Bhakti-yoga means vairāgya, as far as possible to deny material necessities, that is vairāgya. It is called vairāgya-vidyā. Śrīla Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya has said, vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yogam (CC Madhya 6.254). Vairāgya-vidyā. Bhakti-yoga means vairāgya. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). This is bhakti-yoga, no more any necessity for material things. Niṣkiñcinasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya. There are so many. Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, they were liberated persons. Even Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's God Himself, but still, to teach us, He was observing the regulative principles of a sannyāsī very, very strictly. These things, to teach us... Similarly, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he's called Brahma-Haridāsa. Sometimes he is called Yavana-Haridāsa. Yavana means Muslim or those who are not in the Vedic principles, yavana, mleccha. Just like we have seen some temples. Our foreign devotees are not allowed because they have got the rules that mlecchas and yavanas, because they are very unclean, they should not be allowed. But that should not be applicable to the devotees of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, because they have learned how to remain clean, how to follow the... At least, they are expected. They promised at the time of initiation, "Yes, I shall not do this. I shall not do this." So if he's actually following the rules and regulations, he is no more unclean—simply by chanting.
- apavitraḥ pavitro vā
- sarvāvasthāṁ gato 'pi vā
- yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ
- sa bāhyābhyantaraḥ śuciḥ
He become... If we follow our promise... That is gentlemanly. If you have promised something, you must follow it. That is gentlemanly.
So because we may fail... There is chance; we are prone to fail. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). But sometimes we forget. Not sometimes—practically always we forget. That is material. When we forget that we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, that is material life. Otherwise, if we remain servant of Kṛṣṇa, even in this material body, still, we are liberated.
- īhā yasya harer dāsye
- karmaṇā manasā vacā
- nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
- jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate
So we must follow the rules and regulation very... Therefore it is said that viśrambham anavasthānasya śaṭha-kirāta iva saṅgacchante. We should not believe our mind, that we have become perfect. By mental dictation we should not be guided. That is a very bad practice, to think of, that "I have now become liberated, I don't require to follow the regulative principles." So we must be very careful.
Here we have quoted that,
- yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma
- na tyājyaṁ kāryam eva tat
- yajño dānaṁ tapaś caiva
- pāvanāni manīṣiṇām
Yajña, dāna. Brahmacārī should offer yajña, gṛhastha should give in charity, and sannyāsī, vānaprastha, should undergo tapasya. Yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma. We should not give up this, these things. "Because I have become sannyāsī—I have given up my family—therefore I give up also all other regulative principles." No. That you cannot. The sannyāsī means... Sannyāsī, they have got also rules and regulation. Caitanya Mahāprabhu very rigidly followed. He did not lie down even on a quilt, only one naked cloth. He did not use... And no woman should come to offer Him obeisances very near. They must do it from a distant place. He was so strict. One of His personal associates, Haridāsa, Junior Haridāsa, he simply glanced over a young woman with lusty desire. He immediately rejected him: "Ask Haridāsa not to come anymore." So He never excused him very strictly. And Haridāsa, being disappointed, he... On his behalf, very close devotees like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Rāmānanda Rāya, big, big devotees, Svarūpa Dāmodara and others, requested Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that "He has committed mistake, but he is Your personal servant. Kindly excuse him." Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "All right, then you can call him. You live with him. I shall go from here. You live with him; let Me go away." He was so strict. Then, when Haridāsa Ṭhākura Junior... The senior is another. Then he committed suicide—"Now it is hopeless. I cannot come to Caitanya Mahāprabhu." He committed suicide. And when this information was given to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He did not regret. "Oh, this man has committed suicide? Yes, it is right." He said, "Yes, it is right." So He was so strict.