Bhakti ( Devotion ) .

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Hare Krishna. Pranam to all Vaishnavas, The love for ‘higher’ is ‘bhakti’ (devotion) , while love for the ‘lower’ is mere lust . One rises in devotion while the other falls in lust . What constitutes ‘higher’ ?. That which provides an inspiration, that which integrates the mind and intellect, that which makes the mind calm and quite, and that which energizes an individual is called the higher goal. Higher the goal, higher the energy that one can tap from the goal itself. An inspired action can follow from the one who has high goal provided his mind is fully dedicated or devoted to the action. Bhakti demands sacrifice. Bharata goes to forest to bring Rama back to Ayodhya . He goes to the forest with notion that his ‘bhakti’ to Rama is greater than Rama’s commitment to ‘Dharma’, and Rama has to oblige to return to Ayodhya . Janaka points out that ‘bhakti’ is greater than dharma provided one surrenders to his Bhagavan. In surrender , there is no demand of ‘ what I want ’ other than fulfilling only whatever the Bhagavan wants – ‘ thy will be done not mine ’ should be the understanding. ‘Iswara arpaNa’ will be transformed as ‘Iswara aajna’ or ‘Daiva iccha’ – His will or His wish . Role of a Devotee: Life is like a drama involving the playing of many roles and transacting with duality. From birth to death one is continuously playing roles such as that of a son, brother, husband, father, employee, citizen, etc. When I encounter my father, I am a son ; when I encounter my child I am a father ; when I encounter my wife I am a husband ; and when I encounter my officer I am an employee, etc. Thus in each encounter I play a different role. All these are temporary roles. In each role, I have to perform the best in order to make the life pleasant . In the role-playing, I do face the problems ; and that is part of life-drama .

Unfortunately, when the father-role has a problem in it’s set-up, I am carried away with that problem affecting my other roles. Then playing all the roles becomes difficult . This is the nature of life-drama . When I am in the role of a devotee, I go to the temple. Once out of the temple, I am back to other roles. Thus, unfortunately, the role of devotee is also treated as temporary just like the other ones . My relationship with Bhagavan Sri Krishna has become like any other relationships – that means I have not understood that the Bhagavan is everywhere and in every ‘ set-up ’. Therefore a devotee’s role is not a temporary one , since the Bhagavan is present in every set-up that I am involved (antarbahischa tat sarvam vyaapta naaraayana sthitaH – Narayana is inside as well as outside – there is no place where He is not). If I start recognizing this fact, then my relationship with the Bhagavan becomes permanent, independent of time and space. If so, Bhagavan will guide me in all situations . So, we have to play two roles all the time, one is the permanent role of a devotee ; and the other is temporary role depending on the set-up . Hence, I am a devotee plus father ; a devotee plus a husband ; a devotee plus a son ; a devotee plus an employee ; a devotee plus a seeker . My devotee’s role remains constant while the other roles keep changing with the set-up . We must have the constant awareness that, Sri Krishna is everywhere, and we cannot remain independent of Him . We cannot even afford to ignore

this relationship, since unlike other temporary relationships this is our life-air . When I love my son , I automatically am conscious of his presence and am ready to sacrifice for his happiness. The love flows in all my dealings with him. Similarly when I have bhakti for Bhagavan Krishna , I recognize His presence everywhere and offer with love whatever I can . Only way to attain the Bhagavan is by ‘ Bhakti ‘ . This is beautifully depicted in the story of ‘ Sri Krishna Tulaabhaaram’ in Bhagavatam . Satyabhaama wanted to win over Krishna by offering equivalent weight of gold. However, she did not realize that there is no way the Bhagavan who owns the entire universe can be weighed by any quantity of gold. On the other hand, Rukmini wins over Him with just a leaf of ‘tulasi’ offered with devotion. Sri Krishna says in Gita ( 9.26) : patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me

bhaktyaa prayacchati| tadam bhaktupahRitam ashnaame priyataatmanaH|| ( Whoever offers me a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water with full devotion, I will personally accept it very gladly. ) Hence, ‘yat karoti yad ashnaati ..

