Narayanasramam

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Exclusive Devotion by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

 

ananyaas-cintayanto maam

ye janaah paryupaasate .

teshaam nitya-abhiyuktaanaa m

yogakshemam vahaamyaham ..

 

Bhagavadgeeta. 9.22

 

For those who take to the thoughts of the Supreme exclusively, making

such exclusiveness itself the core and content of their worship, the

Supreme itself ensures their welfare and prosperity.

 

Compare this statement with the many of the Vedic prescriptions on

rituals and ceremonies. Is mind and its attitudinal involvement deeper

and greater, or the body and the various acts it instruments? The

religious effect of any action is in the performer's inner being. It

is this inner being that is meant here, as taking to the Supreme in a

spirit of exclusive devotion, reliance and linkage.

 

`Ananyaas-cintayant ah, nitya-abhiyuktaanaa m' are the key words

here.

 

Should one be engrossed in mere rituals? Or should he engage his mind

directly in the thought of the Supreme and reliance on It? Even the best of

yajnas and yaagas are meant to propitiate the Lord of Sacrifices, the Supreme.

That Lord, says Krishna, is most pleased with the exclusive reliance and

thoughts of the devotees. When exclusiveness fills the mind and intelligence, it

makes one worthy of full attention and care from the Supreme. The Supreme Itself

directly looks after his whole welfare, bringing whatever should enrich his

life, ensuring the upkeep of whatever he has already with him. Yoga denotes the

things to be further had, and kshema implies the welfare of whatever the devotee

already has now. Yogakshema covers all that is needed to make life prosperous,

peaceful and fulfilled.

 

But here is a warning, a caution, a reminder: What are the yoga and

kshema of a true devotee? Do they consist of any physical or material

things from the external, gross world, or do they verily mean the

deepening and enhancement of his devotion itself? If some gross

additions are imperative, no doubt, they will be furnished. But the real focus

must be to make the mind free, pure and pious to the core. So the earnest seeker

should not make the confusion of mistaking this promise to be one of making him

materially richer or more resourceful, or even ensuring the physical upkeep of

all that he has.

 

So it is not sensory, physical or gross well-being that the devotee

should aim at as a reward for his devotional pursuit. Devotion is aimed at

making his mind more and more devotionally reliant, and such reliance will

itself make him content, confident and fulfilled. If he does not intercept the

process with any confusion, greed or delusion, then ananya bhakti (exclusive

devotion), as Krishna speaks of in this verse, will have its full meaning and

relevance.