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ADHYAAY XII
BHAKTI
YOGAM
The chapter starts with
a question posed by Arjuna. It is a
basic question and the whole chapter, ‘Bhakti Yog’ is in answer to that
question. Bhakti, Bhakta are terms well
known to us. Shri Krishna gives an entirely
different view. The difference is owing
to vision. Our vision is
superficial. We look at the more obvious
exterior and form our view on devotion and devotee. Shri Krishna refuses to be carried away by
the superficial glitter and looks deeper inside. He looks at the ‘Bhavana’ and takes that as
the basis for Bhakti.
What is Bhakti? Who is a Bhakta? Decorating neck with ‘Rudraksha’? The one with more rudraksha beads is a
greater Bhakta. The one with marks of
Vibhooti or Chandan on forehead is a Bhakta.
His ‘bhakti’ grows with more and more marks, marks on arms, marks on the
chest, etc. Visiting temples and
spending time in Pooja or worship is bhakti.
The bhakti is more intense with more and more time spent in temples and
worship. Our yardsticks are all outward
and gross.
Devotion is personal and
not for discussion or measuring. This
need not be shared with others.
Similarly, it is none of our business to assess others’ bhakti. Not just Bhakti, other aspects like wealth,
earnings, progress, character, pain and pleasures etc. of others also are not
for us to discuss and assess. This will
not benefit us in any way, except satiate our thirst for gossiping. This will not help in our emancipation. On the other hand, will ensure our fall. Shri Krishna’s explanation of Bhakti aims at
our emancipation.
Various characteristics
or attributes were discussed while explaining a Gyaani, a Karma Yogi or a
meditative person. Similar qualities are
mentioned by Shri Krishna even while explaining Bhakti. This is only an emphatic assertion that the paths
may vary, but the goal to be reached is one.
Shri Krishna had said in
the 21st shloka of 9th chapter that ‘Bhavana’ is more
important than the offerings made by a devotee.
Bhakti Yog is an elaboration of ‘Bhavana’ mentioned then. Come On!
Let us enter the chapter and relish Shri Krishna’s commentary on Bhakti
in response to Arjuna’s query...
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अर्जुन
उवाच -
एवं
सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते ।
ये
चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ॥ १ ॥
Arjuna said: Those
devotees who ever-steadfast thus worship Thee, and those also who worship the
Imperishable, the Unmanifested, - which of them are better versed in Yog?
(XII - 1)
Comparison,
differentiation and catagorization as higher and lower, desire to possess the
‘higher’ and reject the ‘lower’ and gloating over own possession feed and boost
human ego. The comparison here is not of
virtue with vice or good with bad. Man
tends to compare and catagorize virtue as greater virtue and lesser virtue; sin
as lesser sin and more heinous sin.
Arjuna’s query reflects this very human attitude.
There are numerous ways
of Worship, but all these can be classified under two heads; worship through an
object and worship of the Formless, abstract.
The former one is ‘Meditating on the form and attributes of a Form and
attaining Divinity’ through such effort.
Heart has a prominent role in this.
Shraddha or absolute faith is the basis.
Intellectual faculties like Logic, discretion have no role here. Music, dance, decoration and other art forms,
have their inevitable part in this.
Senses The worship is through the senses, sight, taste, sound scent
etc. The best ever objects enjoyed by
the senses are dedicated to the Divine, in this way of worship.
The later type is
worship of the One who is everywhere, but unmanifested; who is the cause for
every effect, but is beyond everything; That which is The Formless, without any
attributes; That which is in and beyond all.
Though it is called Brahma, It is beyond names, as name is also a form,
a subtler one rather. Here, the journey
is beyond the snses. Taste, sound,
decoration, scent, music, dance and other art frms have no role. Viveka or discretion is the dominant faculty
in use. In worldly terms, this type is a
dry, tasteless, odourless, emotionless path.
Which one of these two
paths is Greater? This seems to be
Arjuna’s question.
Islam, Christianity,
Buddhism, Jainism etc. propogated the second path. But, all these religions, in due course,
drifted to the former one, worship of a Form.
Islam has been a firm and obstinate opposer of Forms. We know incidents, wherein an artist who
portrayed the Prophet was condemned to death.
The followers of Islam have indulged in breaking of idols and demolition
of temples and churches world over.
Destruction of the huge Buddha Idol in Afghanistan too recent an
incident to be forgotten. But, the whole
foundation of Islam is worship of the stone in Kaaba. Hundreds of Dargahs have sprung up in Bharat
and are being worshipped by the Muslims.
Processions of Chariots and Urs are common features in Islam today. The state of Christian, Bouddha and Jain
religions are no better. Idols of the
founders of these religions, who talked of a Formless and abstract God, are
being worshipped by the followers. The
worship of The Formless is highly individualistic and strictly personal. When it is organized and institutionalized,
it gets transformed into idolatory.
The Upanishads talk of
Brahma Upasana or ‘Worship of the Formless’.
At the same time, one finds the largest number and greatest variety of
Idols in Hindu Dharma. Worship of God
through Idols or Forms is simpler, artistic, and pleasant. It is emotional. Music, drums, conches, dance, flowers,
garlands, chandan and other pleasant scents, all find place in this. There is festivity, enthusiasm and fun in
various festivals and procession of chariots and decorated Idols and hence can
easily attract huge crowds. Christianity
and Islam, having failed in converting the Hindus with all their governmental
pressures and military might, resort to these asects of Idolatory to dupe and
trap the innocent Hindus in their religeous nets. They wanted to change the people, but have
changed themselves. They condemned and
rediculed Idolatory of the Hindus, but had to helplessly accept Idolotary
practices.
On the other hand, We, the
Hindus realize Brahma. The Upanishads
talk of Brahma, but, never condemn Idols.
We know the importance of Idols.
There is a beautiful confluence of worship of the Form and the
Formless. We worship the Formless,
Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient Brahma through a Form. Forms may vary, but the God being worshipped
is One. “Truth is One, but is called in
various names” declared our ancestors.
