Bhakti and Jnana .............Wave Wooing the Ocean !

[Guest guest]

sarva-ved'aanta-siddh'aanta-gocharaM tam agocharam

gov'indaM param'aanandaM sad-guruM praNato'smy aham ..(Viveka

Chudamani Verse1)

 

I prostrate myself before Govinda, the true Guru and ultimate Bliss,

who is the unattainable resort of all scriptures and Vedanta.

 

Sri Ganeshaya Namaha ! Sri Govindaya Namaha! Sri Gurave Namaha !

 

A story From the Kena Upanishads

 

The gods and the demons had been having a war. Somehow the gods won,

at least for the time being. But they did not realize that the power

of Brahman, the Supreme Being, had made their victory possible.

 

The gods took the credit themselves. When Brahman saw them

congratulating each other, he decided to act, and to teach them a

good lesson.

 

So he appeared before them in a form something like a ghost.

The gods said to each other in great wonder, "What is this awesome

spirit?"

 

Then they asked Agni, the god of fire, if he would try to find out

who it was, and he agreed. He ran toward the spirit and that spirit

said, "Stop! Who are you?"

"I am Agni, the god of fire," he proudly replied.

"I see. And what power do you have?" asked Brahman.

"Why, I can burn anything on the earth," said Agni.

So Brahman, in that spirit form, put a straw on the ground in front

of him, saying, "is that so? Burn this, then!" Agni went toward it,

his fiery breath crackling and arms ablaze, but in no way could he

burn that straw, for some strange reason, no matter how hard he tried.

Going back to the other gods, he told them shamefully that he had not

been able to find out who that being was.Now they had to ask someone

else to try.

 

This time they chose Vayu, the god of the wind. "You please try to

find out who this spirit is," they said. Vayu agreed and ran boldly

toward the spirit, who told him, "Stop! Tell me who you are."

"I am Vayu, god of air and wind," he answered.

"Oh! What power do you have?" asked Brahman.

"Why, I make hurricanes and cyclones. I can lift up anything on this

earth," said Vayu.

"Is that so?" said the spirit, placing a straw in front of him. "Then

lift this up!" Vayu rushed at it with a terrific noise but no matter

how he huffed and puffed, the straw remained on the ground. He too

returned to the gods, ashamed, and let them know that the spirit

baffled him.

 

Finally the gods chose Indra, their highest and best, and asked him

to do the job. Indra agreed to it. But when he approached that

spirit, it suddenly disappeared!

 

In its place was seen the shining form of the goddess *Uma,* a

lovely woman adorned with gems, who is called the revealer of Truth.

"Who is that spirit," Indra asked her, "whom we have been seeing

here?"

"That is Brahman, the Supreme Spirit," she answered. "It is all due

to the power of Brahman that you have had victory over the demons,

and have become great. Don't you know that?"

Then Indra understood.

 

This story explains why Agni, Vayu and Indra rank higher than the

other gods.They came "nearest" to Brahman. And, of these, Indra

deserves first place, for it was to him that the Truth was first

revealed.

 

Kanchi Paramacharya says

 

"Uma, the Divine Mother, is the personification of pranava (Om). She

is brightness in light and fragrance in flowers. She has the

illumination of a thousand suns and yet has the soothing coolness of

a thousand moons. Along with Isvara, she is the Paramatma-swaroopa

sung by the Vedas.

 

It is this idea that is conveyed by the following verse ADI

SHANKARA'S Soundarya Lahari :

 

"Sruteenaam moordhaano dadhati tava yau sekharatayaa, Mamaapi-etau

maatah sirasi dayayaa dhehi charanau; Yayoh paadyam pathah pasupati

jataa-joota tatini; Yayor-laakshaa lakshmih-aruna hari choodamani

ruchih-"

 

In this stanza Sri Adi Sankara prays to the Mother (maatah), to place

Her divine feet, the feet which shine in the crown of the Vedas

(sruteenaam moordhaano), even on his head, in the plenitude of Her

mercy (dayayaa). The quality of the divine feet is explained in the

last two lines. The waters with which those feet are washed

(paadyam), becomes the river Ganges, flowing over the matted hair of

Pasupati. The beautiful lac colour of those feet is caused by the

lustre of the red crest-jewel of Hari. It is significant that Adi

Sankara gives expression to his humility by once again using the

expression maamapi, even mine. In another sloka in Soundarya Lahari

also, he has used maamapi when begging the Divine Mother to bathe

even him with the glance of Her soothing eyes – Snapaya kripaya

maamapi sive. "

 

http://www.kamakoti.org/acall/ums.html

 

Again and again, our parama Bhakta-Jnani Adi Shankara Bhagvadaoada

sings the glories of the lotus feet of god/ess in his great

compositions of Sivananda Lahari and Soundarya Lahari .

 

and this form of total surrender to the lotus feet of the GOD/ESS Is

described as 'ATMA-NIVEDANAM , one of the nine modes of devotional

worship described in the Srimad Bhagvatam ...

