chapter II - sutra 15
tal-lakshanani vacyante nana-mata-bhedat
The characteristics of bhakti are described variously on account of difference in viewpoints - according to the diffrent schools.
The seeker after Truth ascends the ladder of yoga; and the Lord in His Supreme Mercy and Grace descends to receive him. However much a man may strive, it is ultimately His Grace that enlightens him. We have the emphatic declaration of the Kathopanishad,
yamaivesha vrenute tena labhyah tasyaisha atma vivrinute tanum swam (*)
which, is echoed in the Bhagavad Gita,
divyam dadami te chakshuh pasya me yogamaiswaram (**)
The eye of intuition with which the seeker sees the Lord is His Gift. Man may - and must - deserve and desire; but it is His Grace, when it descends, that lifts man to His Lap.
Now, of the many that are chosen - a number which is but an infinitesimal fraction compared to the number of those that aspire or strive - a few are returned as His gift upon humanity. The others are absorbed in the Cosmic One. They that come back to us are embodimenst of His Light, His Grace, His Will. Their individual personality had been burnt as it were in the fire of Divine Love, into which they had offered themselves as ahuti - burnt offering. I-ness, mine- ness, desires and cravings, had all been offered in the Divine Fire of Bhakti. Thus was the soul liberated. The liberated soul attained union with the Supreme Beloved, God. Now, God, in Divine Love for all mankind, sends the particular soul back to the earth. What descends is not the old self of the seeker, but the Light, the Love, the Will of God Himself. That this Light enters the individual body and mind is only a matter of His convenience.
That is why we worship the Guru Himself as God. He is no longer a human personality to us. He is God Himself, clothed in a human body.
This Divine Descent of His Compassion is meant to spiritually elevate mankind. God in His Omniscience knows what conditions prevail in that part of the earth where the yogi 'descends'. He knows our weaknesses and our talents, our needs and our intelligence. His Compassion, therefore, leads us from where we are to where He is. Naturally, the path differs from time to time, from country to country, from one group of people to another.
Even certain contradictions - though minor and superficial - in the teachings of the Great Ones, owe their origin to this factor. When humanity swings from one extreme to the other, the teaching also has to swing from one extreme to the other. We find this in the case of Sri Gurudev Sivananda Himself. To a lazy man who imagines that his sleep is meditation, Gurudev preaches the gospel of dynamic service. He would, on the contrary, ask the man who is working day and night, to withdraw himself from activity and plunge into silent meditation. Both the admonitions are right, and they apply to the particular individual to whom each admonition is addressed. Even if the teacher is 'extreme' in his admonition, the student will very often not go to that extreme; the admonition acting upon his opposite nature will enable him to find the middle path.
Again, the Divine Light descends into an existing vessel. The vessel - body and mind of the saint - had a certain colouring, even before the Light descended. The Light, as It descends, does not destroy the vessel, nor does It violently alter the colouring. Hence, the Light, when It is radiated, takes on that colouring to some extent. We find this element reflected in the teachings of all the great saints.
But, two important factors should be borne in mind here. (1) The radiating Light is in all cases absolutely spiritual. (2) As the Light has descended into the vessel because God willed it so, the choice was His; and there ought to have been very good reason for this choice. It is, therefore, logical to believe that when God chooses to send someone back to guide the world, He has taken into account the nature of the vessel into which He is placing the Light.
The views of some of these Great Souls, on devotion, are discussed now.
(*) the Self reveals itself to one whom It chooses.
(**) I give you the Divine Eye : behold Me
chapter II - sutra 16
pujadishv anuraga iti parasaryah
Vyasa, son of Parasara, says it is attachment to worship of God ans similar acts.
Worship of God's images is one of the most ancient and recognised practices of devotion. Particularly after the periods of Lord's Incarnation as Rama, Krishna and Venkatesa, this devotional practice has gained great ardency.
The devotee who worships an image does not regard it as a piece of stone or as a doll. To him it is the Living Presence of God Himself. He does not even regard the Image as the channel of communication with God, just as for instance an electric wire may be regarded as a channel for the current generated else-where to flow to our houses. To him the image is God Himself. And, such is His Omnipresence that He has often manifested Himself in such images, thus confirming the devotee's faith.
There have been devotees, especially the Saiva Nayanmars, who have regarded that their only duty is to worship God in the images in the Temples. They have not concerned themselves with anything else. The world, they have felt, is His creation, and its problems His concern! Even thus, by setting an example in renunciation and in goodness, they have been a great blessing upon mankind and thus they, too, have served humanity. Their very presence has been a solace to mankind. But they have not taken an active part in the affairs of the world.
The murthi-puja - idol worship - served as a great sadhana for the seeker after Truth.
When the murthi - image of God - is installed in the house, it - God - takes charge of the entire household. The head of the family becomes the servant of this God. Incidentally, it would be of interest to mention here that at least in two States in India, the rulers regarded themselves as servants of the Presiding Deity of the States. The Maharajah of Tehri-Garhwal was but a representative or agent of Badri-Narayan; and the Maharajah of Travancore was the agent or servant of Lord Anantapadmanabha.
Everything that the devotee and his family took was offered to the Lord. Food was His Prasad. Clothes, ornaments, etc., brought into the house, were brought for Him. Everything was for Him; they all lived for His sake, to serve Him. Thus the spirit of self-surrender is generated in the devotee and his family. It involved the spirit of renunciation. Nothing was his, and he himself belonged to God.
The puja had to be performed regularly and never missed, for they would not take food without offering it to Him! Thus, the greatest enemy of the sadhaka - tamas, lapse, neglect and indifference - was defeated. One should not blaspheme against prasad; and one should not taste the food before it was offered to God, either! If the lady of the house forgot to salt some dishes, they had to consume them, without 'noticing' it! Self-control, at every turn.
