Kripa-Siddhi, Rare Mercy or Expected Result?
By: Babhru Dasa (BVKS)
Within the modern devotional community there seems to be much discussion and controversy regarding how one attains the spiritual world (Goloka Vrindavan.) How does one actually gain entrance into the spiritual realm? As we know, a person can not enter the spiritual abode of Krsna until he absolutely free from contamination and impurities. So how is this perfection reached?
As we often hear, there is three types of devotional siddhas (perfected beings.) They are named as nitya-siddhas (eternally perfected), sadhana-siddhas (perfected through spiritual practice), and kripa-siddhas (perfected by mercy of Guru or Krsna).
The nitya-siddhas are never contaminated by the material energy and they never fall under illusion. Sometimes they descend to the material realm along with Krsna’s avatars or to execute different preaching activities.
Sadhana-siddhas are those great souls who have been contaminated by the material energy and by executing arduous spiritual practice (sadhana) have attained perfection.
Kripa-siddhas are the extremely fortunate ones who have done nothing in particular to attain God, but somehow or other they achieve bhava or prema through the Lord or his devotees mercy. Sometimes a sadhaka may also attain this special kripa regardless of their achievements (or lack there of) through spiritual practice (sadhana.) Arguably, this is the rarest type of perfected being.
“The persons I have mentioned did not undergo serious studies of the Vedic literature, nor did they worship great saintly persons, nor did they execute severe vows or austerities. Simply by association with My devotees and Me, they achieved Me.” – SB 11.12.7
However when one attains the spiritual realm the three types of siddhas do not differentiate from one another. It is not like they have some label on their forehead that says nitya, sadhana, or kripa siddha. The perfected state is absolute and there is no need for distinction.
Some examples of nitya-siddhas are Krsna’s parents such as Nanda and Yashoda, Krsna’s friends like Sridama and Subala, and gopis such as Srimati Radharani, Lalita, and Vishaka. Actually there are unlimited nitya-siddhas but the ones listed above are “prominent and well known.”
Some examples of famous sadhana-siddhas are Druva Maharaja, Prahlad Maharaja, and Narada Muni. These great personalities have attained the perfected state due to severe 
and intense spiritual practice. Such practice in most cases continues through at least several lifetimes, if not hundreds of lifetimes!
One example of a kripa-siddha is Maharaja Prataparudra’s son who was described in Caitanya-charitamrta to be an “ordinary prince.” By Sri Chaitanya’s embrace he was immediately elevated to the topmost platform of love of God. So in this case we can see the prince performed no real sadhana practice (at least in that lifetime) but still attained perfection. The following is the relevant section from CC.
“As soon as the prince was touched by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, symptoms of ecstatic love immediately manifested themselves in his body. These symptoms included perspiration, trembling, tears, being stunned and jubilation.” -CC Madhya 12.6
“From then on, the fortunate prince was one of the most intimate devotees of the Lord.” – CC M .12.68
“If Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu simply glanced at someone for a moment, that person immediately turned into one of the most confidential devotees of the Lord. On the previous day, the boy was simply an ordinary prince, and the next day he was counted as one of the topmost devotees of the Lord. This was all made possible by the causeless mercy of the Lord. The Lord is omnipotent, all-powerful and almighty, and He can act as He likes.” -PP. Madhya 12.68
Now that we have a reference point for each of the three types of siddhi we can go deeper into analyzing what the desired result of our spiritual life should be. Since we do not fall into the category of nitya-siddha, we will not discuss that much further. The main focus will be to distinguish the differences between sadhana-siddhi and kripa-siddhi. Although the perfection is equal in both instances, how they come about is different.
First we will briefly break down the understanding of sadhana-bhakti. As it is understood through Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and those of all the previous acharya’s, there are two types of sadhana-bhakti. Vaidhi-sadhana, and raganuga-sadhana.
“The person who has developed faith in serving the Lord by impressions arising from previous association with devotees, who is not too attached to material objects, and who is not too de- tached, is qualified for vaidhi-bhakti” -BRS 1.2.14
From the above we can see that the devotee practicing vaidhi-sadhana gains strength from and has to strictly adhere to scriptural resolutions and regulatory processes. This type of sadhana gradually elevates one to become more and more free from material 
contamination all the while increasing our attachment to Krsna. However, it should be understood that vaidhi-sadhana never leads directly to Krsna’s abode in Vrindavan. The highest destinations it can lead to are Dwarka and Mathura.
“Everyone in this world worships Me through vidhi-bhakti. Vidhi-bhakti has no power for attaining the feelings of Vraja. The devotion of the world is mixed with knowledge of My divine prowess. I do not delight in love diluted with prowess.” -CC 1.3.15-16
On the other hand raganuga-sadhana is based off the devotees individual desire to obtain a very specific spiritual body, mood, and type of love for Krsna in Vraja. “Raganuga” literally means following in the footsteps of those perfected devotees who are eternally situated in Vraja (ragatmikas.) Raganuga-sadhana can only begin when a devotee has obtained lobha (sacred greed). Lobha in its seed form manifests as a strong desire and attraction towards the attainment of one of the primary relationships with Krsna (friend, parent, lover, servant.)
