Talk:Nitya Viraha Bhāva: A True Bhakta cannot bear separation from Bhagavan

By Vishal Agarwal

A true Bhakti Yogī cannot even bear a moment of separation from the Lord. He remembers the Lord constantly and feels his presence. Even a single moment of forgetfulness of the Divine can cause him a lot of remorse and anxiety. He longs for the instant when his ātmā will be eventually reach the company of Bhagavān. The Bhakti Yogī, when engaging in ceremonial aspects, like Archanaṃ, does so with great devotion, faith and a constant focus on the Lord, and feels anguished if he discovers any lapse in his worship. Because of the eternal nature of this Bhāva, the Bhakti Yogī does not wait for any auspicious moment or place to practice his devotion. All times and all places are suitable if one can pursue pure Bhakti-

A Bhakta does not wait even half a moment. To pursue his discipline of Bhakti, he does not wait for an auspicious moment, or for a time that is free of or has a specific quality like pain, pleasure, desire, profit etc. Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 77

Parable: The Nature of Longing for God Once, a disciple asked Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to explain the nature of longing that a true devotee has for Bhagavān. The Swami narrated the following parable–

“A disciple went to his master and said to him, ‘Sir, I want religion.’ The master looked at the young man, and did not speak, but only smiled. The young man came every day, and insisted that he wanted religion. But the old man knew better than the young man. One day, when it was very hot, he asked the young man to go to the river with him, and take a plunge. The young man plunged in, and the old man followed him and held the young man down under the water by force. After the young man had struggled for a while, he let him go and asked him what he wanted most while he was under the water. ‘A breath of air’, the disciple answered. ‘Do you want God in that way? If you do, you will get Him in a moment,’ said the master. Until you have that thirst, that desire, you cannot get religion, however you may struggle with your intellect, or your books, or your forms. Until that thirst is awakened in you, you are no better than any atheist.’ A great sage used to say, ‘Suppose there is a thief in a room, and somehow he comes to know that there is a vast mass of gold in the next room, and that there is only a thin partition between the two rooms. What would be the condition of that thief? He would be sleep-less, he would not be able to eat or do anything. His whole mind would be on getting that gold. Do you mean to say that, if all these people really believe that the mind of happiness, of Blessedness, or Glory were here, they would act as they do in the world, without trying to get God?’

As soon as a man begins to believe there is a God, he becomes made with longing to get to Him. Others may go their way, but as soon as a man is sure that there is a much higher life religion, and when that has come, a man is beginning to be religious.”

This does not mean that Nitya Viraha Bhāva is some type of paranoia wherein the Bhakti Yogī is in a constant state of anguish or anxiety about falling from imperfection in his Bhakti. His feeling of connectedness with the Divine is spontaneous and natural and he is self-aware of this connectedness. But whenever a rare disconnect happens, the Bhakti Yogī discerns the situation and quickly reverts to his natural state of connectedness.