the body, mind and speech, and through the expression of various spiritual sentiments (bhāvas), which is not covered by jñāna (knowledge aimed at impersonal liberation) and karma (reward-seeking activity), and which is devoid of all desires other than the aspiration to bring happiness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is called uttama–bhakti, pure devotional service.”
Also in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we can find the following sloka—
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.170)
“Bhakti is the engagement of the senses in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa, the Lord and master of all the senses. This service is performed by one who has become completely free from all material designations and whose consciousness has been purified by becoming wholly devoted and exclusively dedicated to the Supreme Lord.”
Pure devotion begins with becoming free from all material designations. The living being is eternally a servant of the Supreme Lord, but due to identification with the material body, one accepts numerous temporary identities—“I am a man,” “I am a woman,” “I am Indian,” “I am American,” “I am rich,” “I am poor,” “I am learned,” “I am powerful,” “I am the doer,” and so forth. These bodily and material identities are called upādhi, or designations. To become sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam means to become free from the false conception that these temporary designations constitute our real identity. If we engage ourselves free from all these false designations in the Lords service then gradually Bhakti Devi can enter our heart. Bhakti means using our purified senses in the service of the Lord, who is their ultimate master. It is just like an iron rod placed into fire. At first the iron is cold and black, but gradually it becomes hot, luminous and fire-like. Similarly, when bhakti enters into our life, it gradually penetrates the whole system and all our sense organs become spiritualized.
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives us perhaps one of the best ways to check our progress in bhakti.
bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo ’nu-ghāsam (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.42)
“Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as satisfaction, nourishment and relief from hunger occur increasingly with every bite of food.”
This is a very practical analogy. If I am eating, I should gradually become satisfied, nourished and my hunger should diminish. Similarly, if I am genuinely cultivating bhakti, three things should gradually become visible — bhakti increases, realization of the Lord will take place and attachment to other material things decreases.
You cannot measure the health of a tree simply by counting how many hours somebody has watered it. Rather one has to check its leaves, the strength of the branches, the flowers and finally the fruit. Similarly, our sādhana like hearing and chanting can be compared to the watering of the bhakti-latā-bīja and our character is the visible growth, our taste for the sevā of guru-vaiṣṇava-bhagavān is the flower; and finally prema appears as the fruit. But if we are watering the tree every day and still become increasingly angry, proud, envious, restless and attached to material things, then we must understand that surely something went wrong.
Also we would like to remind you about the following śloka from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta —
kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ
viraktir māna-śūnyatā
āśā-bandhaḥ samutkaṇṭhā
nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ
āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne
prītis tad-vasati-sthale
ity-ādayo ’nubhāvāḥ syur
jāta-bhāvāṅkure jane (CC Madhya 23.18-19)
Kṣāntiḥ — tolerance and patience; avyartha-kālatvam — utilizing every moment in devotional service without wasting time; viraktiḥ — detachment from material enjoyment; māna-śūnyatā — absence of pride and desire for honor; āśā-bandhaḥ — firm hope in the Lord’s mercy; samutkaṇṭhā — intense longing for the attainment of the Lord’s service; nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ — always having a taste for chanting the holy name; āsaktiḥ tad-guṇākhyāne — attachment to hearing and speaking about the Lord’s qualities; prītiḥ tad-vasati-sthale — affection for the places where the Lord resides. These and similar symptoms are the natural manifestations found in a person in whom the seed of bhāva has sprouted.
So surely all those scriptural evidences can give us absolute guidance in the way of our Hari-bhajana, no doubt in it.
Gaura Hari Hari Bol!