“When one hears about the sweetness of their feelings and so forth, and a desire for attaining the same awakens in the consciousness without dependence on scripture and logic,this is a symptom of the awakening of greed (lobha ).” -BRS. 1.2.292
“If, upon hearing of the sweetness of the feelings, headed by passion, of Sri Krsna’s associates in the Vraja-lila, one thinks, ‘Let me also attain such feelings,’ then at this time one need not depend either on the revealed scriptures or on favorable logical considerations. If such dependence remains, it cannot be said that greed has appeared. Greed never arises in anyone because of scriptural considerations, and in anyone who is desirous to attain the object of the greed, no considerations of qualification or lack of qualification arise. Rather, greed arises only by hearing about the object of greed or by seeing it.”- RVC 1.5
We will not go into further discussion on the philosophy and practices of these different types of sadhana as it is not directly relative to the main point of the article.
Next we will try to go deeper into the understanding of the attainment kripa-siddhi. Kripa literally means “mercy” and is attained through the Guru or Krsna. It can very commonly be seen amongst most religious systems that the followers largely rely on some sort of conception of this “mercy” to attain “heaven”. In itself this is not a bad thing, as we understand all spiritual progress is actually occurring due to the mercy of the spiritual master and God.
“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krishna. Without the grace of the spiritual master one cannot make any advancement.” -Gurvashtaka
However the main problem within these religious systems is that they largely if not completely neglect a spiritual practice outside of “blind-faith.” However the genuine spiritual seeker is always eager to taste the divine bliss and love which is born of spiritual realization. A sincere spiritual seeker is generally never satisfied with blind-following alone. Practical experience is a must.
To a large degree we are also seeing this perverted conception within the worldwide vaishnava community. Many times we hear, “just go on working for the preaching mission and at the time of death you will realize everything of your eternal identity and all other truths and will gain entrance into the spiritual realm.” As we can see, this mentality seems to be far more aligned with the idea that everyone will just be “dished out” this most sacred and rare types of mercy, thus becoming a kripa-siddha. Its as if many devotees are counting on the point that their activities are good enough and will automatically invoke this very rare and wonderful occurrence of perfection through kripa.
In many cases this sort of statement is being used as a scapegoat for devotees who do not want to take the time to fully apply themselves to either the preaching mission or more intense sadhana programs. Not to say this is the case in all circumstances. There are many glorious preachers who just want to serve Srila Prabhupada by spreading his teachings and this is extremely wonderful and such persons are eligible to be worshipped by all. That is to say, if this is their 100% pure desire. Generally such persons actually have some very deep realization but never desire to show it to the public due to humility.
On the other side, the devotee engaged in intense sadhana-bhakti (vaidhi/raganuga) while simultaneously executing the preaching mission judges their advancement upon their internal revelation and increasing taste for serving the mission of Sri Caitanya and for hearing and chanting about the names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of Krsna.
It seems like a much more genuine and realistic approach to do absolutely everything we can to advance through the different practices of vaidhi-bhakti and pray dearly that one day we may become eligible to begin raganuga-bhakti. In this connection we can hear from Srila Prabhupada:
“So you have to uncover. You have to discover. That discovering process is devotional service. The more you are engaged in devotional service, the more your senses become pure or uncovered. And when it is completely uncovered, without any designation, then you are capable to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is apprenticeship. Vaidhī-bhakti, that is apprenticeship. Real bhakti, parā-bhakti, that is rāgānugā-bhakti. This rāgānugā-bhakti, we have to come to after surpassing the vaidhī-bhakti.” -SB 1.2.33 Vrindavan, 12 November 1972
When we are qualified for the raganuga-sadhana process the devotee will be further enlivened to continue working for the mission in their sadhaka-deha (external body) as well as practicing internal meditations via their siddha-deha (internal body.) When one is at this stage, they can be sure that they are doing absolutely everything they can to attain the ultimate perfection of spiritual life (love for Krsna.) This sort of practice is what generally leads to the attainment of sadhana-siddhi.
However, if the devotee is trying the best they can to advance through both above mentioned methods (external/internal) and working so hard to serve Srila Prabhupada and the previous acharyas preaching mission but somehow or other still falls short of perfection, then it is certainly within the power of Srila Prabhupada or Krsna to bless us with heaps of kripa and elevate us to the stage of perfection. Although, it should definitely be emphasized that this is NOT AN AUTOMATIC OCCURRENCE. Actually, the advanced devotee never thinks himself to be qualified to receive such mercy.