The masses have an imitating mind! As they can see only the external actions of these Great Saints, they imitate them, without understanding the internal attitude. Naturally, the spirit gets lost, and the lifeless form remains. The devotee develops attachment to the image of God. Instead of saying that he himself is His property, he regards the image as his property! He values the gold more than the divinity in it. He is worried when a small ornament he had adorned the image with is lost! The spiritual value of the image is lost, and the material value retained, with all the concomitant evils of attachment, jealousy, pride, etc.
The wise sages endeavoured to divert man's mind away from this degradation. So, they proclaimed that manasic puja - mental worship - was superior to external puja. They exhorted the devotee to construct a huge temple within the heart, to install a golden image of the Lord there, and then to offer Him all the elaborate puja he could. This gave the real devotee unlimited freedom, unfettered by financial and other limitations. For instance, we have the interesting story of Bhima's worship. Arjuna was proud that he was the greatest devotee of the Lord. To quell this pride, Lord Krishna took him to the kingdom of God one day, where they found an army of servants carrying away from the altar cart loads of flowers. When questioned by Arjuna, they revealed that they were flowers offered to the Lord in worship by Bhima, who did manasic puja. In manasic puja the devotee can offer a forest of flowers, a cartload of sweetmeats, an ocean of milk, and tons of camphor.
Even this could not apply to all! If the devotee had not the proper bhav - feeling, the manasic puja will not be effective. Either he will be building castles in the air, or sleeping. The external puja had its rigour and discipline; this was given up, but had not been substituted with a proper and effective sadhana. Sankaracharya stepped in at this juncture.
He introduced the para puja. The entire life of the aspirant-devotee is spiritualised. Idleness is not encouraged. The seeker is asked to be dynamic.
Addressing Lord Siva, he says,
atma twam girija matih sahacharah pranah sariram griham puja the vishayopabhogarachana nidra samadhis-sthithih sanchara padayo pradakshina vidhih stotrani sarvaa giro yad yad karma karomi tad tad akhilam sambho tavaradhanam
You are the Self. The mind is Parvati. Pranas are thy companions. My body is your house. All my sense enjoyments are thy worship. Sleep is the state of Samadhi. Walking is perambulating around you. All my speech is thy praise. Oh Lord! Whatever work I do is all thy worship only.
Similarly, addressing Devi, he says,
japo jalpah silpam sakalam api mudra-virachana gatih pra-daksinya-kramanam asanady ahuti-vidhih pranamah samvesah sukham akhilam atmarpandrsa saparya-paryayas tava bhavatu tan me vilasitam
Whatever action it is of mine, may it be taken for thy worship; prattle, as muttering prayer; the manifold forms of my manual work, as the mudras - gestures - employed in worship; loitering, as going round Thee; my taking nourishment, as offering oblations to thee; lying down, as prostrating before Thee; and attending to all other comforts, as dedicating my entire self to Thee.
chapter II - sutra 17
kathadishv iti gargah
The sage Garga thinks that bhakti consists in talks of His Glory and Greatness and the stories of His various sports and the like.
Stories are captivating. A moral conveyed through a discourse is often dry; when it is embedded in a story, it is lively. A spiritual lesson or essay is uninteresting to all, except the keenest seeker after Truth. A story or a parable is liked by all.
From the most ancient times, the story-telling method has been resorted to by our elders to impart moral lessons and spiritual truths to the youngsters.
Just as there have been devotees who have reached the goal of life, by means of puja and puja alone, there have been those who have attained Him by hearing His Lilas alone. The foremost such devotee is, of course, Raja Parikshit. Seven days he continuously listened to the stories of the Lord's incarnations, and attained moksha or liberation thereby.
This is 'Practice of the presence of God' made easy. One who listens to the stories of the Lord, lives in the Presence of God. He completely identifies himself with the story; he forgets all else, his surroundings and even his body. It is said that Raja Kulasekhara, when he was listening to the story of Lord Rama, and heard that Ravana had carried Sita away to Lanka, commanded the army to follow him and jumped into the sea, to go to Lanka and rescue Sita! It is but natural that such great bhaktas should attain union with God, by hearing His Lilas.
To others, listening to the Kathas is akin to the Vedantic Sravana-Manana- Nidhidhyasana. The story is heard. It appeals to the heart. Even after sometime, you go on thinking of it - manana; you reflect over it. It generates deep devotion to God. You naturally meditate upon Him Whose glories you have heard; this is nidhidhyasana. What the jnana-yogi strives hard to attain, the bhakta gets very easily.
Stories are of great value, even to those who do not aspire to reach Him through them. They mould their personality.
After all, this is the only criterion of study or hearing. What we study or listen to, must enter our inmost being. It should be thoroughly assimilated. Otherwise, it is useless for us. Constant hearing of the Lilas of the Lord, like the Bhagavata, Ramayana, etc. are of very great value in this respect. Consciously or unconsciously we will pick out some character out of the stories heard, and endeavour to emulate that character. We shall grow in the virtues of our hero or heroine. We shall gradually elevate ourselves.
Last but not least, stories captivate even the worldly minded man's heart; and, in due course of time, even he is turned into a devotee of the Lord, to grow into a saint.
Incalculable are the glories of Katha - Stories of the Lord; hence the devotees always talk of the Lilas of God and rejoice, according to Sri Krishna in the Gita.
chapter II - sutra 18
atma-raty-avirodheneti sandilyah
The Sage Sandilya thinks that it must be without hindrance to the enjoyment of Bliss in the Atman.
The mind is so constituted that it constantly seeks after sense-pleasure. Till we realise the Self, and become one with Self-BIiss, this tendency of the mind will persist. This is the greatest enemy of the sadhaka. At no stage, and on no account, can he afford to make the fatal mistake og letting the mind wander away in the bye-lanes of sense-pleasure.
