Chapter Four: The Perfected Body and Entry into Līlā
It must be remembered that one cannot enter the Lord's sweet līlā with this gross material body, a mind attached to sense objects, an outward-turned intellect, and an impure inner faculty.
Qualification for entry
When the body, senses, and mind begin to worship the one Lord alone through the eleven limbs of regulated devotion—taking refuge, serving the guru, hearing, chanting, remembering, serving the feet, ritual worship, offering homage, servitude, friendship, and complete self-surrender—the practice is called regulated devotional discipline.1 Its nature will be discussed fully in the appropriate chapter. Here it is enough to say that only after completing regulated practice in all its parts does the practitioner enter rāgānugā-bhakti.
Beyond rāgānugā is rāgātmikā-bhakti, filled with madhura-rasa and belonging exclusively to the cowherd maidens of Vraja. Devotion that follows the loving devotion of those women of Vraja is called rāgānugā.2 The longing to attain the disposition of Vraja is itself rāgānugā.3 Through desire for that disposition and service of Vraja in conformity with its eternal residents, rāgānugā is attained.
In this discipline one should abide in the disposition of a sakhī or of Radha, adopt the corresponding līlā, dress, and nature, and remain immersed in joyful delight. As already stated, remembrance is its chief means.4 Particular success comes through the depth of remembrance.
Footnotes
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Kāyendriyāntaḥkaraṇānām upāsanā—worship through body, senses, and inner faculty. ↩
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Virājantīm abhivyaktāṃ vraja-vāsi-janādiṣu / rāgātmikām anusṛtā yā sā rāgānugocyate //—“That which follows the fully manifest rāgātmikā devotion shining among the residents of Vraja is called rāgānugā.” Sri Jiva Goswami. ↩
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Vishvanath Chakravarti says that when one hears of the sweetness of śṛṅgāra and other feelings present among the companions of Vraja līlā, and the longing arises, “May this be mine too,” no dependence upon scriptural argument remains. ↩
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Rāgānugāyāṃ smaraṇasya mukhyatvam—remembrance is primary in rāgānugā. ↩