If one has the idea that this “mega-dose” of mercy is coming “automatically,” then one opens them-self up for several different anarthas to make an appearence. Prominent among these anarthas is “complacency.” Taking the form of poisonous water, complacency enters the soil and roots and damages the bhakti-creepers growth. The damage is seen as laziness, lethargy, pride etc.
It is a far better mentality to always think we are never qualified for such mercy. We should always strive for sadhana-siddhi, and if special kripa does come, then how fortunate! Both types of siddhi are completely glorious and as discussed in the first few paragraphs, when one enters the spiritual realm there is absolutely no distinction who attained which type of perfection.
As an ending note we can refer to SVCT commentary on BRS 1.4.9:
“The Lord giving His personal association to the devotee is called atiprasada or extreme mercy, because that is the result of the Lord’s mercy.”
SVCT describes the magnitude of such kripa (mercy) as extreme. So we should fully understand, this is no “light” or “easy” attainment.
There once was a young devotee who spent many months on the road away from his home temple. He served his gurus mission faithfully and enthusiastically year after year returning only once in a great while for festivals and only when it would not interfere in the performance of his service.
There was talk amongst his fellow god brothers, who also were out on the same service, that this upcoming festival of Radhastami was special in that one could ask a special favor of Srimati Radharani in the service of Krsna.. It was also the only day of the year when one may receive darshan of Her lotus feet.
This young devotee was very enthusiastic to return for he always had a particular fondness for Srimati Radharani and had never received darshan of Her feet and thought that this particular blessing would help him get through the long months of austere service that lay ahead.
The festival was underway when they finally arrived back at the dhama and the abhisheka of Their Lordships and rare darshan of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet were about to take place.
As the young brahmachari ran down the long brick road to the temple he was silently praying that he might be given this opportunity to increase the intensity of his surrender and that he might obtain some special mercy on this day.
Just as he was removing his shoes a senior God brother came out and said that he was just the vaishnava he wanted to see because he had some special service that would please Radharani very much if he were to volunteer.
Sensing this great opportunity and understanding this to be the Immediate answer to his prayer he nodded and put his his shoes back on and his elder god brother led him around back of the temple towards the kitchen. The young devotee was so excited that he might be given some intimate special service to the deity directly and that he indeed was receiving special mercy on this most auspicious day.
He was led past the pujari room and past the back door to the temple room and past the kitchen and past all those who were cooking feverishly and past the food storage and finally came to a stop in front of two large sinks and piles of pots and pans that needed washing.
The elder godbrother turned to him and said,
“Prabhu, the devotee who usually handles this is out sick and it is imperative that someone keep up with the pot scrubbing as the feast is going on. Half the cooks are waiting for these pots as we stand here.”
The young devotee could not believe his eyes.
He was crestfallen and for a brief moment felt he should protest and remind his godbrother how long he has been out on the road and how much he had looked forward to the festival and especially receiving darshan of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet.
He turned mouth agape again toward the sinks and all the pots and pans and back again to his godbrother. At that moment, instead of words of protest, somehow, his only thoughts were Krsna’s words:
“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.”
He lowered his eyes and humbly surrendered.
“Ah,” he looked up and smiled, “just the service I was looking for. Thank you Prabhu.”
And with that he turned and set about washing and scrubbing the mountain of pots and pans that had been left.
He was all alone in that back room for hours because the pots and pans and utensils and cooking sheets kept coming. And all the while in the distance, he could hear the feint echo of the kirtan and the devotees singing and he could feel the soft rumble of feet dancing but there he stayed all alone scrubbing away.
And as the hours passed and as he scrubbed and sung kirtan only with himself and the dishes he gradually felt a soft stirring in his heart and his eyes blurred a bit and deep inside he felt the impress of a most beautiful intimacy which was unspeakable and undeniable and everywhere he turned his eyes, to the sink, to the faucet, to the pile of pots, to the water, everywhere he felt the presence of Radha and Krsna as if They had come down just to be with him.
So there, in this windowless washroom he stood with hands dripping, mouth partly open, eyes tearing , realizing that he indeed had had his prayers answered and that there was no place he would rather be at that moment, not there in the temple room, not there before the Deities, not discussing Radha’s esoteric intimate pastimes with the Lord, not even to be in Goloka Vrndavan.
There was nothing, absolutely nothing left to be desired.
And at that moment he felt utterly and completely fulfilled.
He did not know how long he stood there like that but there was then the crashing sound of yet another pan hitting the stack that snapped him back. And the soft echo and low rumble of the kirtan above him resumed and he turned again to the lovely sink full of beautiful soapy water and continued until late into the evening until he finally set the steel wool down to head up to the brahmachari ashram for rest.
Upstairs as he was rolling out his mat, his sankirtan partner asked him where had he been all day and that he had missed all the festivities and deep esoteric katha of all the sannyasi’s and advanced devotees.
He simply smiled as he flattened out his sleeping bag-
“Why, Prabhu, I was taking darshan of Srimate Radharani’s lotus feet. “