That is why we have, in Hindu system of worship, ‘Prana Pratishta’,
literally meaning ‘infusing life in a stone, wherein stone statues are
converted into Deiva Vigraham by invoking God in those; ‘Aavahanam’, meaning welcoming God into the
form we created, wherein God is invoked in shapes moulded out of Cow-dung,
turmeric paste or clay; ‘Visarjanam’
meaning ‘dissolution, wherein the form is immersed in water and dissolved after
asking God to leave the form. We do not
worship the Form, but, worship God through these forms. Form is only is an indicator and is meant to
direct us to God. If I am to help you
see a star in the vast sky, I’ll point my finger towards the star and ask you
to look at my finger and then look to the sky star. The Idol has significance similar to the index
finger. We worship the Formless through
the Form. The Hindus have no confusion
in this regard. Bharateeya history in
the last thousand years is a strong evidence.
Our temples were rezed to ground, Idols disfigured and dishonoured by
the brutal Islamic attacks. At no point,
the Hindus felt helpless and have lost their God. Hindu Dharma stayed alive and could not be
wiped out, despite loss all Forms and Idols.
Worship of the Form and the Formless are beautifully intertwined in
Hindu philosophy. These are
complimentory to each other.
There is a clarifying
incident in Swami Vivekananda’s life during his Parivrajaka life. He was a royal guest of the king of Alwar in
Rajasthan, during the years he roamed around Bharat penniless as a Parivrajaka. The king, influenced by modern, revolutionary
thoughts, did not believe in Idol worship.
He used to condemn the practice in harsh terms. Swami Vivekananda tried his best to convince
him of the significance of Idols, but to no avail. The king was blind in arguements. Swamiji stopped discussion. After a while, he asked the minister to take
out a picture of the king’s father, hanging on the wall. The minister brought the picture and placed
it on the table. Swamiji asked the
minister to spit on the picture. The
minister and the king were shocked at this rude behaviour of a noble
guest. The king was enraged, but
controlled his anger and asked, “Why do you do this? This is my father.” “Is this your father? I thought this to be a mere piece of
paper.” “Of course, it is a piece of
paper. But it has a picture of my
father. I regard this as my father. Any insult to this will be regarded as an
insult to my father.” “Yes. I also spoke the same. You have drawn your father’s picture on a
piece of paper and regard it as your father.
You honour it with garlands and lamps.
You consider an insult to this piece of paper as dishonour to your
father and are annoyed. If you a king,
well educated and a speaker of language of reform can do this why not a common
Hindu regard a stone as God? Is it so
severe a crime deserving criticism and condemnation?” The king was speechless.
Arjuna had related with
Shri Krishna as a friend. He was also
aware that Shri Krishna was God Himself in human form. He had also ‘seen’ His Cosmic manifestation,
beyond all forms. Now, he was confused
whether to worship the Paramatman in his present human form or as Brahman
experienced by him in Virat Darshan.
That is his question to Shri Krishna.
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श्री
भगवानुवाच -
मय्यावेश्य
मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ।
श्रद्धया
परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥ २ ॥
Shree Bhagawaan said:
Those who, fixing their mind on Me, worship Me, ever-steadfast, and
endowed with supreme Shraddhaa, they in My opinion are the best versed in Yog.
(XII - 2)
Pat came Shri Krishna’s
reply, without any hesitation. Bhakti is
higher. The Yog of a Bhakta is
greater. He had said this a few times
earlier too. He was catagorical in the
47th shlokam of Chapter VI. “The
greatest Yogi, the most steadfast Yogi is the one who with the inner self
merged in Me, devotes himself to Me with Shraddha.” But, that came in a flow, without Arjuna
seeking it and hence he did not catch it.
This is a usual weakness of a listener.
The listener listens only to that lurking in his mind, only that he
wants to. (There is an opinion that we
listen only that which is already agreed to by us.) He tends to recieve the answer to his own
doubts and is not interested in anything else.
Listening should be unprejudiced and without any prior conceptions.
The battle of
Kurukshetra was over. Yudhishttira had
been annointed as a king. Arjuna said to
Shri Krishna, “You told me Gita on the battlefield. I could not grasp due to the excited, tense
atmosphere there. Now, it is
peaceful. My mind is calmer. Will you please give me Gita once more?” Shri Krishna replied, “Arjuna, I was in a
unique mental state then and The Gita sprang out of Me. Sorry.
I may not be able to repeat the same.”
Moreover, The Mahabharatha uses the term ‘Shri Vasudeva uvacha’ or Shri
Krishna Uvacha’ whenever Shri Krishna talked.
However, it is ‘Shri Bhagawan uvacha’ in The Gita. The ‘Me’ or ‘I’ used by Him in The Gita does
not indicate the individual Shri Vasudeva, but the The Brahma or
Paramaatman. He told The Gita, rather
The Gita flowed out when Shri Krishna was in state of total union with the
Brahman.
The ‘Me’ is firmly
rooted in a Gyaani and has to be vanquished after sustaind effort. In case of a Bhakta, ‘Me’ melts away in the
Love and total surrender to The Lord.
Not just in Bhakti, total Love has this potential even in other
fields. Once Shri Ram Manohar Lohia went
to meet Albert Einstein. He had to wait
for more than six hours. Einstein’s wife
sought repeated apologies. Shri Lohia
had no other option and had to wait.
Einstein was deeply passionate about Mathematics. He would completely forget self whenever a
mathematical puzzle appeared before him.
The world will be lost. Wife,
food and other worldly matters will be lost for him. In fact, he, as Einstein was also lost in
that state. Einstein was in his bath tub
then and in a similar state. Everything returns
to normalcy only if and when the puzzle is solved. He came out of the bath and was in an
excited, Joyous state. That is the
unique strength of Love.
