CHAPTER FOUR
fire will be extinguished and we will progress along the path of sådhana for uttama-bhakti, that devotion which is free from any tendencies towards karma or jñåna. That devotion will be kleça-ghnî, that which burns away so many types of difficulties. It will not happen all at once, but gradually. First there is çraddhå, then ni߆hå, and then we will move towards ruci and åsakti when our anarthas will have been mostly eradicated. However, those anarthas may still exist in root form. One may shave his head, but has even one hair completely disappeared? Its roots are still there, and hair will again appear after a couple of days. In the same way, when we have reached the stage of åsakti, only the roots of anarthas will remain; externally they will not be visible. If a favourable environment is given to them – that is, if we keep bad company or offend a Vaiß√ava – then they will reappear. But upon reaching the stage of bhåva, they will be finished forever. Then there is çubhadå, which is of many varieties. In the worldly sense, çubha means having wealth, good progeny, position, fame and knowledge, and keeping the body healthy so that the effects of old age will not come prematurely. But what is real çubha? Having ruci for the name and lîlå-kathå of Bhagavån and for the limbs of bhagavad-bhajanasådhana. Having eagerness for these things is çubha, and that çubha is the lotus flower described by the words çreya˙-kairava-candrikå-vitara√am. If the rays of the moon fall upon it, it will bloom purely and without blemishes. How will such pure bhakti arise in the heart? The çakti of harinåma is like the rays of the moon which make the lotus of the heart gradually bloom, taking it through the stages of 45