Bhakti and Jnanam

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Bhakti and Jnanam

 

There is an inviolable rule in the Gita: Ye yathaa maam prapadyante taam

tathaiva bhajaamyaham. In simple terms this means, we get what we have asked

for. It is also expressed as: As you sow, so you reap. And in an even more

telling way the same idea is presented as: You sow the wind and you reap the

whirlwind. Bhaava being the core of bhakti, the attitude of the bhakta decides

his destiny. Here is a verse that brings out this thought:

 

Archaami iti dhiyaa tadeva kusumam kshiptvaa jano muchyate

Vidhyaami iti dhiyaa tadeva vikiran bhasmiikrto manmathaH |

Ityaabhyantara-vrtti-maatra-rasiko baahya-anapekshascha yaH

Sa swami mama daivatam, taditaro naamnaapi naamnaayate ||

 

With the intention of worshipping, a man puts flowers on the Lord. Eventually

he gets liberated. Intent upon striking the Lord, Manmatha put flowers on Him

and got reduced to ashes. That Lord, who thus appreciates only the inner

attitude and cares not for the external, is my God. Any other beside Him I will

not even mention by name.

(Nilakantha Dikshitar in the Shivotkarshamanjari, 2)

(I am reminded of a great Shivabhakta throwing stones on the Shivalingam and

accomplishing the puja. Will someone recount that story briefly?)

*****

 

 

Meditation of the Saguna Iswara culminates in the realisation of the Absolute

Reality. This saguna Iswara dhyaanam when done with devotion, earns for the

devotee the grace of the Lord who confers upon such a mind the ability to grasp

the Absolute Reality which is extremely subtle. The Kaivalya Upanishad teaches

this method:

 

Umaa-sahaayam Parameshwaram Prabhum Trilochanam Niilakantham Prashaantam |

Dhyaatvaa munir-gacchati bhuuta-yonim samasta-saakshim tamasaH-parastaat ||

 

The gunas mentioned in the first half of the mantra are full of meaning and

require deep contemplation. The Lord is meditated upon as accompanied with Uma,

the shakti. The mother intervenes to secure for the devotee the Grace from the

Lord. We have a nice (Tyagaraja?) kirthanam: Nanu bhrovamani cheppave

Seethamma Talli… O Mother Sita, recommend my case to the Lord…. Then the Lord is

described as the Supreme Power beyond which there is none else. He is endowed

with three eyes: Soma Surya Agni; the third eye connoting Jnanam. The epithet

Niilakantha, the blue-throated One, signifies His compassion to the world at

large. When the Haalaahala poison that emerged during the samudramathanam

threatened to destroy the whole of the creation, it was Lord Shiva who contained

it by neatly placing it inside His throat. His act ensured that the beings

outside and inside of Him were saved from destruction. And the Lord is Peace

personified. All these divine qualities, when meditated

upon, create the necessary condition in the aspirant for realising the Truth

which liberates him from samsara. The words Bhuuta-yoni, Samasta-Sakshi and

TamasaH-Parastaat mean that the Absolute Reality which is the Ultimate Cause of

the universe, is the Witness of the entire universe and is Itself untouched by

darkness that is the ignorance which is in effect the samsara.

 

*****

Om Tat Sat