During the days of my
intense Sangh work, Sangh was the only thought filled in my mind. Every other thought was Sangh-centered. The one who is filled with ‘money’ looks for
and sees only money everywhere. The one
filled with Shri Krishna sees nothing else but Shri Krishna everywhere in this
world. The other things are non-entity
for him. Sun-rising in the horizon is
Shri Krishna. A bird chirping is Shri
Krishna. A child’s beautiful face, a
flower blooming, a mountain, a river, even a snake and scorpion are all Shri
Krishna for him. Round the clock
chanting of ‘Krishna’ ‘Krishna’ by him is mere outer manifestation of this
state within.
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ये
त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते ।
सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं
च कूतस्थमचलं ध्रुवम् ॥ ३ ॥
सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं
सर्वत्र समबुद्धयः ।
ते
प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ ४ ॥
But those also, who worship the Imperishable, the
Indefinable, the Unmanifested, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the
Unchangeable, the Immovable, the Eternal, - having subdued all the senses,
even-minded everywhere, engaged in the welfare of all beings, - verily, they
reach only Myself.
(XII – 3, 4)
The terms used by Shri
Krishna to explain the Formless, Brahman have been repeatedly used in The Veda-Upanishads,
Brahma Sutra, Shankara Bhashya and in Gita too elsewhere. Let us see those one by one.
Aksharam: Indestructible. Whole.
Eternal.
Anirdeshyam: That which can not be pointed to as this or
this. Adya Shankara eliminates all the
known and says ‘not this’, ‘not this’, while describing Brahman.
Avyaktham: Unmanifested.
Inspite of ‘presence’ in each micro particle in this creation, It is
unmanifested. Creation is manifestation
of Prakruti.
Sarvatragam: Omnipresent.
Exists in every atom of this creation.
There is not a single particle without It.
Achintyam: Beyond thought and description. The eyes can see objects, but not the
mind. Mind can observe the senses but
not the Buddhi or Intellect. The
Intellect can think and observe the wanderings of mind and the functioning of
the senses but not the One who is behind all these.
Kootastham: Changeless.
Beyond deformity and destruction.
‘Koota’ is the metallic mould used for moulding and shaping weapons,
ornaments and other metallic articles.
The mould is not deformed even while it is continuously being used in
shaping the articles being moulded. The
Brahman, though the cause for generation and dissolution of so many types of
lives is itself beyond birth, change and death.
Achalam: Non-moving.
No change in regard to position.
Prkriti is chalam and Brahman is Achalam.
Dhruvam: Firm.
Stable. This is the only positive
term while all the other terms are negatives.
Worship of Niraakaara or
the Formless has been mentioned elsewhere also by Shri Krishna. ‘Shraddhaavaan Labhatae Gyaanam’ (IV -
39); ‘Labhantae Brahma Nirvaanam’ (V -
24); ‘Naiva Kurvanna Kaarayan’ (V - 13); ‘Aatma Samstham Manah Krutvaa’ (VI -
25); ‘Yadaksharam Veda Vido Vadanthi’
(VIII - 11); ‘Om Ityeka Aksharam Brahma’
(VIII - 13); ‘Gyaana Yagyena Chaapyanye
Yajantho Maamupaasathe’ (IX - 15); are a few shlokams where Nirguna Niraakara
Upaasanaa has been gloriously mentioned by Shri Krishna.
Gita is not a piece of
oratory, nor a poem or an essay. It is a
Samvaadam or a conversation. Hopping
from one point to another is inevitable in a conversation. The speaker reads the mind of the listener
and answers questions arising in his mind, though unexpressed. Shri Krishna had said in the previous shlokam
that Saguna Upaasanaa or worship of the Form is best. “What about Gyaani and Nirguna Niraakaara
Upaasanaa?” Shri Krishna must have read
this obvious question springing up in Arjuna’s mind. These two Shlokams have come as answer to
this possible query in Arjuna’s mind.
Here He mentions the
basic conditions in this path. Restrain
and mastery over senses; Equipised mind;
Seeking well-being of all lives. Control
over senses is the first and foremost condition in Gyaana Yog and Karma Yog
also. One can not sit still, eyes
closed, even for a minute, with senses unrestrained. The mind running helter-skelter chasing the
senses can not be firm and focussed.
And, to focus it on a Formless, abstract concept is impossible. (It is different in the path of Bhakti. Here, the senses are considered His and
surrendered to Him. Hence, control over
those does not arise.)
Sarva Bhootha Hitae
Rataah: This is an inevitable final step
in this path and is essentioal for fading away of ‘Me’. A gyaani without this aspect is emotionless
and inert and is verily,a stone. Shri
Krishna assures that the one on this path also reaches Me.
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क्ल्शोsधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम्
।
अव्यक्ता
हि गतिर्दुःखं देहविद्भिरवाप्यते ॥ ५ ॥
Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the
Unmanifested; for the goal of the
Unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach.
(XII - 5)
If a particular star is
to be pointed out of thousands of stars scattered in the sky, then a referrance
like a finger tip or a tree top has to be used.
The regerrance shoukd point to the star and the seeker should also look
for the star through the referrance. If
he stops with the referrance, then he can not see the star. At the same time, he can neither see the star
directly, without the referrance. A star
is a cognizable object. If it is
difficult to see it without a referrance, then how difficult should it be to
cognize or grasp an abstract concept, without a referrance? For instance, how do we know music? We must listen and experience it or symbols
like ¯, ∫, ♪♪ or sa, re, ga ma etc
have to be used to read it. Our physical
senses have to be used in both the ways.
We find so many symbols being used around us. A danger warning is knowing by a ‘skull’ (N); love is symbolized by a heart (Y); A slant Z is drawn to indicate electricity (~). These symbols are only to know and understand
the abstract ideas. Remove these symbols
and try to know the subjects indicated.
We’ll realize how difficult it is to an abstract without a form.
It is very difficult to
focus the mind on the unmanifested Brahman and know It through meditation. Man is with a form. He has senses to know the manifested objects
in this world. He has to perform so many
actions for the basic physical needs.
The physical body reminds him of its existance, almost every second
minute. It is very difficult for him to
rise above physical awareness. There was
a great thinker, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya by name. He was an RSS Pracharak and had conceived a
great political thought (Ekatma Maanava Vaada).