Devotional practices, from this point of view, are like a double-edged sword. By the judicious diversion of the attention of the mind to spiritual practices, the devotee endeavours to wean it away from sense-objects. And, till God is realised, he shall have to be chary, lest the mind should get stuck to the means at the cost of the end.
For instance, the wicked mind may instigate the devotee to offer the Lord - the image worshipped - all sorts of dainties, to satisfy his palate! Incidentally, this is how the yajnas came to disrepute - instead of animal sacrifice being incidental to the yajna, yajna was made an excuse for animal sacrifice and flesh-eating!
The tantric practices - considered highly efficacious spiritual exercises for the rapid evolution of the soul - came to be similarly misused by the pleasure-hungry sensualist.
Listening to Kathas and narrating them, too, can mislead the unwary sadhaka. He might indulge in them as an intellectual pastime or means of livelihood, and not as sadhana!
There are gross obstacles.
There are subtle obstacles, too. Doing manasic puja, or thinking of the Lord's Lilas, the sadhaka might live in a kind of dream-world, without proceeding further. He might then develop a subtle pride that he is a great devotee of the Lord. This will not do.
Subtler than this is savikalpa samadhi, where the triputi - knowledge, knower and the known - persists. Patanjali Maharishi regards even this as an obstacle to God- realisation.
Therefore, the aspirant is warned by Sandilya to ensure at every step that his devotional practices do not prove an obstacle to Self-Bliss.
The subtle, middle path, has to be carefully trodden. We should ever keep our vision rivetted on God. You will find that most of the Hindu gods have two Devis, one on each side. We ought to learn a lesson from this: on either side of the middle path is maya. The subtle, middle path is the path of God. By constant remembrance of God, and constant vigilance, we should march straight to Him, without letting our attention be diverted hither and thither.
chapter II - sutra 19
naradas tu tad-arpitakhilacarata tad-vismarane parama-vyakulateti
But Narada is of opinion that the essential characteristics of bhakti are the consecration of all observances and activities, through complete self- surrender to the Lord, and extreme anguish in the event forgetting him.
Now, Narada comes out with his own description of bhakti.
The devotee lives for His sake only. He breathes for His sake, he works for His sake. 'Offering' - arpana has a very great significance. It is not as though we do what we like and then 'offer' everything to Him! If God is standing before us - as He is omni-present - and we wish to offer an action at His Lotus-Feet, we will not stray here and there, but proceed straight to His Lotus-Feet, and make the offering. The path of self-surrender is a straight one. It is the path of dharma. Let us make no mistake about this.
Moreover, one who is sincere, one who - for the sake of attaining Him - offers his actions to Him, would take care that the actions are not tainted by sin. If you intensely love God, you will not like to offer a rotten flower at His Feet. You will not like to - or dare to! - do so, even in the case of your earthly beloved - your wife!
So, let all actions be an offering unto God; and let them all be untainted, pure and divine. Let us live for His sake, and His sake alone.
Now, if Narada had left us at that, there might have been a loop-hole. Even as an american visitor told us some years ago, we might be tempted to deceive ourselves that all the actions we do, are themselves offerings to God, and therefore we are karma yogis!
The second part of the sutra guards us against this dangerous pitfall. It is no use busying ourselves in worldly activities, and once in a while saying "Brahmarpanam" and patting our own back that we are yogis. We should constantly feel the Presence of God in us and all around us. We should be filled with anguish if this constant thought-current is interrupted. That is the acid test to prove that we are living for Him and working for Him.
This part can be interpreted in another way also. When do we experience grief? When we remember something which we have lost, not when we forget it! How, then, can we be filled with anguish if we have forgotten God? At best, this can only mean that when we remember that for a day, an hour or a moment, we had forgotten Him - and only when we do remember this - can we be sorry for the laxity.
Does Narada want to tell us that all our miseries spring from forgetfulness of God? If we constantly recognise His Omniprescence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience, we cannot grieve, we cannot suffer, we cannot experience pain at all. We shall be convinced that He knows our needs - because He is omniscient, and will - because of His Omnipotence - fulfil them then and there - because He is omnipresent. It is when we forget this that we suffer from want.
It is when we forget Him that we err, we sin, or commit mistakes. If we sincerly believe that He is all-pervading, and that He is the witness of even our thoughts, we shall not commit a thousandth of the sins we do commit; and we shall have saved ourselves from great misery.
The devotee, living for His sake, is free from these shortcomings, for he is constantly in communion with God, and never forgets Him even for a moment.
chapter II - sutra 20
asty evam evam
There are such instances
This is more a parenthesis, and an allusion to the existence of exemplars of devotion in its various aspects, explained in the previous Sutras. The greatest exemplars are mentioned in the next Sutra.
chapter II - sutra 21
yatha vraja-gopikanam
like the gopis of Brindavan.
The Gopis of Brindavan are held before us as the greatest exemplars of the devotion described by Narada.
Who were the Gopis ?
Srimad Bhagavata says that they were celestial maidens specially deputed by the Lord to serve Him and to be His consorts when He descended as Lord Krishna. They could in their previous human births have been very great devotees of the Lord, practising the highest type of devotion to Him. It is but reasonable to suppose that some of them would have adopted the madhurya bhava - the lover- beloved attitude - towards Him, some the vatsalya bhava - the mother-son attitude, and others the sakhya bhava - the friend attitude. The fruits of their merits had taken them to the Kingdom of God; but they had yet to attain the goal. An opportunity to attain the goal was given them in the Krishna Avatara. Each seeker was permitted to pursue the course adopted in the previous human birth, i.e., adore Him as child, friend or consort.
