Your brother,
Uttamasloka dasa...
;-)
Here is a very relevant section from Visvanatha Cakravarti's, Madhurya Kadambini, re 'purity and high standards'.
Bhakti is not even dependent on purity of practice, for whether the name is chanted purely or impurely, it will deliver the fallen soul. The same cannot be said of karma yoga, where even the slightest impurity is a great obstacle to progress.
mantro hinah svarato varnato va
mithya prayukto na tam artham aha
yathendra satruh svarato 'paradhat
sa vaga vajro yajamanam hinasti
If a mantra is either intoned or pronounced incorrectly, not only will the mantra not have effect, but it may be harmful. As when Tvasta wanted to create the enemy of Indra and by a slight mispronunciation of the words indra shatru in the yajna those
words worked as a thunderbolt for Vritrasura who was killed by Indra. (Paniniya Shiksha 52)
The necessity of internal purity for the practice of jnana yoga is well known. Also, it may be seen that jnana yoga is dependent on karma yoga. For one enters jnana yoga by attaining purity of heart, and purity of heart arises from performance of karma without personal desire. Because of this dependency, if by accident one who practices jnana yoga commits even a small unworthy act (durachar), he is condemned by shastra as a vantasi, an eater of vomit, sa vai vantasyapatrapah.
Seen in this light, Kamsa, Hiranyakasipu and Ravana, though they were jnanis, have not even a speck of fame on this account because of their conduct. On the other hand, on the path of bhakti, though one may be afflicted by lust one has the qualification (adhikara) to begin the practice. Just by the practice of bhakti, lust and other impurities are destroyed ;
vikrihitam vraja-vadhubhir idam ca visnoh
sraddhanvito 'nusrnuyad atha varnayed yah
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam
hrd-rogam asv apahinoty acirena dhirah
Anyone who faithfully hears or chants about the Lord's playful affairs with the young gopis of Vrindavana having attained the Lord's pure devotional service, he will quickly become sober and conquer lust, the disease of the heart. (SB 10.33.39)
By the tense of the verb pratilabhya (having attained) in this verse it is very clear bhakti first manifests in the stage where there are still lusty desires in the heart and then, after her manifestation, lusty desires are wiped out. This is due to the fact that bhakti is supremely independent (parama svatantra). Furthermore, though such impurities as kama may sometimes appear in the devotee,
the scriptures never condemn that devotee at all:
api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam
Even if a person engaged in devotional service commits the most abominable act (sudurachara), he is still considered saintly. (BG 9.30)
badhyamano 'pi mad bhakto
visayair ajitendriyah prayah
pragalbhaya bhaktya
visayair nabhibhuyate
My dear Uddhava, not having fully conquered his senses My devotee may be harassed by material desires, but because of unflinching devotion for Me, he will not be defeated by sense gratification. (SB 11.14.18)
The servants of Vishnu judged Ajamila as a devotee. Though the chanting of persons like Ajamila, who uttered the name of the Lord inadvertently out of affection for his son, must be considered nama-abhasa (not pure), still they are universally praised as devotees. Internal purity and purity of place, materials, etc, are necessary for the accomplishments of the karmis, jnanis and yogis, and their deficiency obstructs progress on those paths. Bhakti, however, is the very giver of life to these paths. Thus it is seen that in all respects, the paths of karma, jnana and yoga are dependent on bhakti. Bhakti, however, is independent. It neither requires any other means for its execution nor is it obstructed by any lack or fault.
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