Bhakti Is Medicine Without Side Effects

The smallest mistake on the paths of karma, yoga, jnana, or tapasya can lead to a fall. But if you make the same mistake on the path of devotional service, you will never fall. I always quote this verse from Bhagavad-gita, where Krishna tells Arjuna:

nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti pratyavāyo na vidyate sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt

Bhagavad-gita (2.40)

[In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.]

If you make even a little progress in bhakti-yoga, you will never lose it. If you hear hari-katha even once, the result stays with you for your whole life. If you chant the holy names for just one day, the benefit remains forever. There are so many verses glorifying bhakti.

jīvitaṁ viṣṇu-bhaktasya varaṁ pañca-dināni ca na tu kalpa-sahasrāṇi bhakti-hīnasya keśave

Hari-bhakti-vilasa (10.317)

[It is better to live for only five days as a devotee of Lord Vishnu than to live for thousands of kalpas without bhakti.]

A life of thousands of years without bhakti has no real value. But if you spend only five days in this world doing devotional service, the result stays with you forever.

You see, bhakti is a very simple process. If you practice it, you do not have to fear falling down, and there are no harmful results.

Some medicines come with a warning: "Side effects may occur." You take them to cure a headache, but then you get another pain or even a skin allergy. But there are also medicines that remove the pain without causing any side effects. Bhakti is like that. If you perform pure devotional service to the Lord, there is no danger of getting any bad result. The same cannot be said about karma, jnana, yoga, or tapasya.

Srimad-Bhagavatam describes an incident where a mantra was pronounced incorrectly during a yajna. Because of that mistake, instead of producing the one who would kill Indra (literally, "the enemy of Indra"), the sacrifice produced the demon Vritrasura, the one who was killed by Indra (literally, "the one whose enemy is Indra").

But bhakti is different. If someone is not well educated but sincerely practices bhakti and says, "Vishnaya namah," while a learned scholar says, "Vishnave namah," they receive the same result. Even if a devotee mispronounces the words "Hare Krishna," Krishna still knows that the devotee is calling out to Him.

A small child may not be able to say "Mom" or "Dad" correctly, but the parents love the child just the same. The Lord is called Bhava-grahi Janardana, which means, "I accept the mood of My devotees, not their pronunciation or anything else." He loves His devotee so much—not the karmi, the jnani, the yogi, or the tapasvi, but His devotee.

api cet su-durācāro

bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

Bhagavad-gita (9.30–31)

[If even the most ill-behaved person engages with determination in exclusive devotional service unto Me, he is worthy of being considered a saintly person (sādhu) due to his intelligence being fixed on Me in devotion. He quickly becomes purified and attains relief from the bondage of both sins and pious activities. O son of Kunti! Attest that My devotee will never fail to attain perfection.]

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Date: 2007 Location: Russia