bhakti swatantra sakala sukha khani

November 20, 2001

Namaste. I like to share these beautiful

verses from - "Aranya Kaanda of Sri Rama Carita Manas"

with Divine Lovers:- One day, as the Lord was

sitting at ease, Lakshmana addressed Him in guileless

words: "O Lord of gods and men and sages, and of

all animate and inanimate creation! I ask you as my

own special Master, instruct me, my Lord, and tell me

how I may ADORE the dust of Your feet to the

EXCLUSION of everything else. Tell me of Spiritual wisdom

and dispassion and Maya (Illusion); tell me of that

BHAKTI (Divine Love) which You MAKE an occasion for

EXTENDING Your MERCY. Tell me, Lord, all the

difference between God and the individual soul, and instruct

me that I may be DEVOTED to Your feet and freed from

sorrow, infatuation and delusion." "Briefly, dear

brother," said Rama, "will I explain it ALL; listen with

your MIND and INTELLECT and REASON fully ABSORBED.

The sense of 'I' and 'mine', 'you' and 'yours' is

illusion which holds away over all individual souls.

Senses and whatever is percieved by them and that which

lies within the reach of the mind, ALL of this,

brother, know to be Maya. Of illusion there are TWO kinds-

knowledge and ignorance; now hear the DIFFERENCE between

the two. The one (ignorance) is evil and

utterly calamitous, under whose spell the soul has fallen

into the pit of worldly existence; the other

(knowledge), by virtue of which the world is created and which

HOLDS SWAY over the three 'Gunas', is directed by the

Lord and has NO power of ITS OWN. Spiritual

wisdom is that which is FREE from ALL blemishes, such as

pride, ego,etc. and which SEES the Absolute EQUALLY in

ALL things (Maha Bhagavatottama). He, dear

brother, may be called as man of supreme dispassion, who

has abandoned ALL psychic powers (siddhi, perfection)

and three elements (of which the universe is

composed) as if NO MORE ACCOUNT than a blade of grass."

(continued...)

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