CHAPTER SIX
\nHow to Discharge Devotional Service<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b states that his elder brother (San\u0101tana Gosv\u0101m\u012b) has compiled Hari-bhakti-vil\u0101sa for the guidance of the Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas and therein has mentioned many rules and regulations to be followed by the Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas. Some of them are very important and prominent, and \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b will now mention these very important items for our benefit.
\nThe purport of this statement is that \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b proposes to mention only basic principles, not details. For example, a basic principle is that one has to accept a spiritual master.
\nExactly how one follows the instructions of his spiritual master is considered a detail. For example, if one is following the instruction of his spiritual master and that instruction is different from the instructions of another spiritual master, this is called detailed information. But the basic principle of acceptance of a spiritual master is good everywhere, although the details may be different. \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b does not wish to enter into details here, but wants to place before us only the principles.<\/p>\n
He mentions the basic principles as follows: <\/p>\n
(1) accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master, <\/p>\n
(2) becoming initiated by the spiritual master and learning how to discharge devotional service from him, <\/p>\n
(3) obeying the orders of the spiritual master with faith and devotion, <\/p>\n
(4) following in the footsteps of great \u0101c\u0101ryas (teachers) under the direction of the spiritual master, <\/p>\n
(5) inquiring from the spiritual master how to advance in K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness, <\/p>\n
(6) being prepared to give up anything material for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a (this means that when we are engaged in the devotional service of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, we must be prepared to give up something that we may not like to give up, and also we have to accept something that we may not like to accept), <\/p>\n
(7) residing in a sacred place of pilgrimage like Dv\u0101rak\u0101 or V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana, <\/p>\n
(8) accepting only what is necessary, or dealing with the material world only as far as necessary, <\/p>\n
(9) observing the fasting day on Ek\u0101da\u015b\u012b and <\/p>\n
(10) worshiping sacred trees like the banyan tree.<\/p>\n
These ten items are preliminary necessities for beginning the discharge of devotional service in regulative principles. In the beginning, if a neophyte devotee observes the above-mentioned ten principles, surely he will quickly make good advancement in K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness.<\/p>\n
The next set of instructions is listed as follows: <\/p>\n
(1) One should rigidly give up the company of nondevotees. <\/p>\n
(2) One should not instruct a person who is not desirous of accepting devotional service. <\/p>\n
(3) One should not be very enthusiastic about constructing costly temples or monasteries. <\/p>\n
(4) One should not try to read too many books, nor should one develop the idea of earning his livelihood by lecturing on or professionally reciting \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam or Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101. <\/p>\n
(5) One should not be neglectful in ordinary dealings. <\/p>\n
(6) One should not be under the spell of lamentation in loss or jubilation in gain. <\/p>\n
(7) One should not disrespect the demigods. <\/p>\n
(8) One should not give unnecessary trouble to any living entity. <\/p>\n
(9) One should carefully avoid the various offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord or in worshiping the Deity in the temple. <\/p>\n
(10) One should be very intolerant toward the blasphemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, or His devotees.<\/p>\n
Without following the above-mentioned ten principles, one cannot properly elevate himself to the platform of s\u0101dhana-bhakti, or devotional service in practice. Altogether, \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b mentions twenty items, and all of them are very important. Out of the twenty, the first three \u2013 namely, accepting the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, taking initiation from him and serving him with respect and reverence \u2013 are the most important.
\nThe next important items are as follows: <\/p>\n
(1) One should decorate the body with tilaka, which is the sign of the Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas. (The idea is that as soon as a person sees these marks on the body of the Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava, he will immediately remember K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Lord Caitanya said that a Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava is he who, when seen, reminds one of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Therefore, it is essential that a Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava mark his body with tilaka to remind others of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.) <\/p>\n
(2) In marking such tilaka, sometimes one may write Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a on the body. <\/p>\n
(3) One should accept flowers and garlands that have been offered to the Deity and the spiritual master and put them on one\u2019s body. <\/p>\n
(4) One should learn to dance before the Deity. <\/p>\n
(5) One should learn to bow down immediately upon seeing the Deity or the spiritual master. <\/p>\n
(6) As soon as one visits a temple of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, one must stand up. <\/p>\n
(7) When the Deity is being borne for a stroll in the street, a devotee should immediately follow the procession.
\n(In this connection it may be noted that in India, especially in Vi\u1e63\u1e47u temples, the system is that apart from the big Deity who is permanently situated in the main area of the temple, there is a set of smaller Deities that are taken in procession in the evening. In some temples it is the custom to hold a big procession in the evening with a band playing and a nice big umbrella over the Deities, who sit on decorated thrones on the cart or palanquin, which is carried by devotees. The Deities come out onto the street and travel in the neighborhood while the people of the neighborhood come out to offer pras\u0101da. The residents of the neighborhood all follow the procession, so it is a very nice scene. When the Deity is coming out, the servitors in the temple put forward the daily accounts before Them: so much was the collection, so much was the expenditure. The whole idea is that the Deity is considered to be the proprietor of the whole establishment, and all the priests and other people taking care of the temple are considered to be the servants of the Deity. This system is very, very old and is still followed. So therefore it is mentioned here that when the Deity is on stroll the people should follow behind.) <\/p>\n
(8) A devotee must visit a Vi\u1e63\u1e47u temple at least once or twice every day, morning and evening.