Once, he asked a small boy in host family to touch him. The boy touched his hand. He said, “you only touched my hand and not
me.” The boy touched him on his
head. He said, “you touched my head and
not me.” This went on for a few
times. The boy seemed annoyed and went
away. He was involved in discussion with
the elders in the family. After a while,
the boy came and gave Deendayalji a shrp slap on his back. This was sudden and unanticipated. Shri Deendayalji cried out. Then he turned to the boy and asked, “Why did
you slap me?” Pat replied the boy, “Me? I did not slap you. My hand slapped your back.” Deendayalji was speechless. Awareness of the physical self is very
strong. Added to this is the deep pride
in physical self. The skin, hair, eyes,
the face, fingers, the waist, the structure, hight, weight, the voice, almost
any petty thing in the body may give birth to pride. Dehabhiman or this pride has to destroyed and
then body-consciousness has to be eliminated.
Not impossible, but next to impossible.
There have been a few who have achieved this.
A Sadhu by name Shri Tiwariji
lived around Nagpur in the last century.
He used to get lost in deep meditation without any prior
indication. He would completely lose his
‘body consciousness’ in that state. In
that state, the onus of protecting his body from insect bites and other animal
attacks was on his disciples. They would
take turn to remain awake and feed his body, clean up his body and protect.
Saguna – Saakaara Upaasanaa
or the worship of Form is not easier either.
However, the senses are not denied as these are involved in
worship. These are not deprived of their
‘food’ and are fed with objects soaked in Divinity. The Idol adorned beautifully is a feast to
the eyes. The pleasant smelling flowers
and pastes are feast to the nose. Prasad
recieved after being offered to Him is feast to the tongue. The ears enjoy on the feast of listening to
His glory. Singing His glory is the
feast for the speech. This way, harsh
struggle trying to retrain the senses totally avoided.
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ये तु
सर्वाणी कर्माणि मयि सन्न्यस्य मत्पराः ।
अनेन्येनैव
योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ॥ ६ ॥
तेषामहं
समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् ।
भवामि
नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥ ७ ॥
But those who worship Me, resigning all actions in Me,
regarding Me as the Supreme Goal, meditating on Me with single-minded Yog, - to
these whose mind is set on Me, verily, I become ere long, the Saviour out of
the ocean of the mortal Samsaara.
(XII – 6, 7)
Here, He mentions three
basic conditions in Saakaara Upaasanaa.
Samarppanam: Total reliance on Me. Resigning everything unto Me. It is tough to be reliant on someone else, to
surrender to him. Man surrenders when he
is helpless. His ego does not permit him
to live relying on others. A child walks
holding parents’s hand for a very short, inevitable period. It takes the first opportunity to leave their
hands, walk on its own and declare to the world that he is not relying on
them. The eagerness to announce to them
that, ‘I am independent, on my own and no more reliant on you’ is the cause for
cold war in homes between the parents and children. Even a ripe old man dislikes being given a
helping hand. He likes to indicate that
‘I am not so old yet’. ‘I achieve
through my own effort, my own talent, and my own intelligence’. This is the usual feeling of men and this a grand
feast to Ego. Total
raliance only on God is the first and foremost condition for Bhakti. No protest and no demands. Ever contented and ever Blissful is a Bhakta.
Ananya
Bhavam: (Only this. Nothing else). We are habituated to looking ‘elsewhere’ for
something else. Be in a vehicle and look
with envy at other vehicles passing by;
eating from a plate and looking at another’s plate; live in a house built out of life long sweat
and sigh at other ‘more beautiful’ houses;
riding with husband with hand on his shoulder and looking at other men
passing by; We are used to anya
bhava. ‘Only this and nothing else’ is
Ananya Bhavam. This is an expression of
Love. This need not be compared with the
semetic idea of Christianity or Islam.
‘Jesus is the only God’ or Ya ilaahaa Illalla’ are slogans of religions
for converting others. Ananya bhavam is
the conviction or mindset of a devotee.
‘For me, there is only one and that is my husband’. This is an expression of love. You will call it nonsense, if someone says,
everyone should accept my husband as theirs.
Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a Kali devotee. He did not initiate his dearest disciple,
Swami Vivekananda to Kali worship.
Dedicating all actions
to Me: When he has dedicated himself to Me, his actions will obviously be
dedicated to Me. He works for self, who
considers his own, the instruments like the body, the senses, mind and Buddhi,
the acquisitions like wealth, position, fame, etc. These are not ‘mine’. These have been entrusted by Him, to me for
working in the welfare of the world. This
attitude facilitates dedication and surrender of actions to Him. Three different words have been used in The
Gita in this context. The actions, while
being performed and after completion, offered to the God are ‘Madarppana
Karma’. The attachment with fruits
disappear when the actions are dedicated to Him. Actions performed for Him and for uniting
with Him are ‘Madarttha Karma’. Actions
performed with the conviction that all the actions are His, are
‘Matkarma’. These actions do not bind.
‘I reach such a Bhakta
across the ocean of mortal samsaara’ says Shri Krishna. He calls the world ‘a world of death’. Death is the only certainty here. Every life appearing here is being swallowed
continuously by the crater by death.
But, the Bhakta is saved from death.
Where is death for one who has demolished self? He has no desires or dislikes or
contempt. He has no demands. He has no plans and tasks. He has surrendered to Me and nothing remains
of him. The one who is ready to lose all
gets everything. He has lost everything,
including self, in Me and hence I rescue from the mortal world of death, says
Shri Krishna.
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मय्येव
मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय ।
निवसिष्यसि
मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः ॥ ८ ॥
Fix thy mind on Me only, place thy intellectin Me; then thou shall no doubt live in Me
hereafter.
(XII - 8)
The
greatest challange before the mind are ‘Unstability’ and ‘constant chase’
behind the senses for fulfillment of desires.
To doubt and question are those before the Buddhi. Shraddha and Love are twin solutions to these
challanges. The one who rests in the
Paramaatman is the one who steadies mind and Buddhi, with the help of these two
assistants, Shraddha and Love. Such Sadhu
devotees do not reach the Heavens. The
place where they stay is verily, Heaven.
