Category:According to the Regulative Principles
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the execution of devotional service according to regulative principles, known as vaidhi-bhakti or sadhana-bhakti, is the essential foundation for spiritual life. This stage of devotion is characterized by acting under the direction of the spiritual master and the revealed scriptures, rather than by one's own spontaneous inclination. By strictly following these rules, a practitioner purifies their senses and gradually awakens their dormant love for Krsna. The quotes in this category clarify that while spontaneous love (raganuga-bhakti) is the goal, one cannot artificially jump to this platform without first undergoing the discipline of the regulative principles.
- The Definition of Sadhana-bhakti: Devotional service performed not out of spontaneous attachment but out of obligation to the orders of the scriptures and the spiritual master is defined as sadhana-bhakti or regulated devotional service.
- Purification of Material Life: Even essential bodily activities like eating, sleeping, and family life can be spiritualized when performed according to the regulative principles of varnasrama-dharma, thereby freeing the aspirant from material contamination.
- The Path to Spontaneous Love: Spontaneous love for God is not an artificial imposition; it is the natural result of faithfully executing devotional service according to the rules and regulations, which gradually remove unwanted habits (anarthas).
- The Danger of Imitation: Prematurely attempting to worship Radha-Krsna or imitate the spontaneous mood of the residents of Vrndavana without first strictly following the regulative principles leads to sahajiyaism and is condemned.
- Standard of Worship: For neophyte devotees, worship is directed toward Laksmi-Narayana (awe and reverence) or the Lord in His majestic feature, as they are not yet qualified to approach the intimate pastimes of Radha-Krsna.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Execution of Devotional Service According to Regulative Principles.
Pages in category "According to the Regulative Principles"
The following 64 pages are in this category, out of 64 total.
A
- According to the regulative principles we cannot worship Radha-Krishna now. Radha-Krishna worship is meant for persons who have already developed spontaneous love of God
- According to the regulative principles, there are nine departmental activities, as described above, and one should specifically engage himself in the type of devotional service for which he has a natural aptitude
- According to the Vaisnava regulative principles, one must be initiated as a brahmana
- According to the Vedic sastras, everything must be done according to regulative principles, but here it is stated that the thieves and rogues devised their own process for killing an animalistic man
- Action according to such principles (following Vedic regulative principles) is called knowledge. Indeed, the word veda means "knowledge."
- After bathing there (river Narmada) according to regulative principles, Lord Balarama returned to Prabhasa-tirtha, where He had begun His journey
- After this, Bali Maharaja brought valuable garments, ornaments, sandalwood pulp, betel nuts, lamps and various nectarean foods, and along with his family members he worshiped the Lords according to the regulative principles
- Although Queen Arci became very thin from living in the forest according to regulative principles, she was not unhappy, for she was enjoying the honor of serving her great husband
- Although, according to regulative principles, no one can lie down in the temple of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this spontaneous love of Godhead can be grouped under devotional service in friendship
- Animals always engage in sense gratification - eating, sleeping, fearing and mating - but that is not the engagement of the human being, although, because of the material body, there is need of sense gratification according to a regulative principle
- As long as one is not satiated by fruitive activity and has not awakened his taste for devotional service by sravanam kirtanam visnoh (SB 7.5.23), one has to act according to the regulative principles of the Vedic injunctions
B
- Being a householder or living with a wife and children is never condemned, provided one lives according to the regulative principles of varnasrama-dharma
- Brahmanas, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras should act according to the regulative principles of the varnasrama institution and satisfy the Lord
- By executing ds in that way (according to regulative principles given by the spiritual master), he gradually becomes attached to Krsna, and when his original dormant love for the Lord becomes manifest, he spontaneously serves the Lord without any motive
- By reading these instructions to Sanatana Gosvami, one will become fully aware of Lord Krsna's various expansions and the process of devotional service according to the regulative principles and spontaneous love. Thus everything can be fully known
I
- If one is infected with the desire for material enjoyment or material liberation, he cannot rise to the platform of pure loving service unto the Lord, even though he may render devotional service according to the routine regulative principles
- If one is thoroughly trained in household life, he finds all facilities for human life-eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Everything is there if it is executed according to regulative principles
- In addition, according to the exact regulative principles, one should add the jiva-danda to the tri-danda. These four dandas, bound together as one, are symbolic of unalloyed devotional service to the Lord
- In the beginning one has to discharge devotional service according to regulative principles, but gradually, as devotional service becomes one’s life and soul, one achieves the most exalted position of ecstatic love for Krsna
- In the beginning one has to render service strictly according to the regulative principles set forth by the revealed scriptures and the spiritual master
- In the Pauskara-samhita it is said, If one fully worships according to the regulative principles, one can attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva
- It is advised that one chant the holy name of the Lord without offenses and according to the regulative principles, yet due to their past bad habits they violate these rules and regulations