\n(In V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana this system is followed very strictly. All the devotees in town go every morning and evening to visit different temples. Therefore during these times there are considerable crowds all over the city. There are about five thousand temples in V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana city. Of course it is not possible to visit all the temples, but there are at least one dozen very big and important temples, which were started by the Gosv\u0101m\u012bs and which should be visited.)<\/p>\n
(9) One must circumambulate the temple building at least three times. (In every temple there is an arrangement to go around the temple at least three times. Some devotees go around more than three times \u2013 ten times, fifteen times \u2013 according to their vows. The Gosv\u0101m\u012bs used to circumambulate Govardhana Hill.) One should also circumambulate the whole V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana area. <\/p>\n
(10) One must worship the Deity in the temple according to the regulative principles. (Offering \u0101rati and pras\u0101da, decorating the Deity, etc. \u2013 these things must be observed regularly.) <\/p>\n
(11) One must render personal service to the Deities. <\/p>\n
(12) One must sing. <\/p>\n
(13) One must perform sa\u1e45k\u012brtana. <\/p>\n
(14) One must chant. <\/p>\n
(15) One must offer prayers. <\/p>\n
(16) One must recite notable prayers. <\/p>\n
(17) One must taste mah\u0101-pras\u0101da (food from the very plate offered before the Deities). <\/p>\n
(18) One must drink cara\u1e47\u0101m\u1e5bta (water from the bathing of the Deities, which is offered to guests). <\/p>\n
(19) One must smell the incense and flowers offered to the Deity. <\/p>\n
(20) One must touch the lotus feet of the Deity. <\/p>\n
(21) One must see the Deity with great devotion. <\/p>\n
(22) One must offer \u0101rati (\u0101r\u0101trika) at different times. <\/p>\n
(23) One must hear about the Lord and His pastimes from \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 and similar books. <\/p>\n
(24) One must pray to the Deity for His mercy. <\/p>\n
(25) One should remember the Deity. <\/p>\n
(26) One should meditate upon the Deity. <\/p>\n
(27) One should render some voluntary service. <\/p>\n
(28) One should think of the Lord as one\u2019s friend. <\/p>\n
(29) One should offer everything to the Lord. <\/p>\n
(30) One should offer a favorite article (such as food or a garment). <\/p>\n
(31) One should take all kinds of risks and perform all endeavors for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s benefit. <\/p>\n
(32) In every condition, one should be a surrendered soul. <\/p>\n
(33) One should pour water on the tulas\u012b tree. <\/p>\n
(34) One should regularly hear \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam and similar literature. <\/p>\n
(35) One should live in a sacred place like Mathur\u0101, V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana or Dv\u0101rak\u0101. <\/p>\n
(36) One should offer service to Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas (devotees). <\/p>\n
(37) One should arrange one\u2019s devotional service according to one\u2019s means. <\/p>\n
(38) In the month of K\u0101rttika (October and November), one should make arrangements for special services. <\/p>\n
(39) During Janm\u0101\u1e63\u1e6dam\u012b (the time of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s appearance in this world) one should observe a special service. <\/p>\n
(40) One should do whatever is done with great care and devotion for the Deity. <\/p>\n
(41) One should relish the pleasure of Bh\u0101gavatam reading among devotees and not among outsiders. <\/p>\n
(42) One should associate with devotees who are considered more advanced. <\/p>\n
(43) One should chant the holy name of the Lord. <\/p>\n
(44) One should live in the jurisdiction of Mathur\u0101.<\/p>\n
Now the total regulative principles come to an aggregate of sixty-four items.
\nAs we have mentioned, the first are the primary ten regulative principles.
\nThen come the secondary ten regulative principles, and added to these are forty-four other activities.
\nSo all together there are sixty-four items for discharging the regulative practice of devotional service. Out of these sixty-four items, five items \u2013 namely, worshiping the Deity, hearing \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, associating among the devotees, sa\u1e45k\u012brtana, and living in Mathur\u0101 \u2013 are very important.<\/p>\n
The sixty-four items of devotional service should include all of our activities of body, mind and speech. As stated in the beginning, the regulative principle of devotional service enjoins that all of our senses must be employed in the service of the Lord. Exactly how they can be thus employed is described in the above sixty-four items. Now \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b will give evidence from different scriptures supporting the authenticity of many of these points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHAPTER SIX How to Discharge Devotional Service \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b states that his elder brother (San\u0101tana Gosv\u0101m\u012b) has compiled Hari-bhakti-vil\u0101sa for the guidance of the Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas and therein has mentioned many rules and regulations to be … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 23:23:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}