Niyama agrahah -Simply following rules without consideration.

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaj

All Glories to HDG  Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati  Goswami Prabhupada

The fourth fault which will impede our progress in devotion is the above stated as niyama agrahah. This can be divided into two types of meaning the first is as according to the word .Nonetheless, this may cause some surprising confusion in one's mind for in order to practice devotional service properly should we not have some eagerness to execute the same.? The Supreme Lord Mahaprabhu has himself  coined this verse iha japa giya koriya nibandda meaning one should chant  the names on his tulasi  japa beads in an unobstructed manner keeping the count as a rule .Now the present rule does it mean the renouncing of all such previous rules.? 

The scriptures declare sruti smrti puranadi panacharatri viddhim bina ekantiki harer bhakti utpatyaiva kalpate 

Meaning :By not following the injunction of the revealed scriptures one 's  devotional service will be hampered. So we understand that all these different rules are necessary and definetely have to be followed .Just as anointing one's forehead with tilak is necessary, wearing tulasi beads  on the neck and bathing for cleanliness are all rules to be obediently followed ,Can we just skip all these rules and do as we please? Those who misinterpret the above heading may give out various arguments in this way. Lets draw the attention of these people by clarifying that here this rule  implies  to being fixed on rules and regulations that are unsuited as according to one's qualification to perform it and that has to be given up. One who is on the path of Vaidhi Bhakti or regulated devotional service should not artificially attempt the path of spontaneous devotion but by practicing devotional practice gradually in the proper stages attempt to advance. However a aspirant who is wandering restlessly in this devotional path becomes attached   devotedly to some rules without  caring  for the  resultant  slow eviction of devotion itself will never be able to arrive at the original goal .Supposing one devotee has a habit of going to the club  for a couple of hours and with other members of the club to engage in some frivolous sport as entertainment maintaining that all this is simply measured as being  part of a civilized society. In our vision  this  cannot be accepted .Especially when the aspirant is following the rules of devotional service in practice and if  the so called civilized practices become more prominent in one's  buy schedule. This will lead to decline in our devotional practices or its called niyamagraha. Those who are attached to the path of works will be either vying for increasing one's pious activities or  attached to pompous , ritualistic work. Until the time, one becomes completely  attracted to hearing and chanting  the pastimes of the Supreme Lord till then he will be under the tendency of attraction to work and he will not be able to renounce work. This tendency for work will wane only when one's devotional faith becomes increased considerably. A t that time the hearing and practicing of all the other eight limbs of devotion become increased. However even at the time if one places more importance on work  as striving  to  help the gross bodies of others  on  compassion grounds or become attached to bathing oneself  in a proper ritualistic  way ,then know for sure one has to reject that sort of niyamagraha for in that stage one can not be able to cultivate favorably the limbs of devotion . Actually ,all that amassed devotional piety by one's previous striving  before would just be frittered away. Therefore for the devotee ,all such fruitive action linked devotion under niyama agraha mut be completely given up. The devotees are usually endowed with good qualities their healthy policy can never be marred by the chaotic actions of miscreants. They are never under any mundane and ethical norms of society.  At any point in the advancement of devotional service there  may seem to some breaking  of the etiquette according to mundane moral codes of society as  they remain indifferent to such codes. What to speak of devotion even ordinary religious practitioners are unable to preserve this codes !At this juncture, it is appropriate to give an example from the Puranas to facilitate the understanding of the readers. Some wicked people were following a traveler on the path. They were of the idea that this traveler was carrying a lot of wealth with him. They decided that as soon as the traveler reached the jungle from the village boundary they would accost and kill him. But on reaching the jungle there was no trace of the traveler. The traveler got the wind that these bad hats were behind him so he took shelter of a sage who was living in the jungle and hid himself there .The miscreants arriving at the sage' hut inquired about the whereabouts of the traveler assuming that the saint would never tell a lie to them. The sage was now in a battle within himself as he was a  truthful person but by discrimination he decided that in this special case ,to save the traveler would be true religion even if it involved speaking falsehood. In the end he gestured with his hand to imply that he did not know. By that kindly act, his falsehood did not have any repercussions  rather he was able to prevent a dastardly act on innocent people. Here is  shining evidence of where  the norm was usurped by falsehood yet it was considered pious and proper. As the scriptures states naanrtam syad jugpsitam .  That in not all cases is falsehood to be despicable rather the opposite. The poignancy of this statement has  greater context in devotional service. The Goswamis has exemplified this by their  shining example. After meeting  with Sriman Mahaprabhu  in  their Rama Keli village ,the two brothers Pupa and Sanatana  began  to develop an aversion for things not in connection with Krishna .In that mood ,Rupa left to another place to discuss scriptures while Sanatan remained in disguise at home ,spending most of his time in scriptural discussions. Generally, to cheat and pretend is considered  not acceptable and lowly by society norms but in actually  helping to nourish devotional service it is not at all despicable. It is never  performed because of material greed. Material selfishness is the underlying factor in all mundane society norms and strictures. After getting Rupa's approval ,Sanatana bribed his guard to free himself from the prison he was enclosed in and set out in search of Mahaprabhu. In fact giving bribes is very much against the rules in decent society but in this case for the sake of cultivation of devotional service it was not regarded as wrong rather the opposite. If Sanatan were to move with tide of  so called morality having to remain in prison without being able to cultivate pure devotional service  ,that would tantamount to niyamagraha.  Nevertheless ,to break standard regulations in society without reason would mean one becomes implicated by sin. In the way the limbs of work are to be rejected in pure devotional service as niyamaagraha, similarly that of  intermingled knowledge and yoga  are to be considered in the same light and harmful for the cultivation of devotion. Some aspirants in the cultivation of devotion have been  seen to accept that false renunciation conducive in  the cultivation of knowledge. Not understanding yukata vairgya which is  in relation to using all articles in  service to Lord Krishna ,they are in deviance ready to reject those very articles with giving similar advice to others to do so. Unless they reject this sort of niyamagraha they will never be able to advance in devotions. Yet there are others who like to include practice of yoga and pranayama with their cultivation of devotion with including  the chanting of the holy name  side by side. Here they seem to be more eager to practice solidly the rules of yoga .By this niyamaagraha they have shown that they do not have  absolute faith in the process of pure devotional service and in this respect ,the Goddess of devotion would be reluctant to shower any mercy because of their lack of faith. These people don not believe that perfection can be attained simply by hearing and chanting  without the help of  mixture of  either work , knowledge or yoga .They being unable to fathom the exact position of pure devotional service becomes very unfortunate by exhibition of their ignorance. In Srimad Bhagavatam Krishna has declared loudly to Uddhava as below; 