 

sravanam kirtanam visnoh

smaranam pada-sevanam

arcanam vandanam dasyam

sakhyam atma-nivedanam

 

AND WHAT IS SRAVANAM? 'Hearing' ... and this What Lord Parikshit

did ! He had only seven days to live and he wanted to spend those

seven days in only hearing about the glories of the GOD! Kirtanam -

singing the glories of the God - this is ideally suited for devotees

in the kali yuga , join a satsangha ( company of holy men) and engaze

in congregational chanting. Vishnoh-smaranam- Remembering the Lord

and his leelas and experiencing the 'ANANDA' of those Leelas! Pada

Sevanam - worshipping the lotus feet of the lord.

 

THIS 'Saranagati' Tattwa is best explained in Srimad Bhagwat Gita

Bhagavad Gita,Chapter 18 verse 66 :

 

"sarva dharmam parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tva sarva papebhyo moksayisyami ma suca'

 

Gitacharya Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna after expounding Jnana,

Karma and Bhakti yogas, Lord Krsna advices Arjuna to abondon all

these yogas (means) and take refuge in Him (Krsna) alone. ( BHAKTI

YOGA) !

 

Yes ! IN THIS BHAVA OF TOTAL SURRENDER , WE RELY ONLY ON THE GRACE OF

GOD - 'daiva anugraham' !

 

Parama Bhakta-Jnani Adi shankara himself expresses this sentiment

of Devi Anugraham beautifully in the following sloka in Ananda lahari

 

kR^ipApAN^gAlokaM vitara tarasA sAdhucharite

na te yuktopekshA mayi sharaNadIkshAmupagate .

na chedishhTaM dadyAdanupadamaho kalpalatikA

visheshhaH sAmAnyaiH kathamitaravallIparikaraiH

 

O! devi I have surrendered at your feet, You are to bestow your

rejuvenating glance of grace on me. What is the difference between a

normal shrub and a *kalpakA* creeper if it is not going to

immediately fulfill one's desideratum?

 

In Sri Vidya , devi is described as 'Kalpa vriksha' the wish

fulfilling tree !

 

How our brahma-jnani ADI sHANKARA BHAGVADAPADA has managed to turn

the 'MAYA' of Brahman into the Great Shakti of Sri VIDYA ? tHAT IS

WHERE HIS POETIC GENIUS LIES !

 

Adi Shankara knew and realized that in order for Jnana to be

meaningful , at some point, it has to rejoice in the path of 'bhakti -

for it is the path of parama 'Ananda' and a Parama bhakta like SRI

RAMAKRISHNA also realized with the grace of his Guru Totapuri that

in order for Bhakti to be fruitive, it has to culminate in 'jnana' !

Bhakti without Jnana is 'blind' and Jnana without Bhakti is 'dry' -

and a JNANI may develop a swollen ego of the intellect.

 

In Srimad Bhagvat Gita, Sri Krishna declares in chapter 11 , verse 53

 

naham vedair na tapasa

na danena na cejyaya

sakya evam-vidho drastum

drstavan asi mam yatha

 

The form which you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be

understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious

penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means

that one can see Me as I am.

 

And then Arjuna asks Him 'How'

 

Sri Krishna responds

 

verse 54

 

bhaktya tv ananyaya sakya

aham evam-vidho 'rjuna

jnatum drastum ca tattvena

pravestum ca parantapa

 

 

My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be

understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen

directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My

understanding.

 

Sri Adi Sankara says that ' Bhakti or meditation is a continuous and

unbroken thought; like a line of flowing oil. '

 

More to continue ~~~~~~~~~~~~wait till 'Love' or Bhakti unfolds all

its petals one by one in this celestial garden of 'divine love'

 

One of the names of Sri Lalita devi iin Sri Lalita Sahasaranama is

 

Bhakta chitta kaki Ghana Ghana

 

' When the peacocks see the the dark clouds approaching them, they

instantaneously become happy and dance merrily. Like wise the bhaktas

are compared to a peacock and Devi to the clouds meaning that the

bhaktas become immensely happy on seeing Devi and immediately reach

the Samadhi status .'

 

Jaya Jaya Shankara

Hara Hara Shankara

 

Amba Maha Tripurasundari Samedha Shri Chandramouleeswaraye namo

namaha !

 

(i would encourage all members to add their illuminating thoughts on

Bhakti and Jnana and thereby embellish this simple 'dish' ! )

[Guest guest]

AdiMa.

 

Prostrations.

 

Is this your main post for the proposed topic of discussion? Please

confirm. My comments will follow.

 

PraNAms.

 

Madathil Nair

_____________

 

 

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16>

wrote:

>

> sarva-ved'aanta-siddh'aanta-gocharaM tam agocharam

> gov'indaM param'aanandaM sad-guruM praNato'smy aham ..(Viveka

> Chudamani Verse1)

>

> I prostrate myself before Govinda, the true Guru and ultimate Bliss,

> who is the unattainable resort of all scriptures and Vedanta.

>

> Sri Ganeshaya Namaha ! Sri Govindaya Namaha! Sri Gurave Namaha !

>

> A story From the Kena Upanishads