Since they had already made very great progress in bhakti, they manifested in their birth, as Gopis, the supreme characteristics of devotion. The very thought of Krishna could make them forget the whole world. Krishna's flute made them run to Him.
A word about the flute here. We know that sound has four stages - para, pasyanti, madhyama and vaikhari. With the audible sound we do transmit inaudible ideas and thought-vibrations. It is certain that with the sound-vibrations of Krishna's flute, He was able to transmit a highly spiritual vibration that could touch the chords of the hearts of the Gopis. They felt that it was the call of the Lord, Whom they loved with all their heart and soul; hence, they knew how to distinguish Krishna's flute from that of other cow-herds, and hence they could not resist its call.
These Gopis had to be led a few steps higher, and then enabled to attain union with Him. These steps are found in Krishna's life in Brindavan.
Krishna was their darling; if He asked for it, they could have given Him a lot of butter, all the butter He could eat. But He was fond of stealing. He stole and distributed the butter to His friends and animals. This was a lesson in charity. "If you do not give in charity, I will steal and distribute in charity!" Sometimes He would break the pots and let the butter be spilled on the ground-wasted! He taught renunciation to the Gopis. To give away in charity is good. But, we may not always give with the real spirit of renunciation and detachment. We may give with some inner motive of a 'return' or 'reward'. This may be latent or patent. The seeker after God must learn how to renounce absolutely. That is why even Gurudev Sivananda encourages what outwardly looks to us to be a mere waste; that is why devotees throw coins into holy rivers like the Ganga. We must be able to throw worldly objects away, as we throw our body away when we depart from this world. We do not care what happens to it; people may bury it, burn it, cut it, or throw it to the vultures. To infuse in them this spirit of renunciation, Krishna would break the butter pots and let the butter mix with the sand and dust.
By taking away their clothes when they were bathing naked, He taught them that it was unrighteous to bathe in a holy river, naked. Also He wanted to remove their shyness. The devotee should banish shyness. Shyness is a great obstacle to the practice of devotion. We must be able to sing His Name and dance. Gurudev Sivananda used to do that whenever he ascended the platform to deliver a lecture, during his early propaganda tours.
I feel that the Gopis could be divided into two groups: the elderly married women, who adored the Lord as their child, and the younger ones who desired Him as their consort. The latter observed the katyayani vrata, for the fulfilment of their wish. On the Kartik Purnima Day, the Lord felt He should grant them their wish. He played the flute from the banks of the Yamuna. The Gopis came running. When the Lord's call is heard, all worldly duties drop away, without any effort. They dropped whatever they were doing, and rushed out. They were literally mad. They did not care if they were properly dressed, if the ornaments were worn properly. They were a picture of the God-intoxicated devotee that Narada has described earlier in these sutras.
Even the Gods watched the rasa-lila - the dance of Krishna. There was no sensual taint in it. Krishna had multiplied Himself and there was a Krishna for each Gopi. Even so does the great bhakta feel: the all-pervading God is there radiant in everyone's heart - and every bhakta feels there is a God in his heart, his own, his very own.
We found how even the Dwarapalas of Vaikuntha succumbed to vanity. The Gopis were not exempt from this! The proximity of God turned their heads. Pride entered their heart. The Indweller knew. He vanished. Now, the Gopis give vent to extreme anguish. They cry, weep and rave. They lose themselves in His remembrance. Now they begin to see Krishna in each other, to see Krishna in themselves. Their personality had entirely been burnt up. They pray to Him. The surrender is complete. The Lord then reveals Himself to them.
Such is the thrilling story of the Lord's Lilas with the Gopis, who were Para- Bhaktas. The play is full of great lessons for us.
chapter II - sutra 22
tatrapi na mahatmya-jnana-vismrity-apavadah
Even there, there is no particular reason for forgetting the Glory and Greatness of the Lord.
The Gopis were not unaware of the divinity of Lord Sri Krishna. Specially if we take the view that these celestials who had descended upon this earth in order to keep Him company, were highly evolved devotees in their previous birth, there is no reason to believe that they were unaware of His Divinity.
They were simple, unlettered and sincere milk-maidens; yet from their mouths issue a great Vedantic utterance. It occurs during the rasa lila. When they pray to Him to reappear in their midst, they say: "You are not the playmate or the darling of the Gopikas! You are the witness of the Antaratma - inner Self - of all beings."
They played with Him; and He responded to them, only in order to reveal that He is near, very close, to the devotee. God's Saulabhya - easy accessibility - is revealed in this relationship.
Moreover, it is rank blasphemy to say that they were unaware of His Divinity. They were devoted to Him, about which there is no question. He was the Lord, whether they recognised so or not. He had come with the express intention of protecting the good, restoring dharma, and to grant Moksha even to His enemies! He was Himself ever conscious of His Divinity; would He have veiled the Truth from their inner sight?
chapter II - sutra 23
tad-vihinam jaranam iva
Without such recognition or awareness, it would be simply passion of a woman towards her paramour.
If this was not there, then their love for Him would have been immoral. It is the worst blasphemy to say that Lord Sri Krishna, Whose immortal words inspire men to this very day, was Himself guilty of immorality. He would never have encouraged such a misguided affection on the part of the Gopis. We ought to read the Bhagavata and reflect over His relationship with the Gopis, bearing His own words always in mind
yad yad acharati sreshthastadtadeva itaro janah sa yad pramanam kurute lokastadanuvartate (*)
and
lokasamgrahamevapi sampasyan kartum arhati (**)
The devotion that the Gopis had for Krishna was the irresistible attraction that the soul has for the Oversoul.
(*) the people follow the leader's example and guidance
(**) for the good of society, you must do your duty
chapter II - sutra 24
nasty eva tasmims tat-sukha-sukhitvam
In such illicit love there can certainly never be happiness in the happiness of the other party.
