The interest of the sadhaka in raganuga-bhakti starts with hearing (sravanam).
tat tad bhavadi madhurye srute dhir yad apekshate |
natra sastram na yuktim ca tal lobhotpatti lakshanam ||
(BRS. 1.2.292)
“When one hears about the sweetness of their feelings and so forth, and a desire for attaining the same awakens in the consciousness without dependence on scripture and logic, this is a symptom of the awakening of greed (lobha).
rāgamayī bhaktira hoy rāgātmikā nāma;
tāhā śuni lubdha hoy kon bhāgyavān
lobhe vrajavāsi-bhāve kore anugati;
śāstra-yukti nāhi māne – rāgānugāra prakṛti
(C.C. Madhya 22-152,153)
“Devotion full of sacred passion is called rāgātmikā. If a fortunate soul becomes greedy for that devotion after hearing about it he will eagerly follow the feelings of the people of Vraja without bothering about scriptural injunctions and logical arguments. Such is the nature of rāgānugā bhakti.”
“If one thinks: ‘Let me attain such sweet feelings also’, after hearing about feelings such as the transcendental erotic feeling towards Kṛṣṇa of His associates (the gopīs) in Vraja, then one need not wait for favorable sanctions from the revealed scriptures or logical arguments.”
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)
By hearing from raganuga-sadhus, greed develops.
“Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has personally given the following definition of lobha (sacred greed) in Śrī Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu:
“When the heart yearns for the sweetness of the mutual feelings of Kṛṣṇa and His eternal associates in Vraja, and one is not dependent on scriptural injunctions or logical arguments, then that is the definition of ‘the cause of sacred greed’.”
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)
“There are two causes for the appearance of the aforementioned sacred greed:
The mercy of God or the mercy of another anurāgī devotee.
There are again two kinds of mercy bestowed by a devotee: prāktana and ādhunika.
prāktana means mercy bestowed by a rāgānugā bhakta in a previous life, and ādhunika is mercy bestowed in the present birth.
The prāktana-devotee takes shelter of the lotus feet of a rāgānugā guru after the sacred greed has arisen in him, the ādhunika will get that sacred greed only after having surrendered to the feet of such a guru.
It is said (in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu): “The only causes of the appearance of sacred greed is the mercy of Kṛṣṇa or His devotee. Therefore some call the path of rāgānugā bhakti also puṣṭi mārga (the path of grace).”
(Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada, RVC)
