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420 Jiva Gosvāmī and Baladeva Vidyābhūsaņa [CH. sufficient to satisfy God, and those who consider these texts as exaggeration (arthavāda) are punished by God. But the true devotee does not cease from reciting the name of God because a single recital has been sufficient to please Him; for the very recital of God's name fills him with thrills of great joy. But still there are cases in which a single recital is not sufficient to produce the realization of God; in such cases it is to be presumed that the devotee is a great sinner. To those who are great sinners God is not easily inclined to extend His mercy; such persons should continually recite the name of God until their sins are thereby washed away and the desired end is attained. The recital of God's name is by itself sufficient to destroy even the worst of sins; but insincerity of mind (kauțilya), irreligiosity (aśraddhā), and attachment to those things which impede our attachment to God are the worst vices; for through their presence the revelation of the process of bhakti in the mind is obstructed, and such persons cannot attach themselves to God. Thus much learning and consequent crookedness of heart may prove to be a much stronger impediment to the rise of bhakti than even the commission of the deadliest of sins or submersion in deep ignorance; for God is merciful to the latter but not to the former; such attitudes of mind can only be due to the existence of very grave long-standing sins. A single recital is sufficient for success only when there are no previous sins and when no serious offences are committed after the recital of the name?; but, if at the time of death one recites the name of God, then a single recital is sufficient to dispel all sins and bring about intimate association with God3.
Without religious faith (śraddhā) it is not possible for a man to follow the path either of knowledge or of duties; but stil! religious faith is an indispensable condition for those who wish to follow the path of bhakti. Once the religious bhakti is roused one should give up the path of knowledge and of duties. Bhakti does not require for its fulfilment the following of any ritual process. Just as fire naturally by itself burns the straw, so the recital of God's name and His glories would by itself, without the delay of any intermediary process, destroy all sins. Religious faith is not in itself a part of bhakti, but it is a pre-condition which makes the i Sat-sandarbha, pp. 532-4.
2 Ibid. p. 536. 3 Ibid. p. 536.