L
- Lord Caitanya told Sanatana Gosvami, "Thus far I have explained devotional service according to the regulative principles. Now I shall explain devotional service to you in terms of transcendental attachment"
- Lord Krsna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita (9.23): Devotees who worship the demigods with firm faith worship Me also, but not according to regulative principles
O
- One has to serve Krsna according to these (sixty-four) regulative principles, but if one develops spontaneous love for Krsna as exhibited in the activities of those who live in Vrajabhumi, one attains the platform of raganuga-bhakti
- One should circumambulate the whole Vrndavana area. 11) One must worship the Deity in the temple according to the regulative principles. (Offering aratrika, prasadam, decorating the Deity, etc. - these things must be observed regularly
- One should not enjoy his senses according to his lusty desires, but should restrict himself according to the regulative principles given in the Vedas
- One who engages in devotional service to the Lord according to regulative principles is automatically freed from material desires, and in that pure state of mind one can realize the Personality of Godhead
R
- Radha-Krsna cannot be approached by the neophyte devotees; temple worship according to regulative principles is offered to Laksmi-Narayana
- Radha-Krsna includes Laksmi-Narayana; therefore when one worships the Lord according to the regulative principles, the Lord accepts the service in the role of Laksmi-Narayana
- Regulated human life according to the Vedic principles
- Rukmi continued, "You (Krsna) are carrying away my sister (Rukmini) just like a crow stealing clarified butter meant for use in a sacrifice. You are proud of Your military strength, but You cannot fight according to regulative principles"
S
- Same thing, just like a stone doll, when it is worshiped according to the regulative principles - Krsna. And the same doll, kept in the sculptor's showroom, it is stone. So if we keep our movement pure, then you are as strong as Krsna
- She (Rukmini) also offered fruits, sugarcane, betel nuts and spices. With great devotion, Rukmini offered them to the deity (Durga) according to the regulative principles, directed by the old brahmana ladies
- Somewhere else He (Krsna) was found enjoying family life according to the regulative principles of the sastras
- Spontaneous service is not artificial. One simply has to come to that platform by rendering devotional service according to the regulative principles
T
- The Bhattacarya told the King, "What you have said is right according to the regulative principles governing the visiting of holy places, but there is another path, which is the path of spontaneous love"
- The brahmana descendants of Bhrgu Muni were very pleased with Bali Maharaja, who desired to conquer the kingdom of Indra. Therefore, after purifying him and properly bathing him according to regulative principles, they engaged him in performing the yajna
- The first is devotional service rendered in accordance with the regulative principles, and the second refers to spontaneous loving service of the Lord without extraneous endeavor
- The Vaisnava accepts this material world according to the regulative principles of the Vedic injunctions and works without attachment
- The Vedic instructions guide them according to different regulative principles, and intelligent people take advantage of these instructions. They thus enjoy material life without being disturbed
- The Vedic process is so comprehensive that even in householder life one can adjust his activities according to the regulative principles of dharma, artha, kama and moksa
- The word 'anghri-padma-sudha' means 'associating intimately with Krsna.' One can attain such perfection only by spontaneous love of God. One cannot obtain Krsna in Goloka Vrndavana simply by serving the Lord according to regulative principles
- There (Pancapsarasa) also He bathed according to the regulative principles and observed the ritualistic ceremonies. This site is also celebrated as a shrine of Lord Visnu; therefore Lord Balarama distributed ten thousand cows to the local brahmana priests
- There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service - (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavoring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles
- There are ten meanings for the word 'bhakti' ('devotional service'). One is sadhana-bhakti, execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles, and the other nine are varieties of prema-bhakti, ecstatic love of Godhead
- There is devotional service performed according to the direction of the spiritual master and the injunctions and regulative principles of sastra, and there is devotional service in the spiritual world, rendered directly in association with the SPG
- These (pravrtti-marga and nivrtti-marga) are directions for enjoying the material world according to regulative principles and then giving up the material world for higher spiritual understanding
- They (a class of men who are not very authorized) imagine that they have become associates of the Lord simply by thinking of themselves like that. This external behavior is not at all according to the regulative principles
- They (four social orders) should act according to the regulative principles of this institution and satisfy the Lord, just as different parts of the body all engage in the service of the whole
- This position is attained by rendering devotional service according to the regulative principles and then rising to the platform of spontaneous love
- Those who have not attained the platform of spontaneous attachment in devotional service render devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master according to the regulative principles mentioned in the revealed scriptures
- Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles
- Trained by the spiritual master according to the regulative principles of devotional service
W
- When one is trained by the spiritual master according to the regulative principles of devotional service and is situated on the platform of spontaneous attachment for the Lord (raga-bhakti), the Lord also gives instructions from within
- Without serving Krsna according to the vidhi-marga regulative principles of the pancaratrika-vidhi, unscrupulous persons want to jump immediately to the raga-marga principles. Such persons are called sahajiya