Re:Advaita Bhakti thro. Contemplative Practice of Narayaniyam ( ABCPN - 3 )

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ABCPN - 3

 

Note: Please read the Introduction

– post #15182 - if you have not already read it)

 

Namaste.

 

Sloka No. 7 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 91 - 1):

shrI-kr^iShNa tvat-padopAsanam-abhaya-tamaM

baddha-mithyArtha-dR^iShTeH

martyasy-Artasya manye vyapasarati bhayaM yena sarvAtmanaiva /

yat-tAvat-tvat-praNItAn-iha bhajana-vidhIn-Asthito moha-mArge

dhAvan-napy-AvR^itAkShaH skhalati na kuhacid-deva dev-AkhilAtman

//

 

Tr. Oh Lord Krishna ! Service to Thee is what I consider to be

the best option for Man afflicted with miseries caused by the

wrong acceptance of ephemeral values as true and enduring. Only

that way, the Lord removes our fear of the cycle of births and

deaths, completely and for ever. Oh Lord of Lords ! Oh Soul of

all beings! A person who steadily follows the path of devotion

promulgated by Thee, will be able to dash forth through the

world’s delusive paths, even with closed eyes, without slipping

anywhere!

 

Comment. This thought is an exact echo of Srimad Bhagavatam 11th

Canto, 2nd chapter Slokas 33-35. The confidence that one has in

the Lord becomes the foundation for all spiritual growth. The

purpose of including this sloka among the chosen 36 is to

strengthen that foundation for oneself.

There is an interesting keyword here which is full of meaning.

It is ‘sarvAtmanA’ at the end of the second quarter of the

verse. It means ‘with heart and soul’. It has been translated,

in the context, as ‘completely and for ever’. When the Lord

removes our fears there is no half-hearted work there. It is

total and complete. This word and this context should be aligned

with ‘sarva-bhAvena’ in Gita XVIII – 62. He says there:

‘tameva sharaNam gaccha sarva-bhAvena bhArata’

meaning, Seek only Him for refuge, with all your being.

‘sarva-bhAvena’ means here: ‘convert all your emotions into

devotion and direct that to God. Love Him as your master, your

friend, your parent and your lover; seek Him in all these

attitudes (bhAva).’ Cf. Gita IX – 18:

gatir-bhartA prabhus-sAkshI nivAsaH sharaNaM suhR^it /

prabhavaH praLayaH sthAnaM nidhAnaM bIjam-avyayaM //

meaning, ‘I am the goal, the supporter, the lord, the witness,

the abode, the shelter, the friend, the origin, the dissolution,

the foundation, the treasure-house, and the seed imperishable.’

Thus when we surrender to him ‘with all our being’

(sarva-bhAvena), He removes our fears ‘totally and completely’

(sarvAtmanA eva).

 

Sloka No. 8 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 94 - 9):

yadyal-labhyeta tat-tat-tava samupahR^itaM deva dAso’smi te’haM

 

tvad-geh-onmArjan-AdyaM bhavatu mama muhuH karma-nirmAya-meva /

sUryAgni-brAhmaN-AtmAdiShu lasita-catur-bAhum-ArAdhaye tvAM

tvat-prem-Ardratva-rUpo mama satatam-abhiShyandatAM bhakti-yogaH

//

 

Tr. Oh Lord! Whatever comes into my possession, I offer it unto

Thee. I am Thy servant. Let me repeatedly do with utmost

sincerity and interest such devotional duties as cleaning Thy

temple, Thy altar! Let me perform the worship of Thy four-handed

form conceived as manifesting in the solar orb, in fire, in holy

men and in the Atman!. Let my mind be ever in communion with

Thee through devotion, which consists in the melting of heart

into a continuous stream of love ever flowing towards Thee!

 

Comment. The sun and fire have always been considered holy in

all religions and in Hindu culture and literature, starting from

the time of the Vedas, they each take the first place in

physical representations of the Absolute. The very first prayer

of the Rig veda is to ‘agni’, the God of fire. He is the symbol

of the Divine Will, Power and Force. He is the messenger who

connects the offerings of the humans with their divine

destinations. He also brings the messages and presents from the

Divine to the human world. The last prayer of Man before he

leaves the body should be to ‘agni’, according to the very last

verse of the shukla Yajur Veda. The Sun is another major

visible expression of Divine Light, representing the infinite

power, majesty and glory of the Almighty . But mark it, it is

not the visible sun or the visible fire that is worshipped or

considered as the Absolute. Behind the physical sun there is the

concept of a surya-devata and behind the physical fire there is

the concept of an agni-devata. That is where, as the poet says

here, the Lord is reachable to us.

 

Sloka No. 9 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 97 - 3):

 

tvad-bhAvo yAvadeShu sphurati na vishadaM tAvadevam hyupAstiM

kurvan-naikAtmya-bodhe jhaTiti vikasati tvan-mayo’haM careyaM /

tvad-dharmasy-Asya tAvat-kimapi na bhagavan prastutasya prNAshaH

 

tasmAt-sarvAtmanaiva pradisha mama vibho bhakti-mArgaM manojnaM

//

 

Tr. As long as the experience that ‘Thou art the All’ does not

arise, I shall continue to perform your worship thus. Soon

shall I attain to this experience of the unity of all existence.

Thereafter I shall move about with a complete identification

with Thee. Oh Lord! For one traversing the path of Thy

(Bhagavata) dharma there cannot be any downfall or destruction.

Therefore bestow on me the capacity to follow the path of

bhakti, the most fulfilling of all spiritual paths.

 

Comment. Here the thought is that bhakti matures into the

ultimate jnAna. To speak of two paths bhakti and jnAna as if

they are mutually exclusive is contrary to the conclusions of

Krishna in the eighteenth chapter of the Gita. Once the path of

jnAna becomes second nature, it includes the feelings of bhakti

also. This is the essential content of the Gita. Refer Gita

XVIII – 49-55. To say that the centrality of Bhattatiri’s poem

is only Bhakti is to miss this focus of his. It is clear that

Bhattatiri here indicates that the ultimate goal of any path,

including bhakti, is what Krishna enjoins in Gita VI – 30:

yo mAM pashyati sarvatra sarvaM ca mayi pashyati /

tasyAhaM na praNashyAmi sa ca me na praNashyati //

meaning, He who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me,

never becomes separated from me nor do I become separated from

him.

 

(To be continued)

 

(For reference to earlier posts in this series, see #s 15207,

15231)

praNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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