nasadhayati mama yoga  na sankhyam dharam uddhava 

na svadhayas tapo tyago yatha bhaktimamorjita   meaning; that devotion to Him alone has been declared as  most superior  in relation to austerity ,yoga ,acquiring knowledge ,renunciation e.t.c.

 Then there is the niyama agraha exhibited by an aspirant who was never qualified. This mean  an unqualified person should not trespass on the path of Raganuga bhakti for that will become  niyamagraha..Until this mood of raga manifests  on the aspirant till then he should faithfully stick to the path of regulated devotional service. The Vishnu Yamal scripture speaks mainly on devotional service in practice.As spontaneous devotion develops devotional service in practice  automatically slowly wanes away. On the other hand in the wake of spontaneous devotion continuing opulence of  worship in reverence  will be contrary to the sprout of devotion and in opposition. So that type of niyamagraha should also be avoided.

There is another meaning of niyamagraha which means  the refusal to accept the devotional rules as established. This verse is mentioned in Brahmayamala. Devotees on the lower rung of realization or still with material contamination sometimes try to usurp the higher spheres of realization prematurely .in cheap imitation. This is in no way unalloyed devotion but outwardly  imitation in copy cat action. This type of false demonstration will simply cause chaos on society. Devotion is a step by step process obtained in slow degrees  and there is no question of breaking the order in imitation and where there is falsity or showmanship it means there is the presence of contamination and sin  and where  the Goddess of devotion can never manifest. Pure devotion implies unalloyed devotion which our Predecessor Acaryas have demonstrated by their actions and this method of spontaneous devotion fits perfectly with all such actions without any deviance. Striving to formulate one's  own path independently will make one unable  to attain any devotional mellows .At present there is one group called Sakhi Becki whereby the group members  dresses themselves  as woman and having created their new mantra tainted with false mellows indulge in all sort of debauchery .This sort of  behavior has only succeeded in confusing those with very weak faith in devotional service. Nowadays, there are many  groups exhibiting such nasty behavior. On the contrary, they have forgotten that one has follow implicitly the mood of the pure Vrajabhasis in cultivating the method of spontaneous devotion. To follow the path of  the pure devotees is one of the limbs of the sixty four limbs of devotional service. By violating this rule has resulted in the increase of material contamination in society on the whole. Then there are some aspirants who refuse to wear the customary tilak on their forehead or wear the tulasi beads. This sort of action will bar them to enter the devotional realm because of their refusal to accept the rules or niyamagraha .Unless one gives up these  two types of niyamagraha ,one will not be able to attain to the proper level of desired topmost devotion