ATTRACTION FOR LIVING IN A PLACE WHERE K\u1e5a\u1e62\u1e46A HAS HIS PASTIMES
\nIn the book Pady\u0101val\u012b by R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b there is the following statement about V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana: \u201cIn this place the son of Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Nanda used to live with His father, who was king of all cowherd men. In this place Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a broke the cart in which the \u015aaka\u1e6d\u0101sura demon was concealed. At this place D\u0101modara, who can cut the knot of our material existence, was tied up by His mother, Ya\u015bod\u0101.\u201d
\nA pure devotee of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a resides in the district of Mathur\u0101 or V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana and visits all the places where K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s pastimes were performed. At these sacred places K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a displayed His childhood activities with the cowherd boys and mother Ya\u015bod\u0101. The system of circumambulating all these places is still current among devotees of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, and those coming to Mathur\u0101 and V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana always feel transcendental pleasure. Actually, if someone goes to V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana, he will immediately feel separation from K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, who performed such nice activities when He was present there.
\nSuch attraction for remembering K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s activities is known as attachment for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. There are impersonalist philosophers and mystics, however, who by a show of devotional service want ultimately to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord. They sometimes try to imitate a pure devotee\u2019s sentiment for visiting the holy places where K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a had His pastimes, but they simply have a view for salvation, and so their activities cannot be considered attachment.
\nIt is said by R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b that the attachment exhibited by pure devotees for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a cannot possibly be perfected in the hearts of fruitive workers (karm\u012bs) or mental speculators because such attachment in pure K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness is very rare and not possible to achieve even for many liberated persons. As stated in Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101, liberation from material contamination is the stage at which devotional service can be achieved. For a person who simply wants to have liberation and to merge into the impersonal brahma-jyotir, attachment to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is not possible to acquire. This attachment is very confidentially kept by K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and is bestowed only upon pure devotees. Even ordinary devotees cannot have such pure attachment for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Therefore, how is it possible for success to be achieved by persons whose hearts are contaminated by the actions and reactions of fruitive activities and who are entangled by various types of mental speculation?
\nThere are many so-called devotees who artificially think of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s pastimes known as a\u1e63\u1e6da-k\u0101l\u012bya-l\u012bl\u0101. Sometimes one may artificially imitate these, pretending that K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is talking with him in the form of a boy, or else one may pretend that R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a both have come to him and are talking with him. Such characteristics are sometimes exhibited by the impersonalist class of men, and they may captivate some innocent persons who have no knowledge in the science of devotional service. However, as soon as an experienced devotee sees all of these caricatures, he can immediately evaluate such rascaldom. If such a pretender is sometimes seen possessing imitative attachment to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, that will not be accepted as real attachment. It may be said, however, that such attachment gives the pretender hope that he may eventually rise onto the actual platform of pure devotional service.
\nThis imitative attachment can be divided into two headings \u2013 namely, shadow attachment and par\u0101 (transcendental) attachment. If someone, without undergoing the regulative principles of devotional service or without being guided by a bona fide spiritual master, shows such imitative attachment, this is called shadow attachment. Sometimes it is found that a person actually attached to material enjoyment or salvation has the good fortune to associate with pure devotees while they are engaged in chanting the holy name of the Lord. By the good grace of the Lord one may also cooperate and join in the chanting. At that time, simply by the association of such pure devotees, the moonlike rays from their hearts reflect on him, and by the influence of the pure devotees he may show some likeness of attachment caused by inquisitiveness, but this is very flickering. And if by the manifestation of such shadow attachment one feels the disappearance of all material pangs, then it is called par\u0101 attachment.
\nSuch shadow attachment or par\u0101 attachment can develop if one associates with a pure devotee or visits holy places like V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana or Mathur\u0101, and if an ordinary man develops such attachment for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and fortunately performs devotional activities in the association of pure devotees, he can also rise to the platform of pure devotional service. The conclusion is that transcendental attachment is so powerful that if such attachment is seen manifested even in some common man, by the association of a pure devotee it can bring one to the perfectional stage. But such attachment for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a cannot be invoked in a person without his being sufficiently blessed by the association of pure devotees.
\nAs attachment can be invoked by the association of pure devotees, so attachment can also be extinguished by offenses committed at the lotus feet of pure devotees. To be more clear, by the association of pure devotees attachment for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a can be aroused, but if one commits offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee, one\u2019s shadow attachment or par\u0101 attachment can be extinguished. This extinguishing is like the waning of the full moon, which gradually decreases and at last becomes dark. One should therefore be very careful while associating with pure devotees to guard against committing an offense at their lotus feet.
\nTranscendental attachment, either shadow or par\u0101, can be nullified by different degrees of offenses at the lotus feet of pure devotees. If the offense is very serious, then one\u2019s attachment becomes almost nil, and if the offense is not very serious, one\u2019s attachment can become second class or third class.
\nIf someone becomes attached to the principles of salvation or to merging into the existence of the brahma-jyotir, his ecstasies gradually diminish into shadow and par\u0101 attachment or else transform into the principles of aha\u1e45grahop\u0101san\u0101. This aha\u1e45grahop\u0101san\u0101 describes a living entity when he begins spiritual realization by identifying himself with the Supreme Lord. This state of self-realization is technically known as monism. The monist thinks himself one with the Supreme Lord. Thus, because he does not differentiate between himself and the Supreme Lord, it is his view that by worshiping himself he is worshiping the supreme whole.
\nSometimes it is found that a neophyte is taking part in chanting and dancing very enthusiastically, but within himself he is under the impression that he has become one with the supreme whole. This conception of monism is completely different from pure, transcendental devotional service. If, however, it is seen that a person has developed a high standard of devotion without having undergone even the regulative principles, it is to be understood that his status of devotional service was achieved in a former life. For some reason or another it had been temporarily stopped, most probably by an offense committed at the lotus feet of a devotee. Now, with a good second chance, it has again begun to develop. The conclusion is that steady progress in devotional service can be attained only in the association of pure devotees.
\nIf one can gradually advance his status in devotional service, this is understood to be due to the causeless mercy of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Himself. If a person is completely detached from material enjoyment and has developed pure ecstatic devotion, even if he is sometimes accidentally found not living up to the standard of devotional service, one should not be envious of him. It is confirmed also in Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 that a devotee who has unflinching faith in and devotion to the Lord, even if sometimes found to be accidentally deviated from pure devotional characteristics, should still be counted among the pure. Unflinching faith in devotional service, in Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and in the spiritual master makes one highly elevated in the activities of devotional service.
\nIn the N\u1e5bsi\u1e41ha Pur\u0101\u1e47a it is stated, \u201cIf a person has completely engaged his mind, body and activities in the service of the Supreme Godhead, but externally he is found to be engaged in some abominable activities, these abominable activities will surely be very quickly vanquished by the influence of his staunch devotional force.\u201d The example is given that on the full moon there are some spots that may appear to be pockmarks. Still, the illumination spread by the full moon cannot be checked. Similarly, a little fault in the midst of volumes of devotional service is not at all to be counted as a fault. Attachment for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is transcendental bliss. Amid unlimited volumes of transcendental bliss, a spot of some material defect cannot act in any way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ATTRACTION FOR LIVING IN A PLACE WHERE K\u1e5a\u1e62\u1e46A HAS HIS PASTIMES In the book Pady\u0101val\u012b by R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b there is the following statement about V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana: \u201cIn this place the son of Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Nanda used to live … 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-37916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 15:18:04","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\/37916","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=37916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37916\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}