Those who stress the hells and punishments, rules, etc. of the 5th Canto of the Bhagavata do not have a very good understanding of the text and thus of bhakti. Bhakti is not about rules. It is about love, and there are no rules in love, and there is no love in following rules. Over-identifying with even the rules of bhakti is detrimental to bhakti (niyamagraha). Rules have a purpose and over-identifying with them can be at the cost of realizing their purpose. They are meant to foster love. That’s all.

From the very beginning we are told to forgo the rules, sarva dharman parityaja mam eakam saranam vraja. While this applies to the rules of dharma sastra, for those who come to bhakti from outside of the karma marg it also applies more readily to the rules of bhakti. The point being that Krsna is asking Arjuna to love him, not follow a set of rules. And of course this means to do as he says regardless of what might be said–even by himself elsewhere. Follow Sri Guru. This is sraddha. How sublime. But how many practitioners understand this? Many identify with the rules of bhakti, but how many are prepared to put themselves in the hands of Sri Guru? We trust ourselves too much. We should be afraid of this tendency. As I said elsewhere, love is illusive while rules are easier to grab on to. To the extent that one identifies the rules with bhakti itself, one’s faith is compromised and one’s capacity to follow the path inhibited.

The description of hell in the fifth canto is followed in the sixth canto by a question of Raja Pariksita. He wants to know how people can be saved from such hells. He is really asking how one can be saved from rules. Yama is the Lord of Death, and yama means “rules,” “laws.” “An eye for a eye, a tooth for tooth”–this is the material world, the robotic machine of material nature. Again, there is no love in merely following rules. Such an approach brings death to bhakti. Sri Rupa calls this “bhakti vinasyati.” “Save us from this,” cries the King.

And the sage Suka answers beautifully. What does he say? He says do nama sankirtana and cites the example of Ajamila. There is no hell. This is our conviction–no hell for those who embrace the sadhana and sadhya of nama sankirtana. But what, one may ask, happens to those who in the course of participating in this sadhana succumb to less than ideal behavior from time to time? The Bhagavata emphatically declares that they will never see hell. They are beyond the reach of yama. Such devotees need but express remorse for being less than ideal and try to improve themselves while continuing to express their love for Bhagavan by hearing, chanting, etc.

It is better to be fallen and have faith in the efficacy of bhakti than to be religiously righteous and have faith in the karma marg.