The Greatness of Nama Sankeerthanam and Bhakthi : Part 2

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sriman NaarAyaNA :

 

In this second posting , I will cover the following topics

briefly : Naama Sankeertthanam and Bhakthi ,

Examples of Uttama BhakthAs ( Naama/Naadha

SiddhAnthis ) , Effect of Naama Sankeerthanam

and Ishta Daivam worship .

 

Myriads are the examples of such BhakthAs exist

in the Bhakthi literature ; to keep these postings at

a moderate size level , I will confine my observations

and reflections to a smaller subset of duch BhakthAs .

 

My main thrust will be on the Rama Bhakthi

of Saint ThyagarAjA as gleaned from his krithis

and operas such as PrahlAdha Bhaktha Vijayam

and NowkA charithram . The chinthanam of

Sri Ramachandra is invariably and unmistakably present

in the mind of this Raama ChaithanyA even in these

dance dramas composed especially to salute

Lord NarasimhA and BhagavAn KrishNa respectively .

 

Saint ThyagarAjA completed the recitation of the Taraka Naamam

of Sri RaamA ninety six crores of times and had the sowbhAgyam

of the darsanam of Sri RaamA with SitA dEvi , LakshmaNA

and AnjanEya in front of his house on the Thirumanjana

veedhi of ThiruvaiyAru . He is the great one who asked out

of his VairAghyam , " Nidhi chaala Sukhamaa ?

Raamuni sannidhhi seva sukhamaa ? mamatha

Bhandhana yutha nara sthuthi sukhamA ?

Sumathi ThyagarAjanuthini KEERTHANA sukhamA ? "

 

APPROACH OF AN UTTAMA BHAKTHA & NAAMA JAPAM

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truNAdapi suneechEna tarOrapi shaishNunA I

amAnina mAnadEna keertaniyah: Hari : II

 

--SikshAshtakA #3 , Chaitanya MahA Prabhu

 

(meaning ) : One should repeat (chant ) the auspicous

name of Hari in a humble state of mind , while considering

oneself lower than the lowly blade of grass ; one should be

more tolerant than a tree ; one should be free from all sense

of vanity and false airs and one should be prepared to offer

respectful salutations to other devotees of the Lord .

 

In the sixth and the twelfth chapters of Sri Bhagavadh GitA

dealing with DhyAnam and Bhakthi , Our Lord has

explained the bhaktha , who is dear to Him as

Sama-LOshtAsmkaanchana : (one to whom a lump of earth /piece

of roof tile , stone and gold are one and the same in value ) ,

prasAntha manasa: ( One of perfectly tranquil mind ) ,

SraddhAvAn ( posessed of MahA viswasAm ) ,

adhvEshtA ( free from hatred or malevolence to others ) ,

sama dukkha suka : ( even minded , while experiencing pain

and pleasure ) , subhAsubha parithyAgi ( renouncer of

good and evil in an equal manner ) . GeethAcharyan

declares that such a devotee is dear to Him

( BhakthimAn ya: sa mE priya : ) .

 

There have been many such Uttama BhakthAs , who have

attained Moksham through single-minded bhakthi and

naama sankeerthanam across the length and breadth of

Bharatha Desam . There are no distinctions among these

perfected saints based upon caste, culture , personal good

looks , family ( kulam ) , wealth or profession .

 

These Saint-Singers described by the late

Dr.V.Raghavan as the Great Integrators are

AzhwArs of different castes or no caste , NaayanmArs ,

the SiddhAs , HaridAsAs of KarnAtakA ( Srinivasa Naik/Purandara dAsA ,

Kanaka dAsa , the shepherd by birth ,Vijaya dAsA , the Brahmin ) ,

the Saints of MaharashtrA ( Jnana dEvA , Nama dEvA , the tailor ,

EkanAth , the Sanskrit scholar , TukArAm , the shop keeper ,

Samartha RaamdAs , the guru of King ShivAji ) , Narasimha

MehtA and MirAbai of RajasthAn , Akho , the goldsmith of

Ahmedabad , Kabir , the weaver of Banares , TulasidAs of

Raamanandi sect also from Banares , the cobbler-mystic , RaidAs ,

another fellow-RaamAnadhi like Kabir and Tulasi Daas ,

DaadU , the Brahmin cotton-cleaner , SankaradEva of Assam ,

RamadAs of BhadrAchalam , Saint ThyagarAjA of TamilnAdu ,

Mutthuswamy Dikshithar , Sridhara IyaavAL of Thiruvisanallur ,

Upanishadh Brahmam of Kaanchi , who was the friend

of Saint ThyagarAjA's father , Sri Raama Brahmam and

a multitude of others .

 

Sage NaaradhA in his 72nd Bhakthi sUtram explains that

there are no distinctions among such uttama bhakthAs

based upon caste , culture , beauty , kulam , Eisvaryam or

chosen livelihood :

 

nAsthi tEshu jaathi vidhyA rUpa kula dhana kriyAdhibhEdha :

 

The supermacy and the efficacy of their bhakthi through

Naama sankeerthanam and Naama Japam is the common

denominator among them .they were heedless of the people's

criticisms( jana jalpa nirbhayA : ) and great teachers and

practioners of Bhakthi mArgam ( BhakthAchAryAs ) .

