जिज्ञासयाध्यात्मिकयोगनिष्ठया ।
योगेश्वरोपासनया च नित्यं
पुण्यश्रवःकथया पुण्यया च ॥२२॥
sÄ Å›raddhayÄ bhagavad-dharma-caryayÄ
jijñÄsayÄdhyÄtmika-yoga-niá¹£á¹hayÄ
yogeÅ›varopÄsanayÄ ca nityaá¹
puṇya-Å›ravaḥ-kathayÄ puṇyayÄ ca
sÄ - that devotional service; Å›raddhayÄ - with faith and conviction; bhagavat-dharma - devotional service; caryayÄ - by discussion; jijñÄsayÄ - by inquiry; adhyÄtmika - spiritual; yoga-niá¹£á¹hayÄ - by conviction in spiritual understanding; yoga-Ä«Å›vara - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; upÄsanayÄ - by worship of Him; ca - and; nityam - regularly; puṇya-Å›ravaḥ - by hearing which; kathayÄ - by discussion; puṇyayÄ - by pious; ca - also.
Attachment for the Supreme can be increased by practicing devotional service, inquiring about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, applying bhakti-yoga in life, worshiping the Yogeśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by hearing and chanting about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These actions are pious in themselves.
The word yogeÅ›vara is applicable to both the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and His devotees also. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ this word occurs in two places. In the Eighteenth Chapter (18.78), Kṛṣṇa is described as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, who is the master of all mystic power (yatra yogeÅ›varaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ). YogeÅ›vara is also described at the end of the Sixth Chapter (6.47): sa me yuktatamo mataḥ. This yuktatama indicates the topmost of all yogÄ«s — the devotees, who can also be called yogeÅ›vara. In this verse, yogeÅ›vara-upÄsanÄ means to render service to a pure devotee. Thus Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura says, chÄá¸iyÄ vaiṣṇava-sevÄ nistÄra pÄyeche kebÄ: without serving a pure devotee, one cannot advance in spiritual life. PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja also has said:
naiá¹£Äá¹ matis tÄvad urukramÄá¹…ghriá¹
spṛśaty anarthÄpagamo yad-arthaḥ
mahÄ«yasÄá¹ pÄda-rajo-’bhiá¹£ekaá¹
niá¹£kiñcanÄnÄá¹ na vṛṇīta yÄvat
(BhÄg. 7.5.32)
One should take shelter of a pure devotee, who has nothing to do with this material world but is simply engaged in devotional service. By serving him only, one can transcend the qualitative material condition. In this verse it is recommended (yogeÅ›vara-upÄsanayÄ) that one serve the lotus feet of the topmost yogÄ«, or the devotee. To serve the topmost devotee means to hear from him about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To hear the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the mouth of a pure devotee is to acquire a pious life. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.28) it is also said that without being pious one cannot engage in devotional service:
yeá¹£Äá¹ tv anta-gataá¹ pÄpaá¹
janÄnÄá¹ puṇya-karmaṇÄm
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktÄ
bhajanti mÄá¹ dá¹›á¸ha-vratÄḥ
To become fixed in devotional service one has to become completely cleansed from the contamination of the material modes of nature. For work in devotional service the first item is Ädau gurv-ÄÅ›rayam: one should accept a bona fide spiritual master, and from the bona fide spiritual master inquire about one’s transcendental occupational duties (sad-dharma-pá¹›cchÄ) and follow in the footsteps of great saintly persons, devotees (sÄdhu-mÄrga-anugamanam). These are the instructions given in Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu by RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«.
The conclusion is that to increase attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead one has to accept a bona fide spiritual master and learn from him the methods of devotional service and hear from him about the transcendental message and glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way one has to increase his conviction about devotional service. Then it will be very easy to increase attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
