Bhakti -2 By Sri.Sri.Muralidhara Swamiji

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Dear Members,

 

Contd...

 

Life is uncertain. No one has a permanent place on

this earth.Rivalry and jealousy come only with our

contemporaries. And not with the one who had lived in

the past. Are you going to bother about the wealthy

man who had lived in the days gone by? Through

‘viveka’ we should question ourselves, “How does it

bother me if one were rich or poor? Intelligent or a

fool?” You should bother about yourself first. And try

to elevate yourself. Death can knock at your door at

any time without any warning. How should you be at the

time of your death? You should be prepared! You should

be certain that you will reach only the Lord’s Lotus

Feet. ‘Manushya janma’ (Human birth), this life, this

body - everything is only for this. Any other work is

only a timely pleasure. ‘Shastra pramãna’ (proof from

the Shastras) is not required for this. Every moment,

we can see the temporal nature of everything. Constant

prayer will help. Prayer has immense power. Always

speak to Bhagavãn. Your performance of japa and dhyana

need not be publicized. It is a matter between you and

Bhagavãn. Question yourself, “Am I publicizing it? Do

I feel gladdened by others knowing it? Do I feel proud

about it?” Vritrãsura (Srimad Bhãgavatam) sheds tears

on hearing Indra praising his ‘stuti’ (praise of the

Lord) on Bhagavãn. Why? He laments, “My stuti has been

known by Indra”. He sings a beautiful ‘stuti’ on

Bhagavãn. During his battle against Indra,the latter’s

‘vajrãyudha’ (Indra’s prime weapon) falls down. Indra

feels ashamed to pick it up. Vritrãsura asks if he

could help him! ‘Do not feel ashamed. Pick it up!’ He

then threatens Indra, ‘Are you overjoyed because you

have received from Bhagavãn the boon to kill me? Shall

I go to Bhagavãn and receive a boon from Him that I

should not get killed at Indra’s hands? Why do you

look so dumbfounded? Do you wonder how could I get

such a boon from Bhagavãn while you have already been

blessed with the boon to kill me? Why do you worry on

that account? Bhagavãn has a great brain! He can keep

up the word given to you and also bless me with my

prayer! You need not worry on that account! Your brain

cannot understand the working of Bhagavãn.” Vritrãsura

then comforts him, “Do not worry. I will not approach

Bhagavãn for such a boon. Let this ‘sariira’ (body)

die. I will reach only Bhagavãn’s charana (Feet).” It

is then that Vritrãsura composes a wonderful ‘stuti’

that astounds Indra -

‘How can an asura compose such a ‘stuti’!’ Vritrãsura

weeps, “Oh! You have heard my ‘stuti’ on Bhagavãn. I

desired to do it away from others’ hearing!”

Vritrãsura’s bhãva was such. One need not have Guru

upadesa for such matters. We should move on the right

path - japa, dhyana.

 

When Maha Periyava sat as a ‘peetãdipathi’ in Kanchi

Mutt, he thought ‘What are the rules and regulations

of a ‘peetãdipathi’? How should I conduct my life? Let

me do only whatever has been prescribed for this.’

Thus, if each person performs the work allotted to him

by Bhagavãn then this world would be prosperous. A

king should carry out his dharma of running the

affairs of the kingdom. The world would run on perfect

lines if only each person carried out his dharma.

So,what is my duty? Maha Peiryava thought, ‘Why have I

sat on this ‘peeta’? It is the Will of Bhagavãn!’

Once we learn the ‘tattva’ from a Guru we should bring

it into practice. Learning the ‘tattva’ is one thing

and bringing it into practice is another matter

altogether. And here two types of bhakti are being

spoken of. One depends on Grace and another on

sadhana. Practice of sadhana itself is only due to

Grace. Yet, only because we do not have deep devotion

we practice sadhana. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Mira and

such others never moved even for a fraction of second

away from the thought of Bhagavãn. There was never a

moment when they did not think of Bhagavãn. Mira was

always in the thought of Krishna with the peacock

feather, kundala, His Holy Feet, etc. All 24 hours

throughout the year (365 days) Bhagavãn was in their

dhyana. Here, dhyana was not an act but their

‘swabhãva’ (nature). While reading the life of

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, one finds that he would go in

and out of Kãli sannidhi - Offer flowers at Her

Feet,throw some on his own head, keep talking to Her.

While reading this, one yearns, “Will not I be blessed

with such bhakti?” Any level below this is sheer

gutter.

 

Arguments and debates have no connection with

Bhakti.Where is the question of sadhana once you

attain such deep bhakti? It would not be called

sadhana because its ‘gaurava’ (state of honour) would

diminish. Bhaktãs are never separated from Bhagavãn.

