Posted on: 11 Nov 2019
[Q.Pravrutti means attachment to justified worldly bonds. Nivrutti means detachment from the same justified worldly bonds. Both are opposite to each other. How can You bring both in the same spiritual line presenting Pravrutti as primary part and Nivrutti as advanced part? (This question is part of a mahā satsaṅga or a great spiritual discussion between Swami and several devotees who had come from various places, seeking the clarification of their doubts.)]
Swami replied:- In Pravrutti also there is forced detachment from unjust-illegal worldly bonds and forced attachment to the legal-justified worldly bonds. Pravrutti is mandatory and the human being is forced to follow Pravrutti. If the illegal bonds are not rejected, the soul will go to hell. If the legal bonds are favoured, the soul will go to heaven. Hence, there are both force (to reject sinful illegal bonds) and attraction (to stick to meritorious legal bonds) due to the fear for hell and due to attraction for heavenly pleasures respectively. Pravrutti is to vote for justice and reject (not to vote) injustice when both justice and injustice stand in competition.
The case of Nivrutti is totally different because it is optional only. There is no force here by threatening showing the punishment in hell and there is no attraction by showing divine pleasures in the abode of God for voting to God against even the justified legal bonds (Sarvadharmaan Parityajya....—Gita). In Nivrutti, the detachment from the legal justified bonds is not by force, but, by natural drop down due to attraction to God developed not by showing pleasures to be granted by God. The attraction to God has no logical base like showing new pleasures from God, but, has the true basis, which is true love to God even if miserable punishment is the result of such true love. The detachment from the legal worldly bonds is also so natural that these bonds are dropped even if the punishments in the hell is shown for such drop and even if the heaven is shown for attachment to the legal bonds! In Nivrutti, both detachment and attachment is natural without any force or any attraction.
The basic essence of Pravrutti is selfish love to legal bonds without doing any injustice to anybody. The basic essence of Nivrutti is selfless love to God, which is beyond even justice. In this level, both are opposite to each other as said in the Veda (Duuramete...). Dushpravrutti is the basic level in which love for illegal worldly bonds surpasses love for legal worldly bonds and dushpravrutti shall be resisted either through willingness or through force in view of heaven and hell. Pravrutti is the middle level in which love for legal worldly bonds surpasses love for illegal worldly bonds either through willingness or through force in view of heaven and hell. The legal bond of Rama to Sita surpassed the requested (by Shuurpanakha) illegal bond to Shuurpanakha. The expectation of God regarding a human being is avoiding dushpravrutti and standing firmly in Pravrutti. At the best, almost all human beings stand in Pravrutti only. Very few only enter Nivrutti and reach its climax by sacrificing even justice. Even in Pravrutti, Nivrutti exists to some extent since human beings love God with devotion for their selfish welfare, which is to get protection from punishments for the sins done and to get pleasures even if merits are not done! When Krishna acted headache and asked Narada to get the feet-dust of a devotee as medicine, the eight wives standing in Pravrutti refused to give feet-dust by telling that they will go to hell if their feet-dust is given since Krishna is not only their husband but also God.
Gopikas gave their feet-dust standing in the climax love of Nivrutti prepared to go to hell in view of the happiness of Krishna. If you take Ravana, he stood in the climax of Nivrutti-devotion by sacrificing his heads cut for God, but, failed even in the basic level of dushpravrutti by surpassing the legal worldly bond (own wife Mandodari) for the sake of illegal bond (to marry Sita, who is the wife of Rama). In such case, his Nivrutti is not true love to God (because the climax love expressed to God is only to get more powers from God) and he also failed in the lower level of Pravrutti. A Nivrutti devotee must get natural detachment from not only legal bonds but also from illegal bonds due to climax love to God. Therefore, after passing Pravrutti only entry into Nivrutti is possible. Hence, Pravrutti and Nivrutti stand in one line. A girl joined the office of a person as a clerk. She wanted to marry him due to her love to him. If the girl is corrupt in the office work itself, will the person agree to make her as his wife? If she proves herself as a good employee in the office, there is a possibility for the person to consider her for marriage. Employee-employer relationship is Pravrutti and wife-husband relationship is Nivrutti. Success in Pravrutti is inevitable pre-requisite to enter Nivrutti.