This is because he rests in God.
He is ever in Dvinity. Kabirdas
has said, “In the earlier stage, I chased and roamed everywhere for Him. Later, it is Him that calls and chases me,
wherever I go.”
The
mind is unstable and wavering. It is
involved in never-exhausting chase behind desires. It joins hands with the senses to fulfil all
its desires. If a thing in momentum is
to calm down and stabilize, it must hold something which is firm, unmoving and
stable. Worldly materials are unstable,
ever-changing and destructible. The mind
can never stabilize so long as it is involved in worldly activities. It must detach from the worldly affairs and
anchor on the thoughts of the Lord for that.
Mind strays to thoughts of the world, relations, experiences, money
transactions, etc. while attempting to meditate on Him, gets disturbed itself
and disturbs the Divine effort too. The
remedy for this is to remove world from the mind. If we involve in worldly activities with mind
on Him, if we consider these as His tasks and do these for Him, if we take
anything that comes as His Grace and detach self from the results of these
activities, world will not stick in the mind.
As these were never registered, the thoughts of world cease to disturb.
The Buddhi indulges in
unworthy logic and doubts and helps in firmer establishment of Ahankara. The long rope tied to to its neck hanged down
when the elephant walked. A rat held the
loose end of the rope in its mouth and walked ahead. ‘I am pulling this elephant. If I give up, the poor elephant will
collapse’, bragged the rat to its relatives and friends peeping out of their
holes. The logic of Buddhi, is such in
most cases. ‘I am doing. I am responsible. If I leave, everything will collapse’,
suggests the Buddhi and the Ahankara is convinced. Blossoming of Love and Shraddha and surrender
to Him becomes difficult. The logics of Buddhi are shattered when
Shraddha wakes up. Shraddha-yukta Buddhi
should stabilize on The Paramaatman.
With mind and Buddhi steadying on Him, the Bhakta is ever in the company
of the God.
-\-
अथ
चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् ।
अभ्यासयोगेन
ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय ॥ ९ ॥
Oh Dhananjaya! If
thou are unable to fix thy mind steadily on Me, then by Abhyasa-Yog, do thou
seek to reach Me.
(XII - 9)
Bhakti is dedication of
mind and Buddhi filled with Love and Shraddha.
If that is not possible, take up Abhyasa-Yog. This has been detailed in the sixth
chapter. Abhyasa is ‘practise’. Yog means ‘equipoise’. If practise is adopted in the absence of
Samatva, the resultant powers have to be worldly. Desires to gain woman, children, fame,
wealth, assets, disease-free life, etc. will develop as result of such
practise. As described in 41st
shlokam of chapter II, such a Buddhi will be multi-branched. His actions will be directed at so many
desires and hence scattered. If practise
is coupled with a single, firm purpose of Union with Divinity, the other
desires and sankalpa vanish and Yog is attained.
He
said, “Surrender mind and Buddhi unto Me” in the previous verse. “If not, resort to Yog,” says He here. He once again emphasizes that there are many
paths to Paramaatman. Even, in Yog there
can be so many systems of practice.
Naama-Japa, Bhajan-Keerthan, Hatha-Yog, Pranayam, Dhyana-Dharana,
etc. Again there are so many ways in
Dhyana; meditation on a Form, a sound,
thoughts, nose-tip, center of eyebrows, etc.
Practice may be anything, result should be purification or ennobling of
mind. The purified mind must attain balance
in worldly matters. It should be same
whether things are got or lost. Desire
to attain Him is intensified in that state.
The mind saddens and suffers every passing moment at not finding
Him. Such a suffering extinguishes every
desire, Sankalpa and attachment.
A
Guru becomes essntial in this regard. The
Pandavas suffered from early childhood days.
The tribulations continued unabated.
They were invited to Varanavadh (Varanasi) and made to stay in Laaksha
Gruh (a house made of lac, jute, bamboos and other combustible materials). Duryodhana had planned to torch the house in
the night while Pandavas were asleep. Pandavas
escaped death due to the help of affectionate uncle Vidura. They dug an underground tunnel from the house
to the riverside and escaped. They
roamed around in the jungles and were asleep under a tree exhausted. Rshi Durvasa appeared and said, “Absence of a
Guru is the reason for all your trpubles.
There is Doumya Rshi in the forests.
Please approach him and accept him as your Guru”. The Pandavas agreed, went in search of Doumya
Rshi and soon found him. They were
blessed with meeting and befrieinding Sri Krishna, in the swayamvara mandapam
of Draupadi.
-\-
अभ्यासेsप्यसमर्थोsसि
मत्कर्मपरमो भव ।
मदर्थमपि
कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि ॥ १० ॥
If also thou are unable to practise Abhyasa, be thou intent
on doing actions for My sake. Even by
doing actions for My case, thou shall attain perfection.
(XII - 10)
This is the uniqueness
of Hindu Dharma. It does not entertain
the semetic idea od exclusiveness. It
does not say, ‘This is the only way’. To
accept alternate paths is not a compromise.
There are no easier and tougher paths.
Alternate path is not a suggestion to choose an easier path. All are same and will lead to Divinity. Each one has to choose his own path that
suits his basic Nature.
‘If you can not practise and follow the path of Yog, perform your actions
for Me’ says Shri Krishna. When work is
being done for Him, there is no role for ‘my Buddhi’. There is no scope for my planning, modifying
or avoiding the work. There is no thought
‘I am doing the work’. If a government
worker feels ‘he is the doer’, he will earn a grieving mind and also the wrath
of colleagues. The work goes on even in
his absence and retirement. The work
goes on as per the decisions and directives of the Government. The one follows these does not lose
peace. The water flowing in a garden has
no ‘own plan’. It has to flow in the
path opened by the gardener. Won’t it be
ignorance if the tyre feels, it is taking all the passengers to their
destinations. It has to revolve as per
the wish of the driver. The driver too,
does not have any choice of his own. He
has to drive in the path decided by the bus owner, and not an inch more.