They have no end purpose of attaining Moksha or any

other. All these come to them on their own accord!

They just ignore all these. In Ambareesha ‘charitra’

(Srimad Bhãgavatam) we find that he ignored everything

– his Kingdom, palace, wealth. Even Moksha stood at

his doorstep and he ignored it! He called them

all,‘loshta vath’!’ He treated them all as a broken

coconut shell! Later, Bhagavãn tells Durvãsa Muni,

“The reason for my being ‘Bhakta parãdeena’ (enslaved)

in the case of Ambareesha is that he has given up all

else and taken refuge in ME. Why then can I not be

‘paratantra’? I am not a ‘swatantra’ (free) but have

become ‘paratantra’ in the case of Ambareesha because

he does not care for his kingdom, queen, children,

wealth and remains with ME as the only ‘gati’ (taken

refuge in ME). Hence, I will be a ‘paratantra’ in his

case.” Therefore, one type of bhakti is being

dependant on the Grace of God and the other on

sadhana. And this sadhana is only to attain such a

Prema Bhakti. We cannot force ourselves into Prema

Bhakti. Can we earn the kind of bhakti that

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had by just trying to act like

him whose behaviour seemed like a madman? We would

only become a laughing stock! But what is within our

grasp? Doing sadhana. We can do japa, do Nãma

sankirtan. Through these, the ‘vãsanas’ (past

imprints) are erased and Prema Bhakti is born in our

hearts.

 

The power of their (such Mahans’) Nãmasankirtan is

known by the incident in Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s

life - He used to dance in ‘bhãva’ on the banks of the

Ganga (when no one was around) clapping his hands and

singing the Maha Mantra ‘Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama

Hare Hare! Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare!’ People who happened to witness this

believed that he was none other than Chaitanya

Mahãprabhu as it was the period immediately in

succession to Mahãprabhu’s period. Totãpuri used to

mock at his clapping the hands for Nãmasankirtan as

‘preparing roti’! Once, Totãpuri suffered from severe

stomach ache. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa sat near him and

sang ‘Hare Rama …’ and he was cured of it! This is

found in the Gospel of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. They

have all enjoyed Nãmasankirtan to this extent.

 

Thus, there are three kinds of people - One who has no

knowledge of dhyana, one who is exerting effort

towards this and one who is successful in dhyana.

Samadhi state is the ‘paripoorti’ (fullness) of

dhyana. One should be very careful about ‘Maya’ at

this state. The ‘triputi’ - one who performs dhyana,

the act of dhyana and the object of dhyana – will

cease to be in samadhi. In this ‘turiya’ state he will

not have any sleep. He will not experience the three

states of ‘jãgrat (waking state), ‘swapna’ (dream

state), sushupti’ (deep sleep). Thus, the state of

jnãni is beyond the three states of ‘jãgrat’, ‘swapna’

and ‘sushupti’. This is called ‘turiya’ state. The

jnãni will have no dream, no sleep and no waking

state. This is the reason that when Draupadi cried out

for help she received bales and bales of cloth from

Krishna who was elsewhere. Mahans bless devotees

living in some far off places. A devotee of Ãndavan

Pitchai says that she (Ãndavan Pitchai) had come to

help her in the delivery of her child. Ramana

Maharishi describes how he had traveled in space from

Tiruvannãmalai to Tiruvottriyur (Chennai), walked into

the Ganesha temple where Kãvya Kanta Ganapati muni sat

in dhyana and placed his hand on his head in blessing.

He then returned the same way to Tiruvannãmalai.

But,Ramana Maharishi had no ‘sankalpa’ of bestowing

‘anugraha’ on Kãvya Kanta Ganapati muni who was doing

japa. The tapas pulled him. Why did Lord Brahma rush

to Hiranyakashipu when he did japa? Because, Lord

Brahma is under compulsion to respond to the japa!

Thus, if anyone does mantra japa, the relevant god has

to bestow the ‘phala’ on him. It cannot be otherwise.

This is the ‘niyati’ (rule). When one does

japa,Bhagavãn sends Ramba, Menaka to destroy his

tapas. Why? If he is a man of short temper, or a man

of desire Bhagavãn tests him by provoking him! If he

falls prey to this, then Bhagavãn destroys his tapas

because his tapas would not do good but only bad to

the world. If he comes out successfully then Bhagavãn

blesses him.” "

 

GOPIKA JEEVANASMARANAM! GOVINDA! GOVINDA!”

 

" HARE RÃMA HARE RÃMA RÃMA RÃMA HARE HARE

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE "

 

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