tat kurushve madarpanam’ whatever you do and whatever you eat .. offer it to me’ can happens once I recognize that I must be Krishna’s devotee at all times . Iin reality , whatever I do or eat, it is automatically offered to Bhagavan – since I have only choice in action but not in the results and He is the one who takes the action and return the results. He is already receiving the action whether I offer it to Him or not. Similarly, Bhagavan Krishna is the one who as ‘Vaiswaanara’ staying inside and digesting all that food that I eat. When He is already receiving everything anyway, why does He ask us to offer them with devotion?. The answer is below . When we offer something to Krishna with devotion, two events happen. First , we are recognizing the fact that Bhagavan is everywhere and

everything belongs to Him. So what we are offering is not ours but His only. Then, what we are offering is only our notions that it is ours. We are essentially offering our ‘ahankaara’ and ‘mamakaara’ , ( the notions that ‘I am the doer and I am the enjoyer’,) which bind us down to our karma . Second thing is in terms of our role-playing. We discussed that we are playing two roles, a devoted father , a devoted employee, etc. Every action becomes a devoted action, when Krishna is involved . When we perform our best as an offering to Krishna , then it becomes a devoted action. That action itself becomes a prayer to the Bhagavan.

Thus, not only we recognize His presence everywhere, we become full time devotees. Then karma becomes karma yoga. Every action becomes a ‘yagna’ (sacred sacrifice) ; since ‘yagna’ also means the Bhagavan ; Vishnu sahasranamaa says ‘yagno yagnapatiH yagvaa yagnaago yagnavaahanaH’ . Hence, doing the actions in the spirit of ‘yagna’ also implies do the action for ‘parameswara preetyartham’ – perform the action to please the Bhagavan. Even while chanting the Vishnu sahasra naamaavali, we chant – Shree mahaa Vishnu preetyartham – for the pleasure of Mahaavishnu only we are chanting this and not for our personal gains. Whatever that comes to us unasked is received with reverence as ‘prasaadam’. How do I become a full time devotee?. Swami Dayanandaji used to tell a story. There was a young boy who was hired as cook by a gentleman. Since the boy was very much interested in music, he used to hum and sing as he was cooking. Since he was a good cook, the gentleman did not mind his singing. When a visitor came and heard the singing, he asked the gentleman – “who is singing in the kitchen?”. The gentleman responded, “Oh! That is my cook. He likes to sing”. The visitor said, “He

is good, why don’t you let him learn music?”. The gentleman agreed and arranged for music lessons for the cook. Because of his interest, the boy practiced a lot and slowly graduated from that teacher and then the next teacher and so on until he became an expert in music. He became a professional singer much sought after for music programs. Ones he had a program in the same town where the gentleman is living, and he visited him to pay his respects. Since he knows the gentleman’s tastes, he went into the kitchen to cook something for him. When a visitor asked who is cooking in the kitchen, the gentleman responded, “Oh! That is the famous musician who cooking in the kitchen”. The visitor was very much. surprised why the famous musician is cooking in the gentleman’s kitchen Before it was a cook that was singing – now the great musician is cooking. Whatever he does now, it is that great musician that is doing. The transformation is complete. A cook is transformed into a great musician – How?. It is only by saadhana, that involves a single pointed effort withdrawing from all other dissipative pursuits. Sri Krishna declares in Gita 9.22 : ananyaashchitayanto maam ye janaaH paryupaasate| teshhaam nityaabhiyuktaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham|| (Without any other thought in mind who thinks of me all the time and worships me, desiring nothing, I will take care of him completely. ) Thus, doing daily prayer and

performing the duties as ‘yagnas’, meditating on the glories of the Bhagavan are essentially the process to transform oneself into a full time devotee. Krishna emphasizes that ‘abyaasa and viaragya’ i.e. constant practice and detachment from all other dissipative pursuits, are the two essential tools for one’s overall growth. Therefore, bhakti manifests at the action level as karmayoga. I cannot but offer everything to Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Once I recognize that everything actually belongs to Him , what is there left for me to offer. ‘tvadiiyam vastu govinda tubhyameva samarpaye’, Oh! Bhagavan !, this is all Yours and I am offering it to You what belongs to You’. What I am offering

then is only my notions that they are mine. Bhagavan Krishna understands our language and takes only our devotion and returns back what He thinks we need for our growth . Ohm Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya!!! SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev Note - : ( The above is excerpt of an article. )

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