The immoral woman who is pining for her paramour is not interested in the latter's happiness! She has no such moral sense. She is interested only in her own happiness, and sacrifices her moral sense, all moral code and, often, the paramour's own happiness, to satisfy her own lust.
This was not the case with the Gopis.
Their sole ambition was to please Krishna; and that is precisely why they were commanded to take birth here. Moreover, it is said that they were all united in their eagerness to see that Radha was with Krishna.
There is an interesting belief about Radha and Krishna. It is said that the Lord Whose very nature is Bliss, wanted to taste the Bliss. In order to do so, He had to 'separate' Bliss from Himself. 'Sat-Chit' - eternal consciousness wanted to taste 'Ananda' - bliss. Krishna was Sat-Chit; and Radha was Ananda. Being an integral part of Sat-Chit, Ananda constantly sought the former! One could not exist without the other, as it were. The Gopis, too, instinctively realised this, and sought to bring the two together.
Whatever brought happiness to Krishna made them rejoice. Because, there was no carnal passion in their attitude to Krishna.
chapter II - sutra 25
sa tu karma-jnana-yogebhyo 'py adhikatara
It is higher than karma, jnana, and yoga
A parallel thought occurs in the Bhagavad Gita where the Lord says
tapasvibhyodhiko yogi jnanibhyopi mato-dhikah karmibhyaschaadhiko yogi tasmat yogi bhavarjuna
The Yogi is superior to the men of austerities, men of knowledge, and men of action; therefore, become a Yogi.
This refers to the dhyana yoga, which the Lord was describing. It is regarded as superior to tapas, jnana, karma. Dhyana is common to raja yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti yoga! Therefore, in the next verse, Krishna singles out the devotee,
yoginamapi sarvesham mat-gatenantaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah
He, the faithful devotee, who worships me with all his heart, is superior to all yogis.
The two words 'sraddhavan' and 'bhajate' point to faith and devotion. The devotee who has deposited his Antaratma, as it were, at the Lotus-Feet of the Lord, is exalted above all - 'yuktatamah' is superlative degree. It is, therefore, not merely yoga or communion, but complete unity or identification! Narada borrows this great idea from the Gita; and therefore this sutra is of paramount importance to us.
Bhakti is the greatest of yogas for many reasons. Let us turn to them.
(1) The goal of all the yogas is attainment of union with God. The 'sraddhavan' who worships the Lord, has his entire being offered up to God. Whereas the others try to enthrone the Lord in their heart, the bhakta enthrones himself in the Lord's heart! He throws himself at the feet of the Lord and says: "I am Thine, my Lord. I am not, Thou alone art."
(2) Moreover, several great teachers and bhaktas hold that even jnana is only an auxiliary, and an aid to bhakti! Only if you know the qualities, the glory, and the greatness of some one, will you love him! Therefore, they assert that bhakti is the culmination of karma - which purifies the heart and removes the impurities in the mind, and jnana - which enables us to understand the Reality, and the Glory of God.
(3) It may also be that bhakti is superior to other yogas, because it is the most etsential part of all other yogas. Only if you are devoted to the Self, will you wish to listen about it from the Preceptor - sravana, reflect over it - manana, and meditate upon it - nidhidhyasana, according to jnana yoga. Only if you are devoted to the Supreme Purusha will you practise pratyahara, dharana and dhyana, and attain union with Him in samadhi, according to the raja yoga of Patanjali Maharishi. Only if you are devoted to the Omnipresent God, will you wish to serve all and practise nishkamya karma yoga. Minus devotion, these yogas lose their sadhana-character. Bhakti yoga is made of this essential characteristic; and therefore it is exalted.
(4) The eradication of the ego-sense is the primary object of all sadhana. The jnani tries to achieve this by self-analysis; the raja yogi by self-abnegation; and the karma yogi by self-sacrifice. However much they try, till the Lord's Grace descends upon them, the little self cannot be eradicated in-toto. But the bhakta, who does total self-surrender at the very beginning of the sadhana, is saved from this ego-sense at the very beginning. Whereas the others, if they are not extremely vigilant, will let the ego-sense grow subtle and more powerful, the bhakta is guarded by the Lord Himself against this danger. The Lord, when the bhakta surrenders himself, ensures that He does not go away from Him - as we have already seen, the Lord is extremely fond of the simple devotee who is devoted to Him!
The well-known explanations - for the superiority of bhakti over the other yogas, are these
(1) The aspirant treading the other paths, is like the young one of the monkey; he depends upon his strength, his will power, and his abilities, to make spiritual progress - this is called the markata-nyaya. The bhakta, on the other hand, surrenders himself to God, calls upon Him to save him. Like the kitten, he mews - repeats God's Name, and like the mother-cat, God Himself leads him, guides him, and saves him - this is called the marjala nyaya.
(2) The aspirant pursuing the other paths is like the man who tries to swim the ocean of samsara and reach the other shore of immortality; he subjects himself to various dangers on the way. The bhakta calls upon the Lord who takes him in a boat - His Grace - to the other shore, and protects him from all the dangers.
chapter II - sutra 26
phala-rupatvat
because of its being of the nature of the fruit.
Union with God is the goal of all yogas. The Bhakta almost starts with that! For, when he places his foot on the very first rung of the ladder of bhakti, he surrenders himself, negates himself, reduces himself to a zero. Thus, bhakti is the fruit that is sought after by the aipirants pursuing the other paths, through arduous struggle.
