Saints

Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam

Soul-tonic for the Dedicated souls

तृतियोऽध्यायः

CHAPTER III

श्री भक्त वचनामृतम्

Śrī Bhakta-vacanāmṛtam

Soul-tonic:

 Words from the bhaktas
continued...

3.10

साधु-सङ्गत् सर्व्वम् एव सुलभम्

sādhu-saṅgat sarvvam eva sulabham

With sādhu-sanga everything becomes easy.

तुलयाम लवेनापि न स्वर्गं नापुनर्-भवम्

भगवत्-सङ्गि-सङ्गस्य मर्त्त्यानाम् किम् उताशिषः

tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam

bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya marttyānām kim utāśiṣaḥ

श्री शौनकादिनं

śrī śaunakādinaṁ

The sages of Naimiṣaranya headed by Śaunaka said:

[The following excerpt is from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport which I cannot improve upon.]

TEXT 13

tulayāma lavenāpi

na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam

bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya

martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ

SYNONYMS

tulayāma—to be balanced with; lavena—by a moment; api—even; na—never; svargam—heavenly planets; na—nor; apunaḥ-bhavam—liberation from matter; bhagavat-saṅgi—devotee of the Lord; saṅgasya—of the association; martyānām—those who are meant for death; kim—what is there; uta—to speak of; āśiṣaḥ—worldly benediction.

TRANSLATION

The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death.

PURPORT

When there are some similar points, it is possible to compare one thing to another. One cannot compare the association of a pure devotee to anything material. Men who are addicted to material happiness aspire to reach the heavenly planets like the moon, Venus and Indraloka, and those who are advanced in material philosophical speculations aspire after liberation from all material bondage. When one becomes frustrated with all kinds of material advancement, one desires the opposite type of liberation, which is called apunar-bhava, or no rebirth. But the pure devotees of the Lord do not aspire after the happiness obtained in the heavenly kingdom, nor do they aspire after liberation from material bondage. In other words, for the pure devotees of the Lord the material pleasures obtainable in the heavenly planets are like phantasmagoria, and because they are already liberated from all material conceptions of pleasure and distress, they are factually liberated even in the material world. This means that the pure devotees of the Lord are engaged in a transcendental existence, namely in the loving service of the Lord, both in the material world and in the spiritual world. As a government servant is always the same, either in the office or at home or at any place, so a devotee has nothing to do with anything material, for he is exclusively engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord. Since he has nothing to do with anything material, what pleasure can he derive from material benedictions like kingship or other overlordships, which are finished quickly with the end of the body? Devotional service is eternal; it has no end, because it is spiritual. Therefore, since the assets of a pure devotee are completely different from material assets, there is no comparison between the two. Sūta Gosvāmī was a pure devotee of the Lord, and therefore his association with the ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya is unique. In the material world, association with gross materialists is veritably condemned. The materialist is called yoṣit-saṅgī, or one who is much attached to material entanglement (women and other paraphernalia). Such attachment is conditioned because it drives away the benedictions of life and prosperity. And just the opposite is bhāgavata-saṅgī, or one who is always in the association with the Lord's name, form, qualities, etc. Such association is always desirable; it is worshipable, it is praiseworthy, and one may accept it as the highest goal of life.

Link to this page: http://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/1/18/13

A very similar verse is spoken by Lord Śiva with a slight variation in the first line where tulayāma lavenāpi  becomes: kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye. Again, Prabhupāda's translation and purport are worth studying.

TEXT 57

kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye

na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam

bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya

martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ

SYNONYMS

kṣaṇa-ardhena—by half a moment; api—even; tulaye—compare; na—never; svargam—heavenly planets; na—neither; apunaḥ-bhavam—merging into the Supreme; bhagavat—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; saṅgi—associate; saṅgasya—one who takes advantage of associating; martyānām—of the conditioned soul; kim uta—what is there; āśiṣaḥ—blessings.

TRANSLATION

If one by chance associates with a devotee, even for a fraction of a moment, he no longer is subject to attraction by the results of karma or jñāna. What interest then can he have in the benedictions of the demigods, who are subject to the laws of birth and death?

PURPORT

Out of three kinds of men—the karmīs, jñānīs and bhaktas—the bhakta is described herein as the most exalted. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has sung: kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate(Caitanya-candrāmṛta). The word kaivalya means to merge into the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the word tridaśa-pūr refers to the heavenly planets where the demigods live. Thus for a devotee, kaivalya-sukha, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is hellish because the bhakta considers it suicidal to lose his individuality and merge into the effulgence of Brahman. A bhakta always wants to retain his individuality in order to render service to the Lord. Indeed, he considers promotion to the upper planetary systems to be no better than a will-o’-the-wisp. Temporary, material happiness holds no value for a devotee. The devotee is in such an exalted position that he is not interested in the actions of karma or jñāna. The resultant actions of karma and jñāna are so insignificant to a devotee situated on the transcendental platform that he is not in the least interested in them. Bhakti-yoga is sufficient to give the bhakta all happiness. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.6): yayātmā suprasīdati. One can be fully satisfied simply by devotional service, and that is the result of association with a devotee. Without being blessed by a pure devotee, no one can be fully satisfied, nor can anyone understand the transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Link to this page: http://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/4/24/57

The second verse is found in the Bṛhād-Bhāgavatamṛta of Sanātana Goswāmī, translated by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu: https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=-stGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT453&lpg=PT453&dq=bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya&source=bl&ots=3q3uP1LDCf&sig=N1UAE1FNrSl9tIaBAKePcpdVLzk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjloprWxcPNAhVn1oMKHYiBDRIQ6AEIJTAD#v=onepage&q=bhagavat-saṅgi-

saṅgasya&f=false

Within this section of the Bṛhād-Bhāgavatamṛta of Sanātana Goswāmī is a long commentary on the value of Vaiṣṇava association. 

Śrīdhara Mahārāja has commented:

"So, whatever awakening we have in consciousness, we shall utilize that by placing ourselves in the care of Godly persons; only then there is value of devotion to God. Those who know the value of devotion to God, they are our near relations. They will appreciate this inner awakening, and they will take care of my devotional self. This is the penultimate benefit of sadhu-sanga: when medicine or our own attempts cannot heal us, the doctor advises us to make a change. Then the air and the water will naturally come to help improve our health. So, also, the atmosphere of saintly persons improves our spiritual health."

http://www.bvml.org/SBRSM/tmoss.html

Śrīla Bhakti Sundara Govinda Mahārāja in "Revealed Truth," writes:

"We can see that the scriptures themselves always advise us about the position and necessity of the proper teacher, the sādhu. In Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī advises us:

যাহ, ভাগৱত পড ৱৈষ্ণৱের স্থানে
yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne

(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 5.131)
“Go to the Vaiṣṇava, the devotee, and hear from him the mean-
ing of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam; only read Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the association of the Vaiṣṇavas.”
Without the Vaiṣṇava we cannot understand the meaning of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and we will undoubtedly proceed in the wrong direction. It is necessary to hear the explanation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, or any scripture, from some expert. Only when we hear from an expert can we understand the real meaning of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Our knowledge is very lim- ited. Nobody can say, “I am full with all knowledge.” Even Śrīla Guru Mahārāj told us, “I am a student. You consider yourselves masters? I consider myself to be a student, and all of you to be students. Nobody is a master.”
It was Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s conception that we are all stu- dents. Therefore we must try to understand what our lessons are from a proper teacher. Through one who understands the essence of the lessons we are to learn, we can easily understand what our lessons are. It is very difficult to understand otherwise."