Unalloyed Devotion

Journal 'The Harmonist'
Edited by
Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

(No. 4, Vol. XXV, September 1927)

UNALL0YED devotion (shuddha-bhakti) is thus indicated in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu —

klesha-ghni shubhada moksha-laghutakrit sudurlabha
sandrananda-visheshatma shri-krishnakarshani cha sa

“She (unalloyed devotion) is the destroyer of misery, giver of good, inspirer of contempt for moksha (emancipation from worldly bondage), extremely difficult to obtain, the essence of the most highly concentrated bliss and capable of attracting Shree Krishna”.
'Misery' is three-fold viz. — 'sin', 'seed of sin' and 'nescience'. The man in whose heart unalloyed devotion makes her appearance is naturally freed from sinful activities. Sinful impulses — 'the seed of sin' — also find no place in the heart that is sanctified by devotion. Mistake regarding the true nature of jiva is 'nescience'. With the appearance of unalloyed devotion the consciousness that “I am the eternal servant of Krishna” is spontaneously aroused, and, therefore, nescience, in the form of mistake regarding one's real nature, ceases to exist. As soon as the light of unalloyed devotion enters the heart, 'sin', the 'seed of sin' and 'nescience' are instantly destroyed. 'Misery' vanishes on the appearance of devotion. She is, therefore, 'the destroyer of misery'.
Unalloyed devotion is the 'giver of good'. The love of all the world, all good qualities, all happiness etc. are denoted by the word 'good'. One in whose breast unalloyed devotion manifests herself is thereby endowed with the four good qualities of humility, kindness, absence of pride and readiness to honour everybody; and, therefore, everyone in the world loves him. All good qualities that are inherent in the jiva spontaneously manifest themselves in the devotee. As in the shloka —

yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akinchana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna
mano-rathenasati dhavato bahih

“In him, who possesses selfless devotion to Hari, dwell all the gods with all their good qualities. But where is the possibility of those great qualities in one who is not a devotee of Hari; in as much as he runs after phenomena driven by mental predilections?”
Devotion can confer all kinds of happiness — at her will, can give everything — worldly pleasures, the pleasure of undifferentiated union with Brahman, all success, enjoyment, salvation etc. But as the devotee does not want to have any of these he obtains eternal supreme bliss from her.
Devotion inspires contempt for ' moksha '. No sooner does the love of Godhead, ever so slightly, makes her appearance in the heart, piety, wealth, passion and salvation lose all value.
Unalloyed devotion is extremely difficult to obtain. This point is not easy to grasp. Despite thousand and one varieties of endeavour unalloyed devotion ever remains most difficult to attain due to the fact that cleverness in serving Godhead happens to be so rare. The Goddess of devotion satisfies and deludes most of her votaries with the gift of salvation; she does not give unalloyed devotion unless she detects special fitness in the recipient of her favour; for these reasons unalloyed devotion has ever been such a very rare attainment. Shree Rupa Goswami Prabhu observes in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu —

gyanatah sulabha muktir
bhuktir yagyadi-punyatah
sheyam sadhana-sahasrair
hari-bhaktih sudurlabha

That is to say — “By efforts after knowledge salvation in the shape of knowledge of the undifferentiated Brahman can certainly be obtained; heavenly enjoyment is easily gained by pious deeds such as yagya etc; but so long as the knack in the practice of devotional communion is lacking, despite thousand manner of efforts unalloyed devotion for Hari is not obtained”.
Unalloyed devotion is the essence of the most highly concentrated bliss. It is transcendental bliss, the boundless ocean of happiness. The happiness that exists in the material world, or the bliss due to the realization of the undifferentiated Brahman that is found in the sphere of negative thoughts, multiplied a billion-fold, does not attain even the scale of comparison with a solitary drop of the ocean of the bliss of unalloyed devotion. Material pleasure is trivial, immaterial pleasure is dry; both are different from spiritual bliss which belongs to quite another category and possesses far different characteristics. Things that are categorically different from one another cannot be compared one with the other. For this reason those that have realized the bliss of devotion are in a position to enjoy substantial happiness so intense that to them the bliss flowing from the realization of the abstract Brahman appears to be as contemptible as the tiny pool indented by cattle-hoof. He only knows who has actually realized this bliss: it is inexpressible.
Unalloyed devotion is capable of attracting Krishna. Shree Krishna waited upon by all His beloved, subdued by love, is drawn close to one in whose heart devotion makes her appearance; — and He cannot be won by any other method.
Unalloyed devotion is thus defined by Shree Rupa Goswami in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu —

anyabhilashita-shunyam gyana-karmady-anavritam
anukulyena krishnanushilanam bhaktir uttama

“Unalloyed devotion is the cultivation of friendly feeling towards Krishna by means of all the senses to the exclusion of all selfish desires and unhampered by intellectual striving after he undifferentiated Brahman or by self-enjoyment etc”.
In other words unadulterated devotion is that culture of friendly relation with Krishna by means of all the senses, which is free from every desire other than that of devotional improvement and which further involves exclusive attachment to Krishna and the abandonment of all worship of the gods as separate divinities. Such friendly feeling implies spontaneous liking for Krishna. The pursuit of the abstract Brahman or the Over-soul is possible only by the methods of inductive reasoning and concentration (yoga); and is, therefore, not devotion (bhakti). Knowledge (gyana) in this connection means the knowledge of sankhya and the quest of the undifferentiated Brahman. The true knowledge regarding spirit (jiva), matter and Godhead and of their interrelation, is absolutely necessary for the realization of the self. Such knowledge is a part and parcel of the practice of unmixed devotion. By the word ' karma ' is meant the selfish, fruitive and penitential works that are daily performed by the smartas. The services of Krishna, although they have an external semblance to such activities, are quite distinct from ' karma ' for the reason that they possess the characteristic of selfless, unflinching devotion to Krishna; and are, therefore, known by the name of ' bhakti ' or 'devotion'. The renunciation (vayragya) or knowledge (gyana) that precedes the appearance of devotion is also a variety of selfish enjoyment (karma). Therefore, the causeless, incessant, and exclusive service of the soul (jiva) to Shree Krishna alone indicates unalloyed devotion. But it may still be asked, “How are we to ascertain that our devotion to Godhead is unalloyed?” The following shloka of Shreemad Bhagabat supplies three criteria of unalloyed devotion by means of which we are enabled to distinguish in our own case as well as in that of others, genuine from pseudo-devotion.

bhaktih pareshanubhavo viraktir
anyatra chaisha trika eka-kalah
prapadyamanasya yathashnatah syus
tushtih pushtih kshud-apayo ’nu-ghasam

“Just as in the case of one sitting at meal the taking of every morsel of food is attended with simultaneous satisfaction, nutrition and appeasement of hunger, so in the case of a devotee betaking himself to the holy feet of a true Preceptor (sat-guru), unalloyed devotion, realization of the transcendental Truth and renunciation of everything eke than Krishna — all these three — simultaneously manifest themselves”.
This applies only to the case of one who has already realized true devotion. It may also be noticed in this connection that of the six indications of unalloyed devotion, mentioned in the shloka quoted at the beginning, only the first four appear in the incipient stage of devotion; the last two manifest themselves in the realized state alone.

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