Should we aspire for the ecstatic symptoms of divine love or for the removal of impurities?

Should we aspire for the ecstatic symptoms that are described as characteristics of pure love for Krishna at our stage, or should we aspire just for the removal of anarthas that are troubling us right now? As devotees, we certainly want to develop love for Krishna, and whatever is obstructing us in developing that love for Krishna, we want that to be removed, no doubt, and all of us will have our individual inspiration or vision about what love for Krishna means and how it can be developed. That is, that for some devotees, it may mean a deep immersion in Shastra. For some devotees, it may mean going to a holy dham like Mayapur and or singing the names of the Lord in the holy places over there.

For some devotees, it may mean worshipping the Deities in the temple. For some devotees, it may mean discussing exalted subjects of intimate Krishna pastimes with other devotees. So because it’s a personal relationship with Krishna, we cannot legislate it too much.

It’s a bond of the heart. So the most important thing in our bhakti is Anukulyasya Sankalpa Pratikulyasya Varjanam at operational level. Whatever is favorable for our devotional growth, we accept that, and whatever is unfavorable, we try to keep a distance from that.

So if it is favorable for us to move toward Krishna, that we have a vision of certain ecstatic symptoms or certain expressions of love for Krishna, then having that vision, having that aspiration, that’s wonderful. And the Artha Pravrutti and Anartha Nirrutti are both important. If we focus only on Artha Pravrutti without Anartha Nirrutti, then the danger is that we may become more Sahajiya-ik, that it’s just we are becoming sentient, we are trying to get our head to the spiritual world while our legs are still sinking on the ground in the material world.

We have not even got them out of the material world till now. On the other hand, if we get too caught only on Artha Nirrutti and don’t try for Artha Pravrutti, then we will become, we may tend to become like Mayavadis, for whom the focus is more on simply on freedom and liberation, not so much on positive attraction to Krishna. So, both are required and at different times in our life, we may feel inspired by different things.

So, whatever it is that we feel inspired by, we take that and move forward. And it’s good to have some other devotees who know our situation, whom we can consult, some seniors, either our spiritual masters, spiritual guides or some equals who know us well, so that they can guide us whether we are going too much in one direction. In general, each one of us may have our particular natural inclination for some devotees becoming very mindful and self-aware, to understand their motivations and to evaluate why particular kinds of moods or desires or hurts are rising within them because of what happened in the past, is very important as a part of their spiritual growth.

For others, all this may seem too analytical and they may feel more inspired to immerse themselves in hearing Krishna Katha and relishing Krishna Katha. Each of these modalities can help us grow, but we can go too far. Sometimes, our so-called immersing asana in Krishna Katha may be our way of running away from the hard issues that we need to deal with.

Let’s say the person may be physically wounded and they may start hearing Krishna Katha and they transcend the pain of the wound, but that doesn’t mean the wound itself is going to get cured. So, it may happen to physical, psychological level also. Similarly, it may happen that somebody may get so caught in psychological self-understanding that Krishna and Krishna’s mercy may become like a background, may become relegated to the background and that’s also not healthy.

So, we need a balance and we may need to understand what is our natural inclination so that we can take shelter of Krishna in that way. At the same time, we don’t neglect the other side by having some guide-route balances.