Dasa Goswami in Maha Shiksha addresses the mind which is the source of all bondage. He tells the mind “O mind although anger, lust, speaking nonsense and other gross vices have left you, you do not want to give up that desire which is a dog-eating woman, like desire for prestige and distinction”
He further says “I preach to others, I am a devotee and I follow the scriptures and I know what wrong others are doing and then when I teach others, they will bow down to my feet”. The devotee wants to be recognized in some way and when he introduces himself to others subtly through these identifications, he slowly sinks into the quagmire of “pratishtha” or self-praise. Such a situation is enough to suck the glory of one’s sadhana and thus making one devoid of the sweetness of the Lord’s love. It is mentioned in Hari Bhakti Vilasa, the great manual by Srila Sanatana Goswami that one should avoid the stool like “pratishtha” if one is anxious to taste “Prema”. A person who tries to compare things on the scale of one’s limited understanding and puts down devotees in one’s heart is also diseased with “pratishtha”.
As soon as one gives place to this dog-eating woman she ensures that she is never alone. She will call her dog-eating husband called matsarya (envy) which will ensure that one is not able to tolerate another’s superiority. The human with envy and pride in the heart is slowly reduced to a two-legged animal within a short time. With the passage of time, these two vices will crush whatever little virtues exist in the heart and the individual will become a personification of cruelty. Dasa Goswami prays that “O Mind the dog-eating woman and her husband are dancing within the cave of my heart. How can the very pure love of God enter the caves of such a foul heart?”
The foul vices of envy and pride are hidden very deep in our consciousness and it is not very easy to identify their presence. When they make their appearance leaving their hide-out within the caves of the heart, they first blind the intelligence and then shamelessly get to work and then get back to their caves in the heat. The person may realize this nature of his but will not be able to tackle it all by himself. It is important that when we sit down for our Sadhana, we should make serious prayers to our Guru and mantra in such a way that it becomes part of a daily routine. It will be nice to dedicate a few rounds of our chanting for eradication of these vices. By daily sadhana and prayer to Guru and mantra, even without our direct knowledge, the heart is cleansed of these vices nevertheless. The Srimad Bhagavatham says in the very verse that one who grows the weed of envy can never reap the fruits of love of Godhead. It is important that one becomes extremely conscious all the vices and then makes an offering of these verses in the fire of Sadhana. No sadhana can be complete without prayer. The more committed one is in one’s prayer, one will witness faster results. One should also avoid comparison of the world with respect to one’s position and get into a competitive spirit. Competitive spirit strangulates the creeper of Bhakti. Withdrawal of the mind from competition and offering it in the fire of Sadhana is a sure way to making outstanding progress in Bhajana.
Charan Pahari 