-\-
अथैतदप्यशक्तोsसि
कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः ।
सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं
ततः कुरु यतात्मवान् ॥ ११ ॥
If thou are unable to do even this, then taking refuge in
Me, abandon the fruit of all actions, Oh! The self controlled.
(XII - 11)
He is offering an
alternative again. “If it is difficult
to give up the sense of ‘doer’ (karthaa bhaava), leave the results of your
actions unto Me. Your role ends with
doing the task. Deciding on what should
be its fruit, and whether you should get that or not, is not your
business. Leave that to Me” says Shri
Krishna.
He has suggested three
paths in the last four verses. The first
was the of Bhakti. That was a straight
and simple path. ‘Fill up the mind with
Love and devote to Him with Shraddha.
The next path He suggested is of Dhyana or Yog. Here, regular practice of an exercise
suggested by a Guru, gradual reign over the mind, ridding the mind of dualities
like like-dislike, success-failure, and stabilizing the mind on Him is the
way. The third path suggested is of
Karma. He has suggested two alternatives
in this. Detaching self from Karma or
eliminating ‘doer-bhavana, is the first.
The second is to rely on Him, act for Him and detach from the results of
actions.
‘Establish perfect
mastery over self and give fruits of every action’, He says. Self restraint is important. Giving up fruits is impossible otherwise.
‘Every action’, He says. The obligatory actions as per one’s Varna,
Ashram, actions for sustenance of body, and every other action sanctioned by
the shastra, are meant by Him, when He says ‘Give up fruits of Every
action’. Giving up fruits does not mean
not accepting the fruits or abstaining from actions, but snapping any
attachment with the action or with its fruits.
Bhakti
is not culitivated through any conscious effort, but evolves on its own. Love and Shraddha are the investments for
Bhakti. I was with friends on the banks
of river Kaveri. They were enjoying swim
in Kaveri. Not trained in swimming, I
was in shallow waters along the bank.
One of the friends said, “Come here.
It is not too deep. It is my
chest level”. I started walking towards
him. He had duped. Water was deeper and I started sinking. He pulled me out and reached me to the
bank. “Why did you lie?” I asked him. “It was a joke. You should not have come when I called”, he
said. “You are my friend. I trusted you and walked towards when you
assured and called”. This attitude can
not be cultivated. It just appears. There are no ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ in this
attitude. You ask a child to close its
eyes. It will just shut its eyes. The same suggestion to an adult will generate
so many questions. There are no
questions and doubts in Bhakti marg, but only plunging.
One
unable to plunge in Bhakti should take up the path of Abhyasa. There are so many variants in this path. One must experiment and find a system apt for
himself and progress in the path through rigorous and consistent practise. A milkman approached Shri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa with a request for guidance in meditation. Shri Ramakrishna advised him to meditate on
the stana (milk glands) of a Cow. The
state of ‘no questions and no doubts’ can be reached even by this practice,
provided he continues the practice and gains own experiences.
If
this too is not possible, then, the path of Karma is the resort. Performing His tasks for Him is Karma
Yog. As there is a tendency to brand the
external symbols and rituals (Pooja, Rudraksha, Mantra recital, marks on the
forehead etc.) as Bhakti Yog, so is there a similar tendency to describe the
involvement in ‘daily chores’ as Karma Yog.
We often hear brags like, ‘I am on Karma Marga, you see!’ or ‘Oh! He is a Karma Yogee’, etc. Not the actions, but detachment from actions,
while being in the midst of actions, is Karma Yog. Actions are His and dissociating from the
success or otherwise of those actions is Karma Marga.
The
hits, hurts, bruises and pain experienced in worldly life are all to the
Ahankara. If our toe or any other part
of body is hit by a stone or the corner of a furniture, there is pain, not
much. If the hit is on a previous wound,
the hurt and pain are multifold.
Similarly, in the presence of Ahankara, the impact of hurt and pain is
multifold. In the absence of Ahankara,
there is neither seeking of victory nor rejoicing over victory; there is neither pain nor grief in fall; there is neither fear of being destroyed nor effort
for lasting retention. Absence of
ahankara is known by childlike, unfading energy and enthusiasm. The Path may be any, demolition of ahankara,
disappearance of ‘I’ is must. And that
is the greatest challange. In Bhakti, it
is gone in the first step. In the path
of Karma, it fades away in due course and in the path of Gyaana, in the last
step.
-\-
श्रेयो
हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते ।
ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम्
॥ १२ ॥
Better indeed is knowledge than (blind) Abhyasa; meditation (with knowledge) is more esteemed
than (mere) knowledge; than meditation,
the renunciation of the fruit of action;
peace immediately follows renunciation.
(XII - 12)
He suggested one after
another alternatives in the previous four shlokams. The final alternative suggested by Him is
Karma phala tyaaga or giving up the fruits of actions. In the first three paths, He said,
Nivasishyasi Mayyeva or ‘You will live in Me’ (Shlokam 8); Maamicchaaptum or ‘You seek to reach Me’
(Shlokam 9); Siddhim avaapsyasi or ‘You
will attain greatest Siddhi’ (Shlokam 10); indicating the glorious destinations
of those paths. He merely says, Tatah
Kuru Yataatmavaan or ‘Do this Oh! The self-restrained’, while suggesting
sacrifice of fruits of actions. This may
provoke us to infer that this path is inferior.
That is not so. We must choose
the path suiting our respective attitude.
Rather, the path suiting our attitude will open to us. To avoid any misgivings, He is making a
special mention of ‘Karma Phala Tyaaga’ in this shlokam.
Mere practise is not
enough. Knowledge is vital and hence
higher. Man has been scrupulously
adopting so many types of practices since centuries. He visits temples; performs yagyams or fire-obligations; follows rigorous disciplines; offers worship; practises Yogasanas, Pranaayaama; sits long hours in meditation; Teertha Yatra or pilgimage, Naama Japa or
recitation of names, Bhajan or musical offerings, Pradakshina or going around
temple, river, mountains, and so many other practices prevail. If it does not cause a ripple within, if it
does not inspire self purification, any practice is worthless and merely
ritualistic. Knowledge of the texts is
definitely higher than such a ritual.
