Association and Eliminating Anarthas

By: Babhru Dāsa (BVKS)

Sometimes when devotees, and especially brahmacaris wish to change their location of service, or more importantly wish to remove themselves from their current group of associates, one of the “leaders” may speak out against it in a rather pretentious and condescending way.

Specifically, we often hear those in leadership roles say things like, “but prabhu, if you are not in the association of this “tight knit” group of devotees you will not be able to see your own anarthas (unwanted manifestations within gross/subtle bodies.) It will not be possible to advance unless you have very directly and physically close association with one constant group of devotees.

To support this theory the following metaphor is often supplied. “Just like when rocks grind up on each other, it may be unpleasant but eventually they will smoothen out. Also, if one isn’t in close and constant association in this way, their anarthas will remain undetected.”

Being around devotional circles and especially, ashram/brahmacari settings, this sort of saying will come up rather frequently. Unfortunately, not even once have we ever heard shastra to support this statement or even any statement by any acharya whatsoever. It is not that we are minimizing the importance of devotee association, but we are simply pointing out the flaw in the above fanatical logic.

First of all, just because a devotee can understand they have anarthas, doesn’t mean they will be able to uproot them simply by making some sort of mental adjustment. Similarly, many times drug addicts know they have a problem, but due to the influence of the external energy, are practically powerless to do anything about it. Of course to some extent they can get it to calm down by external adjustment, but it does not correct the root problem and often times they fall back into their old ways. Furthermore, somebody who is completely overridden with anarthas and is pressured into living in a situation that is not possible for their psycho-physical nature, there is every chance of getting entangled in vaishnava-aparadha (offenses to devotees) especially if they are less mature.

On the other hand, anyone with a sober and genuine heart will be able to easily understand what anarthas are most prominent in him or her. Along with this, they should also understand that many anarthas lie deep within the recesses of their karmic subtle body and may have not become visible yet. However, these things are actually of less importance to the devotional sadhaka.

Why? Because if anarthas are visible or invisible, still the process for their destruction is the same. Focusing on the anarthas and how to get rid of them is something generally undertaken by those who have an “ascending-mentality.” Those in the devotional tradition of Krsna-bhakti have been instructed by all the saintly devotees to primarily focus on artha-pavritti (aspiration of transcendental service.) The point is that progress on the path of devotion is synonymous with destruction of anarthas, and not the other way around.

So what is the actual process for completely eradicating anarthas? Simply engaging in devotional service is all we need to. The nectar of devotional service is so powerful that it automatically destroys all negative influence. The great saintly devotees especially prescribe careful and continuous hearing and chanting about Krsna’s names, forms, qualities, and pastimes. There are unlimited scriptural examples to support this but we will simply list a few to give some idea.

From Srila Rupa Goswami:

 “If a person has a taste for worshipping the Lord, even if he has strong material attractions, those attractions will be for the most part destroyed during sādhana without resorting to vairāgya.” – BRS, 1.2.254

 From Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura:

 “The holy name is eternally situated in pure goodness. Only very fortunate jivas can take shelter of Krsna’s holy name. Chanting quickly removes the anarthas from the heart; consequently, hrdaya daurbalyam (weakness of heart) disappears. When undeviating faith in the Lord’s holy name develops, the propensity to sin is totally extirpated. All previous sins are also dissolved. The heart shines with positive purity. Sinful desires in the heart are rooted in ignorance. These three—sin, the seeds of sin and ignorance—are the source of all suffering for the conditioned soul.

 Chanting gradually diminishes the propensity to sin and simultaneously purifies the consciousness. At this juncture, the taste for chanting begins to manifest and the inclination to commit sinful activities vanishes, though a faint residue of previous sinful activity still s in the consciousness. The receding sinful reactions leave an odor of sinful habit hanging in the air, but the chanter’s contact with the name engenders a purity of willpower and mind that overcomes this clinging stigma of sin. ” –Sri Harinam Cintamani

 And from Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura Mahasaya:

 “When lust and his friends hear the word “Govinda” they immediately begin to flee, as a herd of elephants flees when it hears a lion’s roar. If one engages in single-pointed devotional service to Lord Krsna, then the worshipper attains transcendental bliss, and all kinds of calamities flee from him.” –Prema-bhakti-chandrika

 “Remembrance of the Lords pastimes is the life and soul of the devotee. Remembering the sweet loving pastimes of Radha and Krsna is the ESSENCE OF ALL PROCESSES. This is the goal of life as well as the BEST MEANS of achieving the goal.” – Prema-bhakti-chandrika

 And from Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakura:

 “Even chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa once destroys all sins and bestows the appearance of pure devotion, which is the cause of divine love. After the appearance of divine love, bodily transformations appear such as perspiration, trembling, hairs standing on the body, faltering of the voice, and tears in the eyes. One’s material bondage thus gets destroyed and he attains the loving service of Kṛṣṇa. Attainment of such transcendental wealth is the result of chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa even once. If one chants such a powerful holy name of Kṛṣṇa again and again, but still does not get prema and tears do not appear in his eyes, then clearly he is very offensive. The seed of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa does not sprout in his heart.” – Madhurya Kadambini

 So where did the idea that “the only way to progress through anartha-nivritti is to be in close-knit and constant association with a group of devotees” actually come from? We cannot say for sure but by analyzing the situation of the devotees who generally say such things, we can at least get some possible ideas.

Since such statements are generally promoted amongst brahmacari and young devotee groups it could be that such statements reinstitute a feeling of necessity on the part of the devotee towards the institutional hierarchy. Why is this good for institutional programs?

Unfortunately, sometimes there is a certain prestige that temples and ashrams chase after which deals with the amount of young devotees or brahmacaris they have in their community. Another reason is that the young people and especially those of the monastic class can be considered as “free labor” or even “money collectors.” After all, it isn’t easy to run a temple and keep up with the fees for deity maintenance, prasadam distribution, utility bills etc.

Furthermore if someone does start to become uniquely inspired from within and feels that they will benefit more from having an individualized sadhana program this generally becomes greatly condemned. Why? Because breaking off from the “close-knit group” can be considered as a threat to the authority structure. If some young devotees see somebody blissfully engaged in a way that is not promoted by the structure of the temple, ashram, community an idea may manifest in them such as, “wow that person seems really fired up and looks blissful, maybe soon I can move towards that direction also.”

But we are not saying the above considerations are always to blame. Sometimes people may advocate for the above stance of non-independence simply because they have heard it before many times and have not really thought about all its different aspects.