No! Not at all!
BHAKTI
In Bhagavatam, I remember reading that Bhakti is more difficult to attain than Mukti. Is your preaching (Nama Sankirtan) aiming at Bhakti or Mukti? If what Bhagavatam says is true, any other way to attain the Lord (other than bhakti) must be easier, isn’t it?
Bhakti can be divided into two types – Sadhana Bhakti and Sadhya Bhakti. Sadhya Bhakti is also known as Prema Bhakti. The goal of Sadhana bhakti is Sadhya bhakti, similar to the one of the Gopis. It is that Bhakti that Srimad Bhagavatam refers to as the most difficult, because, the state of Prema Bhakti is nothing but Mukti.
Sadhana bhakti is the nine types of Sadhanas that Prahlada says – Sravanam, Kirtanam, Smaranam, Pada Sevanam, Vandanam, Dasyam, Archanam, Sakhyam and Aatma Nivedanam. When these are done not expecting any worldly return, with the sole aim of attaining Prema Bhakti, it will take us to that state.
Generally, the term ‘Bhakti’ refers to Sadhana Bhakti – the path towards the goal. As a simple example, when we are in the process of making tea, we simply say that “the tea is being made” though tea is not done until the process is over. The same way, the term ‘Bhakti’ is generally used to denote the Sadhana bhakti. But, that is not what Srimad Bhagavatam refers to.
On a journey from one place to another we use a map which indicates the essential landmarks to confirm that we are on the right path. If one chooses Bhakti , what are these signs that one encounters as he progresses, which identify the location of the aspirant on the path?
According to Bhakti Shastras, there are 20 ‘lakshanas’ or characteristics that indicate the state of Bhakti. Horipilation, trembling of the body, loss of consciousness, eyeballs getting fixed upwards, sleeplessness, becoming leaner and paler, blood oozing out of hair nodules on the body – these are a few of them. The key among them is the feeling of ‘viraham’ or the loneliness felt by the separation from the beloved.
Instead of reading the Bhakti Shastras, one can merely read the life history of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and see how he exhibited all these Lakshanas.
