Bhakti-Yoga vs. Bhakti

[Guest guest]

Krishna Susarla asks:

> I was wondering if anyone could provide examples from the

> itihaasa-s or puraaNa-s of individuals who practiced the

> bhakti-yoga as described above.

 

Before I address what the term "bhakti-yoga" means to Ramanuja,

I think it is important to understand his interpretational

approach. For Ramanuja, the crown-jewel of all religious source

literature is the Upanishads. The Upanishads are the concluding

portion of the Veda that deals only with Absolute Divinity and

how to attain It. The Gita is the essence of Upanishads, restated

by God himself for the benefit of humanity.

 

 

AtmA are draStavyaH srotavyaH mantavyaH

nididhyAsitavyaH |

 

The Self, my dear, should be seen -- should be heard about,

thought about, and lovingly meditated upon.

 

-- Yajnavalkya to his beloved wife

Maitreyi, Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad

 

 

To Ramanuja or any primary philosopher of Vedanta, the Gita and

Upanishads represent the same philosophy stated in different

words. The bhakti-yoga Sri Krishna outlines in the Gita is none

other than the "nididhyAsana", "upAsana", and "vedana" repeatedly

enjoined in the Upanishads and formalized in the Brahma-sutras.

Each of the latter three terms means deep, undivided, loving

contemplation on the Supreme Self. The Gita may emphasize the

"love" aspect more, and the Upanishads the "meditative", but it

is evident from even a brief glance that the two must go hand in

hand. What one loves, one seeks to know more and delve into

deeper; when one delves deeper into as wonderful and satisfying

a thing as the Supreme Self, one cannot but love it more and

more.

 

So what exactly is "bhakti-yoga", one may ask; as with any

discipline, there are many stages to it, and to begin with,

bhakti-yoga is simply "sneha-pUrva anudhyAnam", meditation filled

with love, practiced along with its auxiliaries as suggested by

the Veda. But Ramanuja, thorough as always, also clearly

defines a very advanced stage of bhakti in a wonderful phrase

in the "vedArtha sangraha"

(summary of the meaning of the Vedas):

 

ananya prayojana anavarata niratiSayapriya viSadatama

pratyakshatApanna anudhyAna rUpa bhakti

 

bhakti is valued for its own sake, which is

uninterrupted, which is an absolute delight in itself

and which is meditation that has taken on the

character of the most vivid and immediate vision.

 

This advanced state of loving meditation is compared to sight

because it is the most direct of senses. It is immediate and

automatic in the way it conveys knowledge to us. The advanced

bhakti-yogi perceives in his or her mind's eye the essence and

form of God so well that it is like seeing God directly. This

"paramAtma anubhavam" is what is vividly described repeatedly in

the Upanishads and the Gita, and is the precursor to the bliss of

liberation.

 

Ramanuja establishes this spiritual method as *the* main means

taught in all of Vedanta. It requires discipline to sit down and

practice meditation, the ability to understand the Veda and Gita

to further ones understanding of reality, and the ability to

perform Vedic worship which helps purify the mind. None of these

are absolute prerequisites to being an exalted soul, mind you --

the Lord works in mysterious ways and anyone or anything can

elevate itself by taking advantage of His grace and loving Him --

but the specific discipline of bhakti-yoga is a Vedic one and has

certain corequisites.

 

Sri Vijayaraghavan has already described the sAdhana saptaka or

seven qualities of mind and body we should practice to further us

in our path of yoga. [These are not limited to the bhakti-yogi

-- even those of us who find ourselves incapable of this deep

form of bhakti can practice these and better ourself.] By

regularly practicing these, along with our duties to humanity,

animal life, our ancestors, our gods, etc., we purify our mind so

our perception of the Self can be easier and more vivid. In the

Upanishads, this phase is described as tapas, dAna, etc. In the

Gita, Krishna asks us to perform our duties selflessly

[karma-yoga]. Daily, the bhakta should set aside time to sit

down and meditation on the wonder of the Self, Its all-pervasive

presence and gracious power, and Its unique and auspicious

qualities. This loving meditation will itself be transformed

into an altogether enjoyable experience, and the bhakta will

remain rooted firmly in the Beloved Self, seeing His presence

everywhere and deriving pleasure only from Him.

 

 

"vAsudeva sarvam iti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH"

 

So hard is it to find that great person who says

"Vasudeva is my all."

 

-- Gita 7.19

 

Often people wonder why Visishtadvaitins regard bhakti-yoga as a

difficult path, when the popular belief is that bhakti is the

easy means to liberation. It is all a matter of perspective.

How many people do we know who declare without reservation that

God is all they care about or think about, and act in accordance

with that behavior? How many people who are like this have the

ability to sit in meditation and vividly perceive the Self? It is

no stretch to say that the number is miniscule, precisely because

such an attitude requires a tremendous amount of emotional and

mental strength. Bhakti-yoga, therefore, is difficult.

