Another side of Bhaktivinoda Thakur 3: Svarasiki Bhajan
Concerning the five stages of sadhana that come along with our receiving ekādaśa-bhāva from the guru, we have already discussed the first two in the last chapter, namely śravaṇa-daśā and varaṇa-daśā . We will now discuss the third stage, which is called smaraṇa-daśā . Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur also terms this practice svarasiki bhajan. In the last chapter of Harināma-cintāmaṇi , he advises nija siddha ekādaśa bhāve vratī haye | smaribe sudṛḍha-citte nija-bhāva-caye ||79|| smaraṇe vicāra eka āche ta sundara | āpanera yogya-smṛti kara nirantara ||80|| āpanera ayogya smaraṇa yadi haya | bahu yuga sādhile-o siddhi kabhu naya ||81|| While taking up a vrata to fix your mind on lila smarana with the eleven items of your siddha gopi svarupa there is a beautiful consideration: You only need to perform the kind of smarana that you enjoy doing because if you try to meditate on the instances in the lila or the kinds of sevā that you don’t prefer, siddhi can never be attained. ( Harin...