On Bhakti yoga

[Guest guest]

I wish to add the following thoughts on the subject of devotion (bhakti).

 

Sage Kapila, an incarnation of the Lord, explains in the third Skandha of

Srimad Bhagavata who a real devotee is. He says that a man who worships God

in an image, but looks upon other human beings with contempt and exploits

them, makes a mockery of worship, unmindful of the fact that the same God

dwells in them also. The Lord will not be pleased even though worshipped in

an image by means of rituals with costly materials, by a person who does not

see the same God in all beings. The worship of God through rituals laid down

in the scriptures is no doubt an essential ingredient of Bhakti, but it is

not an end in itself. It is only the means to the realization of the

presence of the same divinity in all beings. A person who exploits others or

treats them with contempt and has no consideration for their feelings and

rights cannot qualify as a Bhakta even if he assiduously performs ritual

worship meticulously every day. This is the gist of verses 21 to 25 of

chapter 29 of Skandha III of Bhagavata.

 

Now let us see what the great sage Narada says about Bhakti. Narada says

in Narada Bhakti sutra that Bhakti is supreme love of God. Here it must be

clarified that God is not some Being residing somewhere in the heavens who

stands apart from the world, but God is the Indwelling Self of all living

beings in this world. Thus love of God means love of all creatures, who are

all His manifestations. Narada further says that an essential characteristic

of Bhakti is the dedication of all activities to God. Thus what is described

as Karmayoga in the Bhagavadgita is also an essential ingredient of Bhakti

according to Narada. A Bhakta is thus one who does not separate religious

and secular activities, but considers all of them as service of God. The

Lord says in the Gita (18.46) that the performance of one's duties is itself

worship of God and is the means to spiritual progress. A person who looks

upon every action, whether religious or secular, as worship of God will act

without selfishness and will not harm others in any way. Narada declares

that the highest exemplars of Bhakti are the Gopikas, who dedicated all

their actions to Lord Krishna and whose minds were always engrossed in the

thought of Krishna.

 

The Bhagavata, in Skandha XI, chapter 2, verses 45 to 47 divides devotees

into three categories according to the progress achieved by them in the path

of devotion. The highest category, called *Bhaagavatottama,* is: " He who

sees himself in all creatures and all creatures in his own self " . That is to

say, he realizes that the same Self pervades the whole universe and he

therefore looks upon all creatures in the world as God. He does not see any

difference between himself and others. Thus the foremost devotee is

also a *Jnaani,

*one who has ceased to identify himself with his limited personality.* *

 

The second category of devotees is: " He who cherishes love for the Lord,

is friendly towards other devotees, compassionate towards the ignorant and

does not harbour any enmity even towards those inimical to him " . Such a

person has not yet got over the sense of difference between himself and

others, but has progressed to the extent of being free from pride, arrogance

and hatred.

 

The last category of devotees is: " He who worships the Lord with faith in

an image, but does not serve His devotees or other beings " . Even such a

person is far superior to the pseudo-Bhakta referred to earlier, because,

while the former has faith in God and considers worship as his duty, the

latter looks upon God merely as a means for the fulfilment of his selfish

desires. The latter does not deserve to be called a Bhakta at all. Prahlada

says in the Bhagavata that a person who worships God expecting some worldly

benefit in return is not a devotee at all, but only a trader (Bh. VII. 10.4).

 

 

In Sivanandalahari Sri Sankara defines Bhakti as that state of mind in

which all thoughts are directed only towards the lotus feet of the Lord,

just as the seed of the Ankola tree sticks to the tree itself on falling

down, the iron needle jumps towards the magnet, the devoted wife thinks

always of her husband, the creeper clings to a tree and the river keeps

flowing towards the ocean.

 

At the highest level, Bhakti and Jnana are the same. This becomes clear

if we compare the descriptions given of a Sthitaprajna in chapter 2 and a

Bhakta in chapter 12 of the Gita, which are identical in essence.

(To be contd)

S.N.Sastri

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

--- " S.N. Sastri " <sn.sastri wrote:

 

> I wish to add the following thoughts on the subject of devotion (bhakti).

 

Sastriji - Beautiful - My praNams.

Hari Om!

Sadananda

[Guest guest]

Hsin - PraNAms

 

 

First thanks for your comments.

 

Just one clarification - what you say is bhakti alright - Bhakti is devotion and

dedicated action manifests because of devotion to the cause. That is Bhakti.

 

Now yoga is little different - yoga involves yoking the mind to the highest

reality. then

only Bhakti becomes bhakti yoga. Hence Lord has to come in - whatever the

concept of Lord

that one has. If there is Lord out there, it becomes His duty to give a better

understanding of what Lord is.

 

Now jnaana as I wrote in the karma yoga vs. jnaana yoga - it involves

understanding the

self that he is the all pervading self - that knowledge has to sink in - I have

given the

quotes from Shankara from vivekachUDAmaNi in terms of what Bhakti yoga involves

in terms

of jnaana.

 

People have devotion to the mother (matRi bhakti), devotion to the nation (desha

bhakti)

and ready to sacrifice themselves for what they are devoted. But yoga in the

context of

Spiritual saadhana involves bringing the totality in the form of God or Iswara.

 

Shree Sastriji has provided additional points in terms of what devotion to the

Lord

involves.

 

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda

 

 

 

 

--- hsin_shang <hsin_shang wrote:

 

> Hello Sri Sadananda

>

> A beautiful exposition of the path.

> I would like to elaborate a bit about DEVOTION.

> Devotion -as a word- has many shades of meaning. To me; it is

> dedication, in the full sense of the word.

>

> The word dedicate from the dictionary means:

> To set apart and consecrate to a divine being or a sacred cause.

>

> What does this means?

> Due to the upbringing and the community of any man; each human has an

> inner table of priorities engraved in his heart. This table of

> priorities differs from one to another. In one man it will have

> gathering wealth at the top, in another prestige and so forth.

> A man of the spirit; his inner table of priorities will have only one

> item, namely understanding and working to secure a destiny that

> transcends death. It is his life time work. He dedicates his life for

> one single cause, undestanding life for transcending death. Death can

> never be transcended except through understanding this present life we

> live. This man never wavers from his purpose and gathers all his

> strength, all his attention, all his faculties and become one pointed

> like a spear to reach this end. This man is willing to give up

> everything he has for this single end, this man has only his life to

> offer. This man will sacrifice his wealth, his prestige, everything if

> needed for that end. To me this is Bahkti yoga, This is Jnani yoga,

> this is karma youga, this is the Royal path to the DIVINE.

>

> Thank you Sri Sadananda for your marvellous exposition that offered

> the opportunity.

>

> hsin

>

>

>