Bhakti is both the sadhana and the phala - fruit! Bhakti is both the means and the end. In the case of the other yogas, the means are other than the end. The jnani tries to negate the five koshas, three bodies and three states of consciousness; these have nothing to do with the Atma which he realises later. The raja yogi practises yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara - battling with the senses and the mind - in order to isolate the Self and get established in It. The karma yogi serves the names and forms in order to realise the Nameless and Formless all-pervading Self. The means are something, and the end is something else. Not so in the case of bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga sadhana is itself devotion; at the very first step, the devotee says, "I am nothing. Thou art all" - and this itself is really realised when he merges in God.
chapter II - sutra 27
isvarasyapy abhimani-dveshitvad dainya-priyatvac ca
Even God hates pride and loves the meek.
On the face of it, it looks as though God also is subject to raga-dwesha! It is contrary to the Lord's own declaration in the Gita:
samoham sarvabhuteshu, na me dweshyosti na priyah
All are equal to Me, none dear none inimical.
He is the same in all, the same towards all. But just as when there is a cool, pleasant breeze, he who is in the closed room does not enjoy it, whereas he who is on the open terrace gets the maximum benefit; even so, he who is egotistic, who is self-centred and is full of vanity, shuts out His Grace and the rays of His Light; he who is meek opens out his heart for the reception of His Grace.
This truth is dramatically put by Sri Narada in a little strong language, so that it is well brought home to the seeker after Truth.
No one is pleased with our abhimana - vanity. A proud, vain person is loathed by all. Moreover,
abhimanam surapanam gauravam rauravam samam
pratishtha sukaree-vishtha trayam tyaktwa harim bhajet
Vanity is like drinking intoxicating liquor.The intoxication produces clouding of the brain, confusion in the intellect. In taking intoxicants, it is a tragic fact that we voluntarily, wilfully and want-only bring about our buddhi-nasa - destruction of discrimination. That is what happens when a person is swayed by vanity. He wants to appear as he is not, and poses to be great. To sustain this, he indulges in falsehood and other corrupt practices. 'Gaurava' - honour is itself raurava - hell. Under its influence, man loses all aspiration to progress in the spiritual path, commits sins, and falls into hell. 'Pratishtha' - getting established in positions of power and prestige, blocks man's desire for doing sadhana; in order to retain his position, he sins against society, hemself, and God. He does not think of God at all. Therefore, the devotee should renounce these three.
This is the Lord's creation; it is His House, as it were. In your house, you do not like your servants behaving arrogantly. What do you do when the servant gets proud and vain? You dismiss him. God does not enjoy his privilege, for the whole creation is His house. The proud man cannot be 'sent out'; but his pride has too be curbed. The Lord, in His Omniscience, contrives ways and means of doing this. Failure, dishonour, pain, suffering, poverty, misery, old age, and death - these are His messengers who come to cure us of this deadliest enemy of sadhana viz., pride.
Meekness, on the other hand, is a great virtue. Everyone loves a meek person, and everyone rushes to serve a meek person. No wonder, God loves him, too.
A meek person bears insult and injury done to him. 'Bear insult, bear injury; this is the highest sadhana' - sings Gurudev Sivananda. This is the best sadhana for the eradication of egoism and cultivation of humility. When you are insulted, the seat of vanity is lifted up, and brought into bold relief. Insult pricks this seat! Therefore, you jump up and revolt. The wise sadhaka, on the contrary, should utilise this as an opportunity to introspect, reflect, and eradicate this inner foe; through self-analysis, he can reach out to the seat of vanity and uproot vanity, once for all. We should welcome insult and injury - they do for us what nothing else in the world can - they enable us to come face to face with our own vanity, the target of all our spiritual fight. Once we get this close-up view of our worst enemy, it should be easy for us to do away with him. We will at once discover that, in the words of Gurudev Sivananda, "He only insults your body and your mind, from which you yourself wish to detach yourself, realising that you are not the body nor the mind." Only His Grace should give us the presence of mind to act at the right moment.
A meek person is not weak! He realises the imperfection or the finiteness of the human being and the Omnipotence, Perfection and Infinitude of God. He realises the supremacy of His Will, and bows in humility to It.
That is what God Himself wants! In the Gita, we find that, as soon as Arjuna 'gave up', Krishna actually taunts him, and calls him impotent. He makes it appear as though that for winning the battle, Arjuna must fight; everything depends upon him! Later, after showing the Viswarupa, He says,
mmayaivaite nihatah purvameva nimittamatram bhava savyasachin
I have killed them already; be thou an instrument in My hands. to complete this Play!
tasmat twam utthishtha, tasho tabhaswa
Arise, and win fame. Fame, for killing a dead snake! The act is not man's - the attitude is man's. That is the secret of nimittha-bhavana - living as an instrument in His Hands.
God wants us to realise that we are to play our part as mere instruments in His Hands. He is the Mighty Lord. We shall be meek instruments. Then He will love us, protect us, guide us, and save us from samsara.
This glorious truth is illustrated in Krishna's life. He was a friend of the meek. When He went to Hastinapura to negotiate on behalf of the Pandavas, He had been invited to lunch by Duryodhana. But, as He was passing along the streets,
He noticed Vidura standing in front of his house. When the Lord questioned him, he said "It is your house, my Lord." Krishna went in of His own accord - this was the only man who said his was God's house - and partook of a poor man's fare. The haughty Duryodhana was taught a lesson already.
Nothing pleases the Lord as simple, meek devotion.
chapter II - sutra 28
tasya jnanam eva sadhanam ity eke
Someone says that knowledge alone is the means.
This sutra silences all notions that the devotee is a man of blind faith, foolish in his notions, quixotic in his behaviour, and ignorant of the true Nature of God. No, says this authority, knowledge is the means to the cultivation of devotion; and, he goes farther than that and asserts that knowledge alone is the means to devotion.