Meditation on Him is
higher than knowledge of Him. Knowledge
without direct self experience is waste.
Scriptural knowledge can never offer experience. A drop of experience is better than an ocean
of knowledge. Reading and listening have
to be followed by introspection. Every
thing has an obvious and hidden meaning.
There may also be a deeply buried subtle meaning. That can be unearthed and grasped only on
introspection or meditation. Hence,
meditation is higher than knowledge.
Karma
phala tyaaga is higher than meditation.
The term ‘Karma phala Tyaaga’ has been well explained in the 47th
verse of chapter II. The body, senses,
mind, Buddhi, wealth, position, fame, status, all those we have got in this
world are to be expended towards welfare of the world and never for self
gratification or other selfish desires.
All the tasks performed using these are His and are performed only for
Him. The results from these tasks are
also His wish and His grace. Neither
attachment with the actions nor aversion to those. No expectation of a favourable fruit. Neither attachment nor aversion to the fruits
acquired. Therefore neither joy over
‘favourable’ fruit nor grief over ‘unfavourable’ one. Where is the scope for burden or stress in
such a state? There arises perfect peace.
Wife
and children do not bind. The attachment
one has on them binds. The job or
profession have no power to bind. The
expectations from and attachments with these bind. I met one of my classmates, after a long
gap. He was a meritorious syudent. He was running a ‘hardware and networking’
company. He had a house in an area of
the rich men in Nagpur and two de-luxe cars.
Both his sons were students in best academic institutes. He was obviously doing well. He looked sad. I enquiered the reason. This was his reply. “I have achieved nothing in my life. I am a failure”. I pointed out the marks of his achievements,
visible to me. “Inspite of these
achievements, what could be the reason for you to feel otherwise? I would like you to ponder over this”. I gave him a sort of homework. He came in the night with his reply. “I probably expected to match the performance
of Narayanamurthy or Azim Premji. That
should be the reason for my failure feeling.
I have spoilt my health as well as my relationship at home”.
There
is a story in Shreemad Bhagawatham (12th Skandham – 9th
chapter – 1st and 2nd shlokam). A gurar bird (must be a smaller variety of
vulture) was flying with a piece of meat in its beak. It was surrounded and followed by crows and
hawks. Those birds wanted to snatch the
piece of meat from this bird. Those
birds tried to attack this small bird.
The gurar bird dropped the piece of meat. All the birds troubling this left her and
went for the piece of meat. The gurar
bird settled and relaxed on a nearby tree.
An avdhoot, who saw this said, “You have become my Guru. Man can not escape troubles and gain peace in
this world unless he drops the burden of attachments. I learnt this from you”. Karmaphala tyaaga results in perfect peace.
Any
path towards Paramaatman, treaded with the right Bhavana, ultimately merges
with the path of Bhakti. Bhavana is
discussed in the next verse.
-\-
अद्वेष्टा
सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।
निर्ममओ
निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुख क्षमी ॥ १३ ॥
सन्तुष्टः
सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः ।
मय्यार्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो
मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥ १४ ॥
He who hates none, and is friendly and compassionate towards
every creature, who is rid of the feelings of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, even-minded in
pain and pleasure, forbearing, ever content, steady in meditation, self
controlled, and possessed of firm conviction, with mind and Buddhi fixed on Me,
is dear to Me.
(XII – 13, 14)
Madbhaktah sa mae priyah: ‘That my bhakta, devotee
is my beloved’. The next eight shlokams
elaborate on the bhakta, the bhakta dearest to the Lord. Who could be the dearest devotee? The one who worships Him daily, with the
choicest flowers; the one who recites
His ‘sahasra naama’ Names regularly and reads texts about Him; the one who decorates His form with gold, and
diamonds and lights thousand silver lamps;
the one, without fail, offers the tastiest, delicious preparations to
Him; the one decorates his forehead with
religeous marks, his chest with garlands of bead and goes to pilgrim
centers; No. No.
These are all external marks. The
inner appearance is more important.
These outer marks may or may not be there. The emotions, inside, the character is the mark
of devotion. Shri Krishna is more
concerned about the ‘within’ in deciding His dearest devotee. Let us listen to His words.
1.
Adweshtaa: - Dwesh means hatred or contempt. Adweshtaa is one without dwesh. Dislike is there, only where like is. Contempt is there only so long as admiration
is. Hatred or aversion remains till
desire or attachment is alive. If we get
rid of likes, admiration, attraction, desires and attachments, dislikes,
contempt, aversion and contempt will automatically vanish. We develop and retain strong likes and
dislikes, desire and hatred, admiration and contempt for things, places,
situations, persons, and experiences. In
food, we like sweet and hence dislike bitter.
We admire white or reddish skin and hence hate black skin. We seek cool environment and hence do not
want hot one and try to avoid (also a form of hate) a non-AC place. We love ‘welcome and support’ and hence hate
opposers and opposition. We admire the
rich as we are attracted to wealth.
Naturally, we hate and insult the poor.
We want to remain youthful and admire and run after glamorous youth
icons. That is why, we tease and make
fun of the old. We hold an idea as
dearest and hate an opposite ideology and its supporters. The ones unaffected by these duals, the ones
above these pairs of opposites, is Adweshtaa.
Lokmanya Tilak was
sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment and was jailed in
Mandalay. He was unaffected by the
prison walls and confinement. He wrote a
classic text on Gita, during his stay in the jail. Adweshta!
Veer Sawarkar was
awarded a rigorous, solitary confinement of fifty years in the cruellest of
prisons in Andaman. He suffered the
worst brutalities at the hands of British officers. His hands chained, his legs chained with a
heavy steel ball, he was whipped, was made to pull the oil crusher, his brother
also imprisoned in the same jail, news of death of his son, as though harshest
difficulties united against him. But,
Sawarkar came up with classic patriotic literature and poems during his
imprisonment. He sang Jayostute,
Swatantrate Bhagawati...(Oh Bhagawati!
the Devi of Independance) looking in the direction of mainland Bharat. This song is inspiring and melts down even a
hardened heart. Adweshtaa!