 

"bhakti", or "love of God", by itself, however, is the natural

state of a living being. It is easy; but it should not be

confused with the spiritual discipline of bhakti-yoga, which

involves meditation and cardinal behavior as explained

previously. Bhakti can be as little as mere emotionalism; or it

can be as wise and advanced as in bhakti-yoga. It is simply a

gradation of effort and ability.

 

I hope I have explained this clearly enough.

 

adiyEn Mani

 

P.S.:

 

As far as who in the itihAsas and purANas practiced bhakti-yoga,

so many examples abound. Immediately, vyAsa and Suka come to

mind. Most of the rishis who lived in the Dandaka forest

[Ramayana] practicing penances also were upAsakas of this sort.

Remember Visvamitra's statement to Dasaratha: "aham vedmi

mahAtmAnam rAmam satyaparAkramam" -- The deeper meaning of this

sloka is understood by Visishtadvaitins to mean that Visvamitra

regularly meditated on Rama, understanding him to be Absolute

Divinity Itself.

 

While there is no restriction as form of Vishnu one should

meditate upon, the Upanishads speak of many different modes of

meditation on the Absolute, i.e., Vishnu. These can be

classified as 32 different "vidyAs" or ways of meditation. Any

one of them is as good as another; it is up to the liking of the

bhakta. These are more abstract and philosophical than picking

a "form" -- one vidyA may involve meditating on the paramAtmA

as the Self of all; another may involve meditation on It as the

source of the universe. But in the end, all of them are

interlinked and lead to the same goal.

[Guest guest]

Sri Krishna and Sri Vijayaraghavan have clearly elucidated bhakti yoga in

the vEdAntic sense, and Sri Mani has added to this by contrasting this yoga

with the less formal and more natural bhakti. Sri Susarla suggested that

we move towards a discussion of prapatti. I would like to begin this by

presenting some thoughts on prapatti from a vEdAntic view as it is

presented in Sri Ramanuja's Githa Bhashyam.

 

It is clear from the previous postings just how difficult and ardous the

path of bhakti yoga can be. Indeed, it can only belong to those rare souls

as Sri Vyasa, Narada Muni, and others. The justifiable questions of what

the rest of us are to do naturally follows from this. This very same set

of questions probably plagued the mind of Arjuna on the battlefield as he

realized his own unworthiness in pursuing the path that had just been

prescribed to him by the Lord. It is in answer to this feeling of lack of

worth that the Lord propogates what we now know as the charama slokam, the

third mantram in our rahasyatrAyam. Three different interpretations are

offered in analyzing EmperumAnAr's explanation of the charama slokam.

These three are discussed in Sri S. S. Raghavachar's scholarly analysis,

Sri Ramanuja on the Gita. The first two are very much a part of Ramanuja's

brilliant commentary, and connect prapatti as an ancillary to bhakti yoga.

The third is a radical divergence from bhakti yoga, not directly found in

his BhAshyam, which clearly shows that prapatti is an independent and

efficacious "means" for realizing the divine.

 

The first interpretation suggests that what is surrendered to the Lord in

prapatti be solely the fruit of our actions, i.e., a devotee is to follow

the prescribed rules of bhakti yoga in the mood of service, leaving the

fruit of his acts to the Lord. This approach removes any karmic burden

associated with self-effort, as the devotee engages in bhakti yoga as a

means of worshipful service, with full faith that the Lord, as the real

agent of the action, will guide him in the correct course.

 

The second interpretation is in more direct response to Arjuna (and our)

feeling of unworthiness and inability to pursue bhakti yoga. Here

saranAgathi becomes the initiating agent towards bhakti, in which our

surrender to the Lord serves to remove the eons of karma due to our past

actions, allows us to develop faith in the Lord, and in turn motivates us

to steadfastly pursue the path of bhakti yoga. Once again, though, this

interpretation stresses that bhakti yoga is the path to the Lord, with

prapatti only serving as an ancillary.

 

It is interesting to note at this point, though, that while Sri Ramanuja

was clearly recommending Bhakti Yoga in Sri Gita Bhasyam and other texts,

there is very little to indicate that he, his predecessors, or his students

ever actually pursued this path. It seems that these scholarly

presentations were intended for people outside the SriVaishnava community

to validate the tradition among rival schools of thought. For Ramanuja was

as much an ardent devotee as he was the philosopher, rapt in the emotions

of bhakti as elucidated by the AzhwArs, and deeply connected to the

SriVaishnava Community which he led - and continues to lead.

 

And it is among and for this community that EmperumAnAr composed his famous

gadyatrAyam, elaborating on his own helplessness and failings in trying to

pursue the path of bhakti yoga, and submitting himself wholeheartedly to

the Lord as being his sole means to salvation. This emotional experience

of prapatti stems out of the vEdantic interpretations as presented above,

in which these thoughts are only indirectly suggested, and transforms

itself into an independent realization, in which the Lord and His

Compassionate Grace, not bhakti yoga, are seen as the means to one's

salvation. It is this wondrous and profound interpretation of prapatti

which has the become the be all and end all of SriVaishnava tradition.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

 

Mohan