The knowledge meant here is not information with which one stuffs one's brain. A man may be a moving library, but yet a big fool. To gain a lot of information is like acquiring a box of matches and keeping it in your pocket. You have oil, you have lamp, you have the wick; and you have a box of matches. That does not mean you have light and the darkness has gone! The oil has to be poured into the lantern, the match has to be struck and, the wick lighted. The collection of the articles is acquisition of knowledge; the lighting of the lamp is acquiring wisdom. It is wisdom that is referred to in this sutra. A man may be a master of all the scriptures and philosophies in the world, and yet be a spiritual illiterate. On the contrary, a man may have very little information and yet be spiritually wise.
Gurudev Sivananda revealed this to a student in Ceylon, during the All-India Tour. "Study the whole of the Gita, with all the commentaries available, and you will become a Pundit. Study one Sloka and live up to the teaching, and you will realise God."
We should constantly listen to the glories of God and fill our hearts with the Knowledge of His Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Omniscience. The knowledge will evoke devotion in our hearts. The devotion will make us draw nearer to Him. As we draw nearer to Him, we will know more about His Glories. Thus we shall reach Him and in due course become one with Him.
It is this knowledge which enables us to realise our own imperfections and the Perfection That is God; this knowledge, which takes us closer to Him, is meant here.
mayi eva mana adhatsva; mayi buddhim nivesaya
That is devotion! Give your mind up in Me; let your intellect enter into Me.
The intellect, instead of standing as a hindrance to our spiritual progress, should submit itself to and aid our love of God. It should be illumined by the light of faith and devotion. Such a knowledge is the sadhana for the cultivation of God-Love.
chapter II - sutra 29
anyonyasrayatvam ity eke
Others are of the opinion that there is mutal dependence.
The 'mutual dependence' has been taken to mean mutual dependence between knowledge and devotion. This has already been explained in the previous sutra. Knowledge is that state of mind and intellect which - like the star which led the Wise Men to Bethlehem where Jesus had taken birth - enables us to get closer to God. Devotion, in its turn, by enabling us to get closer, enhances and intensifies that knowledge, by clarifying our vision of God.
The 'mutual dependence' may also be taken to mean the mutual dependence between God and bhakta. One great saint has described it thus beautifully and rather boldly:
tadaham twadrite na nathavan madrite twam dayaneeyavan na vha vidhinirmitam etadanyam palaya masma jeehapah
But for you, I have no other Lord - I would be orphaned; and but for me You have none to shower your mercy upon - i.e., you will not earn the title of God the Merciful. Such is the relationship ordained by fate, Oh Lord. So, protect me.
Though this is said perhaps in a lighter vein, there is a great truth in this. Without God we cannot exist. God is the very substratum of all that exists. And, curiously enough, it is also true that 'but for the devotee, God, the All-Merciful, does not exist!' For, if only our sadhanas fructify, and the theory of karma operates, and if we get only what we deserve - and not what we pray for, justice may prevail on earth; and there is no place for an All-Merciful God in it. It is only because the meek devotee calls upon Him, and, He, in response, showers His Grace upon the devotee.
dadami buddhi yogam tam yena mam upayanti, divyam dadami te chakshuh, pasya me yogamaiswaram
which enables him to know God, to see God and to realise that God Himself is worshipped, adored, and meditated upon.
The mutual dependence may also be described thus: it is like the mutual dependence of the father and the sons. But for the father, the sons would not be. And, but for the sons, the man would not be called a father, either! But for God, we have no existence. But for the devotees, God would not be either. In other words, God would have been 'forgotten' and would have become as good as a non-entity!
The mutual dependence only emphasises the inevitability of devotion. Since we are related to God thus, we are bound to Him, by the cords of perpetual devotion.
We are closely related to Him, as it were, and are bound to love Him. Nothing can alter this state of affairs. Consciously or unconsciously we are devoted to Him. To be consciously so, helps our rapid march to His Lotus-Feet.
chapter II - sutra 30
svayam phala-rupeti brahma-kumarah
Bhakti is its own fruit thus opines Brahma Kumaras, the sons of Brahma.
In sutras, words are not wasted; and sutras are not repeated, except in different contexts. Yet, Sri Narada has found it essential to repeat this one idea again and again: 'bhakti is its own fruit', 'bhakti is both the means and the end'. That is verily the central theme.
In the present context, where the sadhanas for the cultivation of God-love are discussed, it is significant that this great idea is reiterated. What other means can there be for the cultivation of devotion? What is the best way to love God? Obviously, to love Him!
This, however, does not contradict or cancel the previous sutras. It substantiates them. 'Brahma-kumarah' in the plural is generally said of the Sanatkumaras. They are the greatest Jnanis, sages. Narada also is a Brahma-Kumara, son of the Creator. It is, therefore, proper to take this sutra to mean that the view expressed is that of the four Brahma-Kumaras and Narada also. These great Jnanis, who were conscious of the mutual relationship of jnana and bhakti, have boldly asserted that bhakti is attained by bhakti alone. The jnana that was said to be the sadhana for bhakti, is not dry philosophic knowledge, but - as was emphasised in the last Sutra - jnana which strengthened and augmented bhakti. The content of that jnana is also bhakti. In other words, that jnana, too, is bhakti only. This sutra reveals the inner meaning of the last one - the mutual dependence between bhakti and jnana referred to there is this - bhakti is soul, and jnana is the body.
chapter II - sutra 31
raja-griha-bhojanadishu tathaiva drishtatvat
For it is seen to be just so in the case of the King, home and dinner.
These similes belong to vedantic texts! They are there meant to emphasise that by Self-realisation nothing is gained. The Self has always existed as the self- luminous, self-existent Reality. Sadhana does not create the Self, but merely removes the veil that hides the reality.(*) Sadhana merely purifies the heart, so that the atman can be realised by intuitive perception. That Narada chooses to employ these similes here shows that he regards bhakti and Self-realisation as synonyms.
