Idol/Icon/Vigraha - Discussions in SrI Ranga

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Dear member,

You wrote :-

 

Dear learned members,

 

I need an answer to the following question.

 

 

As per gita,

 

Is atmasakshataram absolutely necessary for one to

start bhakti yoga?

If

not why not - prove using slokas from gita +

commentaries.

 

As per upanisads can it be established unmistakably,

that

atmasakshatkaram

is absolutely needed for bhakti yoga? If so provide

detailed quotes and

these quotes should be unmistakable and generally

agreeable to wider

audience, (in the sense strongly provable.)

 

I am having the time of my life discussing gita with

sri SMS chari who

is

writing a new book on Gita. His book will be

something very unique. I

don't think a similar book has been written before.

 

Adiyen krishna

 

*******************************************************

 

I will try to answer this question from the Gita

Bhashya of Bhagavad Ramanujaacharya.Please refer the

book as you read through the mail.

>From the point of view of the saadhaka,the answer to

the above question is "Yes,Atma sakshatkaara or self

realization is an essential requirement for attainment

of Devotion to the Lord in the true sense".I will

present my understanding in the sentences below.

 

The Transition of the mental state of an aspirant

after the Highest Good from atmaavalokana or self

realization to Devotion to the supreme God Sri.Krishna

is mentioned in the following places in the Gita.

 

Chapter 6 :- slokha 29,30 and 31.

Chapter 12:- slokha 9 to 12.

chapter 18:- slokha 54.

 

For the above question,i feel chapter 12,slokha 9 to

12

is straight to the point.Infact the slokhas 11 and 12

bring out the importance of Self realization for the

attainment of Bhakti to the Lord,So i will try to

concentrate on these two particular slokhas.

 

In slokha 11,Sri Krishna tells arjuna(i.e us)that if

he is incapable of doing his Yoga i.e working for him

or serving him exclusively,then he should practise

Karma yoga(akshara yoga taught in the first six

chapters)so that he becomes a person of controlled

self i.e mind.Sri.Krishna makes this point more clear

in the next slokha when he says "Better is Knowledge

of the self when compared to repeated rememberence of

the Lord devoid of love or devotion to him for the

self is more at peace in itself than an imperfect

devotion to the Lord,Better is meditation on the

nature of self compared to improper knowledge of self,

Better is selfless action(Karma yoga) compared to

improper meditation on the self(jnana Yoga) for by

such

selfless action the person attains peace of mind".

 

Sri.Ramanuja in his Geetha Bhashya says that Bhakti

which is a state of mind is itself an attainment which

can be understood from the above slokhas and Karma

yoga and/or jnana yoga is useful to the extent of the

self realizing its true nature both in itself and as

related to the supreme Brahman or Sri.Krishna as his

shesha(part completley dependent and for Sri.Krishna).

The peace of mind mentioned in the above slokha is the

state of mind,when the mind goes easily and

effortlessly with Love only to Lord Sri.Krishna as the

person of self realization views all the other selves

as similar to his own self and the only entity

transcendental to himself(Individual self) and

prakriti deserving adoration is the supreme Brahman

himself.Further Bhakti,a unique state of mind is not

only an achievement in itself but also a means for

further attainment i.e attainment of the supreme

Brahman itself.This is mentioned in the last portions

of chapter 11 and chapter 18 slokha 54.

 

Now all that has been mentioned above regarding the

cause of Bhakti is from the point of view of the

saadhana of the saadhaka himself.But,in the charma

slokha 66 of the Gita in chapter 18,Lord Sri krishna

says that if a person surrenders himself to the

Lord,then the Lord himself becomes the means for the

cause of Bhakti if the aspirant wants that or he

becomes an independent means to attain the Lord

himself.

 

So,Atma sakshaatkara is not necessary if one adopts

prappathi towards the Lord.But,this does not mean that

knowledge of self has no place in prappathi

marga,because even a prappana has to atleast have a

theoretical knowledge of his true self and try to

abide in it to his best for it helps him in his

conduct in this world as a prappana though he might

not have a complete practical experience of the same

as the Bhakti yogi does.

 

Hope the above helps.Any errors above are mine and

feel free to write to me.Meanwhile i will try to bring

pramanas on the same from upanishads.

 

Sri.Krishnaarpanamasthu

Suresh B.N.

 

 

 

 

 

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