[An Excerpt from Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī's Bhakti-sandarbha, Anuccheda 172]
nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhir
na vidyate tasya yamair hi śuddhiḥ
iti pādme nāmāparādha-bhañjana-stotrādau hari-bhakti-balenāpi tat-pravṛttāv aparādhāpātāc ca |
Translation: In the Padma-purāṇa section dealing with offenses against hari-nāma and their remedies, the seventh offense is listed as follows — "A person who commits sinful acts on the strength of hari-nāma cannot be purified even after being disciplined by multiple Yamarājas."
[Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī]: One should know that this offense applies NOT ONLY when committing sinful acts on the strength of hari-nāma, but ALSO on committing such abominable acts on the strength of ANY LIMB of bhakti.
api cet sudurācāraḥ [gītā 9.30] iti tu tad-anādara-doṣa-para eva, na tu durācāratā-vidhāna-paraḥ | kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā [gītā 9.31] ity anantara-vākye durācāratāpagamasya śreyastva-nirdeśād iti |
[Doubt]: But the Bhagavad-gītā (9.30) verse says — api cet sudurācāraḥ — "Even if one commits the most abominable action...."
[Reply by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī]: That verse of the Gītā is meant exclusively for highlighting the fault of criticizing a person who has become a 100% sādhu free of all previous sinful tendencies and has become one-pointed in bhajana, having given up everything else. That verse is not meant to encourage or justify the commitment of abominable acts by anyone.
Just see the immediate next verse of the Gītā (9.31) — kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac chāntiṁ nigacchati — "He attains lasting peace only after becoming a dharmātmā — a saintly soul purified of all past abominable tendencies". (End of Translation)
[Note by HPD: In other words, such a person affected by abominable activities is not expected to attain peace internally as well as externally until he reclaims his position as a dharmātmā-sādhu — a saintly soul completely free from his previous tendencies and engaged one-pointedly in bhajana, free of all other distractions.
Only after becoming such a dharmātmā-sādhu will the "api cet sudurācāro" verse of the Bhagavad-gītā (9.30) apply. Who will decide whether he has truly become a dharmātmā? Bhagavān will decide that, and it will show externally in his deep, one-pointed, distraction-free bhajana replete with remorse and humility. Meanwhile, the society in general may judge him for his past (just as the society harshly judged the Avantī-brāhmaṇa for his past misdeeds, as described in the 11th Canto of Śrīmad-bhāgavatam). However, if someone from the society harshly judges a person who has truly become a dharmātmā-sādhu as described above, then such a critic too runs the risk of becoming engulfed in an offense against hari-nāma.]
— Excerpted from Bhakti-sandarbha, Anuccheda 172. Translation and comments by Hari Pārṣada Dāsa.
(Image: Rāvaṇa — the great devotee of Bhagavān Śiva who later committed many sinful acts on the strength of such devotion. Harshly judged by the society even today, even though he has gone back to the spiritual world in his original form as Jaya — the gatekeeper of Vaikuṇṭha)
