RAMANA GITA STUDY GROUP .CHAPTER 16 V.1&2-BHAKTI

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RAMANA GITA CHAPTER 16. On Bhakti

 

 

Translation of Prof.K.Swaminathan and Sri Visvanatha Swami

 

1.Then questioned regarding Bhakti, the best of men, the highly auspicious

Bhagavan Ramana

Maharshi spoke thus:

 

2.The SELF is dear to all,

 

Nothing else is as dear.

 

Love,

 

Unbroken like a stream of oil,

 

Is termed Bhakti .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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RamanaMaharshi, Alan Jacobs

<alanadamsjacobs> wrote:

RAMANA GITA CHAPTER 16. On Bhakti

 

 

Translation of Prof.K.Swaminathan and Sri Visvanatha Swami

 

1.Then questioned regarding Bhakti, the best of men, the highly

auspicious Bhagavan Ramana

Maharshi spoke thus:

 

2.The SELF is dear to all,

 

Nothing else is as dear.

 

Love,

 

Unbroken like a stream of oil,

 

Is termed Bhakti .

 

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Ramana Gita [Translation and Commentary by AR Natarajan]

Chapter 16 `Bhakti'

 

V1

Then, questioned regarding love of God, the best of men, the highly

auspicious Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi spoke thus:

 

V2

The Self is dear to all. Nothing else is dear. Love unbroken like a

stream of oil is termed `Bhakti.'

 

Commentary

The statement reminds one of the advice of Yagnavalkya to his wife

Maitreyi in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, be it that of wife for the

husband, mother for the child and so on, is sweet only because of

the love for the Self. The love mistakenly identified with a name

and form, really springs from the Self, the source of all love and

bliss.

Reference to a steady stream of oil is a traditional analogy and

would suggest a continuous relationship between subject, the

individual, and the object, God. Such a steady contemplation would

in time result in the merging of the individual in the particular

godhead. The ecstacy of such union is termed `para bhakti' or

supreme devotion.

In upadesa Saram, Ramana uses a different expression, `like the flow

of ghee', to indicate the sticking endearment between the devotee

and God which comes inevitably from a steady and loving

relationship.* Ramana's reference to the Self as dear to all is

worth noting. Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada refers to bhakti as

contemplation on the Self, which in practice means constant

recollection of the identity of individual and God, or the Self.

[*Upadesa Saram v7]

--------------------------------

[Note: Sanskrit version of Ch 16 in Sri Ramana's handwriting is

in `Photo' file, `RamanaGita' album]

 

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