This sutra emphasises the second view we took of the meaning of sutra 29. The bond of' love forever unites the jiva and the Lord. There has never been a time when we did not love God, and God did not love us, and there never will be. Yet, we have been unaware of this, and have uselessly wandered in samsara, loving perishable objects, and seeking the love of mortals. That we love, and love to be loved, indicates that love is eternal, that love is God. The veil of ignorance has hidden this from us. Bhakti-sadhana is intended to remove this veil, and reveal to us that we have ever been in love with God, Whose love alone has sustained us all along.
A word about the similes themselves:
(1) A Prince had wandered into the forest while he was a small boy, and was brought up in a hunter's household as a foundling. He regarded himself as a hunter, and behaved as such; till one day years later, a member of the royal household discovered him, reminded him of his royal birth and took him back to the palace. Nothing had happened to his inheritance except that he had forgotten it.
(2) A man going on a tour, wanders far away from home, enduring the hardships of the weather, sometimes starving, sometimes feasting, sometimes happy, sometimes miserable; till he decides to return home, to enjoy the security and pleasures of his own household. Though he slept on the roadside and railway station platforms during the period, no one had taken away his home. He had only to return to it, in order to reclaim ownership.
(3) Food, when eaten, does not either create new life force, nor appease hunger once for all; it merely removes a temporary manifestation, for the time being.
The next Sutra, clarifies this.
(*) Sri Ramana Maharishi used to remark that even the statement 'to realise the reality' was fallacious. To 'realise' is to 'make it real'. Who need make the reality real? Hence, he declared that all that yoga sadhana aimed at was to enable the aspirant 'unrealise the unreality' - in other words, to rescue him from the wrong belief in the existence in the not-Self.
chapter II - sutra 32
na tena raja-paritoshah kshuc-chantir va
Not by that does the King become King, nor does the hungry man become satisfied.
The prince was heir-apparent all the time. Nothing was added to his essential nature by the removal of ignorance.
Hunger was not satisfied once for all by eating; a temporary manifestation was removed.
That which is Eternal, is Eternal, is Real. It is Self-existent. Nothing can add to it; nothing can subtract from it.
purnamadah purnamidam purnat purnamudachyate purnasya purnamadaya purnamevavasishyate
The Full, Infinite, Eternal Being alone existed, exists, and will exist. This is the Ultimate Truth; anything less than this is untruth, falsehood. The great Gaudapadacharya, therefore, propounded the famous Ajatavada - the theory that One alone exists, and that there has never been a creation, in reality. In order to explain the illusion of objective perception, which obsessed the dull-witted, Sri Sankara propounded the Maya-vada. Maya is that which makes the unreal appear as Real, and which hides the Reality. Maya in itself is neither Sat nor Asat, neither does it really exist, nor does it exist not. It is like a mirage, whose illusory existence cannot be denied together.
Now let us take a good look at the three similes.
(1) The prince had forgotten his real nature, had be told by a third person, and brought back to the palace. Only then could he regain his kingdom. Similarly, the ignorant jiva has to be awakened by the Guru. The study of all the scriptures in the world, the practice of all the austerities and other yogas are of no avail, unless this spiritual awakening has been brought about by the Guru. Right understanding of the Nature of God is imparted by the Guru in a word-less discourse, by direct thought-transference, even as Dakshinamurthy did to Santakumaras. It is the Guru that has to awaken the soul-consciousness in us, and it is He who can lead us to the kingdom of God.
(2) Even if there has been removal of the veil of ignorance, and we have gained an indirect knowledge (Apara Jnana or Paroksha Jnana) of the Reality, unless we turn our eyes away from the objects, unless we retrace our steps homewards, we cannot regain our Abode of Peace. We have strayed far from home. We have come into the Samsara (place of birth and death) and are aimlesly wandering, amidst the Dwandvas (pairs of opposites) of heat and cold, pain and pleasure, honour and dishonour. We must know that we have our Home elsewhere; and we must consciously make an affort to get back there. This is Nivritti Marga. We must retrace our steps in order to return to the Abode of God. He is waiting there to receive us and give us the supreme comfort of Peace and Bliss.
(3) A mere knowledge (however scientific and thourough it may be ) of food cannot appease hunger, even if we go to the dining room and sit before food, hunger is not appeased. We have to eat it. Then only will the hunger be appeased. Similarly, we may know there is a God an that we are one with Him. We may renounce the world and live in forests or caves or Ashrams. But, unless we practice Bhakti Yoga, we cannot attain Him.
chapter II - sutra 33
asmat saiva grahya mumukshubhih
Therefore, devotion alone should be clung to by those who desire liberation.
We have seen how Sri Narada equated God-realisation with supreme devotion. Devotion itself has been reiterated to be the goal. Now we are told that devotion is the same as liberation - moksha. That is what is meant by saying that those who regard the end of life is moksha, should cling to devotion.
Another important point is brought out in this sutra. And, that is the place of purushartha - self-effort - in bhakti. Bhakti is not for the weak-willed idiot, who is asked to worship God just because he can do nothing else. Bhakti is only for the person of strong will, who is at the same time prepared - and strong enough - to surrender it at the Lotus-Feet of the Lord. Even though the bhakta adopts the kitten-attitude towards God and meekly accepts His Will, it is obvious that this itself demands tremendous will-power, and also that it is the result of the greatest purushartha - the self-effort that was necessary to do total self-surrender. Narada alludes to this when he uses the term 'grahya' - grasped, clung to. The devotee must cling to bhakti, to the Lotus-Feet of the Lord, to the exclusion of all else.
This requires very great will-power, determination, dispassion, and discrimination.
'Tasmat' concludes the argument. Because, devotion is self-existent Reality - and because it is the sole Reality, one should with all his heart and soul cling to devotion.