 

These ancient masters of unalloyed Bhakthi to Sriman NaarAyaNA

have been identified by Sage NaaradhA as Sanath KumArA ,

VyAsA , Sukha Brahmam , UddhavaA , AaruNi , Maha Bali , who

followed the path of surrender , HanumAn , VibhishaNA , et al .

The lives and compositions of these BhakthAs define the greatness

of BhagavAn's Naamams as the UpAyam and UpEyam for

Moksha Siddhi .

 

Occasionally , VidvEsha Bhakthi or communion

through confrontation helped to obtain the "blessings " of

the Lord . Slaughter at the Lord's hand raised the likes of

HiraNyakasipu , HiranyAkshA , KamsA , SisupAlA and

DantnavakthrA et al .

 

More frequently , J~nana Bhakthi attained through

the amalgam of J~nanam and Bhakthi made many

uttama bhakthAs to gain a deep comprehension

of the divine excellence of the nAmAs of the Lord and led

them to the path of Saantha Bhakthi .

 

A few had mUDa bhakthi ( devotion without saastraic

or Upanishadic knowledge ) and yet were totally absorbed

in naama sankeerthanam . They developed a loving

relationship with the Lord as in the case of the Gopis of

BrindhAvanam . About the Gopis , Bhagavatham declares :

 

" They never learnt the VedAs ; they never served any teacher ;

they practised no austerity ; but by association with holiness ,

they attained Me " ( Bhagavatham XI . 12.7& 8 ) . In an earlier

canto , Srimadh Bhagavatham has revealed the different

roots of attaining the Lord's grace : " The Gopis through

desire , KamsA through enimity , the VrishNis through

clannishness , the paandavAs through affection and

the sages through devotion attianed Him " ( Bhagavatham

VII . 1.30 ) .

 

The naama sankeerthanam appears to be

the most efficacious method of attaining Him in this

Kali Yugam , where righteousness is on the decline .

The greatness of such BahgavatOtthamAs have been

extolled by Srimadh Bahgavatham elsewhere :

 

" The BhagavatOtthamA ( the highest type of devotee )

is one , who sees the glory of the BahgavAn reflected in

all beings , high and low , and also perceives all beings

as dwelling in Him .

 

The second-rate devotee is one , who makes a distinction

between BhagavAn , His devotees , common people and

evil -minded ones , maintaining towards them attitudes of

reverential love, friendship , pity , and avoidance respectively .

 

The most inferior type of a devotee is one , who worships

images of God with great devotion , but has no regard for

His devotees and no consideration for others . "

 

The UpaasanA of one's Ishta Daivam

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The Lord's name such as RamA , KrishNA , VaamanA ,

NrusimhA , TrivikramA , have specific potencies . A great

Rama BhakthA , Lord SivA has declared in Padma PurANam :

" O My dear Consort ! I chant the sacred name of Raama

Raama Raama and thus enjoy this purifying sound (dhvani ) .

This holy name of RamachandrA is equal to one thousand

names of Lord VishNu . " Srimadh Bhagavatham with

Sri KrishNa bhakthAs in mind gives a twist and states :

" One thousand names of VishNu are indeed equal to

one name of Raama , and htree names o Raama are

equal to one name of KrishNA " ( Bhagavatham 1.19.6) .

 

The choice of one form or avathAram of the Lord for

deep immersion is perfectly fine to advance one's

spiritual progress and to attain siddhi . They become

" TanmayA : " according to NaradhA's 70th Bhakthi SUthram .

They live absorbed in that form of the Lord . They become

Raama Chaithanyas like Saint ThyagarAja or BodEndrAL .

They become absorbed in KrishNA and become KrishNa

chaithanyALs like MirAbai or Cahithanya MahA prabhu .

They become tadheyA : and belong to Him and Him alone.

They do not enter into vain disputations and discussions

( vaadhO naavalabhya : / 74 th sUthram of Naaradha Muni ).

Sage NaaradhA gives the reasons why such great souls

following Ishta Daiva upAsanA do not enter into vain

disputations in the 75th Bhakthi SUthram of his :

 

baahulyAvakAsathvAdhaniyatathvAccha

 

( meaning ) ; ( Vain debates and disputations are to be

abandoned ) because there can be endless , diverse views

and all mere arguments become ultimately inconclusive only .

Trying to understand God-head by the intellectual route of

debate is recognized as impossible . Spiritual experience

is beyond intellect and reasoning . The Lord warns us that He is

the consciousnes behind all experiences : " From Me arise all

experiences ; I am not in them , they are in Me ."

 

The Uttama BhakthA may see all His Ishta Daivam in all

forms of Sriman NaarAyaNA and yet will not put anyone down

for their chosen mode of worship . He will question ,

" Raama nee samaanamevarurA ? " and yet will be

tolerant to another bhaktha engaged in worshipping another

from of divinity and will understand the approach as ultimately

reaching Sriman NaarAyaNA as revealed by Lord KrishNA

in Srimadh Bhagavath GitA .

 

KrishNArpaNam Asthu .

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

 

 

 

THREE CATEGORIES OF BHAKTHAS AND THEIR WORSHIPS

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