Q.Does anarthas means one has desires different from Guru and Bhagawan?
A.Anartha means that which has no “artha”or that which is meaningless in our pursuit. It is all that which is unwanted in the pursuit of Prema Prapti or attaining Love of God.
Q.If we simply desire to act properly does it already mean that we are free from anartha even if there maybe conspicuous faults?
A.Anything other than what is desirable for pleasing Krishna whether it is dharma, artha; kama or moksha is all anartha. One has to first be sure of our root propensity; whether it is pure devotion or is it some other thing that we seek.
Q.What are different anarthas and how does one get rid of them?
A.There are five types of anarthas namely Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Dvesa and Abhinevesa.
Avidya: To consider unreal things to be true. We may have our own perceptions of things which is heavily coloured by our own conditioning. This may make us believe on the basis of a few events that a saint is a thief and vice-versa.
Asmita and Raga: Attachment to one’s ego and interest in accumulating sense objects. One finds things related to oneself superior to others even if the reverse were true. One is biased towards things and people related to oneself. Being greedy for sense-objects is clear indication of Raga.
Dvesa: Asmita gives rise to Dvesa. Dvesa is hatred; one develops Dvesa against things and people who are obstacles to one’s propensity to satisfy one’s senses and acquisition mentality. Dvesa is the result of one being too much attached to one’s egoistic tendencies.
Abhinivesa: One who is full with Asmita and Dvesa develops terrible fear of death. He lives in insecurity of life and the insecurity of objects of Asmita like fearing for dear ones. This is Abhinivesa.
One can be free of these anarthas only if one surrenders to Guru in such a way that one treats the Guru exactly as one would treat Krishna and render selfless service unto him. If one serves the guru in this mood one’s anarthas will go away.
First one develops sraddha or firm faith in shastras and makes a firm resolve to follow it. Then one does sadhu sanga. It is important to note that sadhu sanga means; one should take association of pure Vaishnavas until the time that one finds Sadhguru. After one surrenders to Sadhguru; the word Sadhu Sanga will only means Guru Sanga. One need not actively take lessons from other Sadhus and should rely single-pointedly in taking instructions from Sadhguru. A Sadhguru may recommend association with Sajatiya sadhus or sadhus who have accepted the same Sadhguru. This is permissible. One then engages in Bhajana Kriya. Unless Bhajana Kriya relieves one from “I”ness all Bhajana is a waste of time. The “I”ness should be transformed into what Guru wants; this will be the yardstick to measure success in Bhajana Kriya. One who performs all activities as service to Guru; under the benign instructions of the Guru performs the perfect sacrifice or Atma-Nivedana. As one engages in such service all Anarthas will leave including the fear of death.
Charan Pahari 