Nelson Mandela went
through a ‘twenty six’ years of imprisonment in Robinson islands. He was in solitary confinement. He could enjoy an open sky once a month. He had his food supplied through a slit in
the wall. There was a bucket to be used
in place of toilet. (The British seem to
be experts in building the harshest pisons.)
He spent so many years without interacting with a human. He has not allowed the bitterness to take
root in his mind. His childlike smile is
the proof. Hatred and violence did not
emerge in South Africa, though widespread in neighbouring countries like
Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique.
Adweshtaa!
2.
Sarvabhhotaanaam
Maitra: - Friendship with all lives. To
seek well being is friendship. To be friend
with the affectionate and favourable, is normal. It is unique and very special to be friend
with all lives, to seek the well being of all.
Friendship can not blossom in a mind where anger, jealousy and vengeance
flourish. Kaushika Rshi is known as
Vishwa Mitra or the friend of the whole world.
He was a king. He developed
jealousy for and entered in a competition with sage Vasishtaa. After years, when his mind was totally rid of
anger and jealousy, he became Vishwamitra.
He gifted the Gayatri Mantra, that benefits the whole of humanity. The Sun is also called Mitra, the
friend. He expresse nothing but the
welfare of all lives. He is the cause
and the source for all the essential need of all lives. 1. Oxygen.
The essential, life giving gas.
Sunlight acts on the green leaves and causes production of oxygen. 2. Light.
We all like light. Even the light
in the nights provided by the moon, is the gift of the Sun. Sunlight gives essential vitamins and
nourishments for our healthy life. We
know that even grass does not grow in areas denied Sunlight. 3. Food.
Sunlight is essential for growth of crops, plants and trees. We must thank the Sun for the food we
take. 4. Energy. Sun is the source of all the energy in the
world. 5. Water. There will be no ptable water, if there was
no Sun. The first condition for life to
exist is water and that is why scientist, probing for life in other planets,
looks for water there. He gives only the
beneficial, that to all, without any reservations or prejudices. Sarvabhhotaanaam Maitra!
One can be a friend of all,
only if he sees the Paramaatmana in all lives.
Sadhu Naamadeva lived around seven centuries ago. He was an ardent devotee of Panduranga. He saw Panduranga in all lives and
everywhere. He took anything he got as
Panduranga’s Prasad (grace). He used to
live on Bhiksha or alms. One day, he was
offered a dry roti and a cup of ghee, as bhiksha. He placed the Bhiksha on ground, closed eyes
and prayed. A dog took away the
roti. He chased the dog, caught and
affectionately held it in his arms. He
said, “Oh Panduranga! this dry roti will
hurt your gums. Please give it. I will apply ghee and feed you”. So saying, he took out the roti, spread ghee
over it and fed it with love. Sarvabhootaanaam
Maitra!
3.
Karuna:
- Karuna is compassion. Compassion will spring out from a mind less
concerned, less worried about self.
Travelling beyond the physical awareness is essential for
compassion. When one forgets own
desires, sensual pleasures, future plans and worries, and becomes one with
lives, compassion will bloom in him. The
eyes shed tears as soon as the leg is wounded because ‘I’ is expanded to cover
the whole body. If the ‘I’ could expand
beyond the physical frontier and encompass the other lives, hurt to any life
will hurt ‘I’. It was in such a state,
Shri Ramalinga Adigalaar was pained on seeing a dried plant.
Shibi, the Emperor,
saved a dove from the eagle and offered flesh from his own thigh as
compensation to the eagle. That was due
to Karuna. Prince Siddhartha (before he
became Gautama Buddha) nursed and saved the swan hurt by the arrow of a hunter,
only out of Karuna. Karuna is a
beautiful emotion of humans. This can be
experienced only if selfishness is subdued.
Shri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa was seated by the side of a paddy field. He was enjoying the beauty of the lush
field. He was as if immersed in the
gentle waving of the tender crops in the breeze. A horse gallopped through the field, crushing
the crop. Shri Ramakrishna shouted in
pain and fainted. Karuna!
4.
Nirmama:
- ‘Mama’ is mine. Nirmama is absence of
the thought of ‘mine’. The small, petty
worlds that man creates within this vast world are ‘mama’ or ‘mine’. He grabs on to and binds self to ‘my
country’, ‘my town’, ‘my caste’, ‘my house’ and so many such mines. Man starts the journey of life with the small
‘mine’ – my body. As he grows adds his
senses, mind, buddhi to his world of mine.
Then, more and more mine are added to his possessions. It is similar to the mentally deranged on the
street accumulating all sorts of rubbish in his bundle. Man spends his whole life on such
accumulations and never realizes that these can never be ‘mine’. They belong to the world and he is but a
temperory visitor to the world and has to leave the world and all the ‘mine’
gathered with so much dedication. These
bond him. He feels he has held or
possessed these. On the contrary, these
hold him and bind him. The policeman
binds the thief with a chain and holds the other end of the chain. He may feel, he is holding the thief. But, it is a fact that he is also bound with
the same chain and is not free. He is
under bondage so long as he holds the thief.
The cowherd binds the cow with a rope and holds it. He may feel to possess the cow, but is also
bound by the cow. The cow will not run
after him, if let free. He will run
after the cow as he is bound by her.
Only the one who is free from ‘mama’ is liberated.
Shri Ramana Maharshi
always used the word ‘it’ while referring to self. Swami Ramateertha once faced a hostile
audience in America and abuses and stones were hurled at him. On return to his place of stay, he said,
“Today, Ram faced a rough audience. Abuses
were showered on him. He even recieved
stones”. He was talking as if Ram
someone else. These men did not feel
even the bodies to be theirs. Nirmama!
Guru Nanak’s father ran
a shop in the town. He was worried about
Nanak’s disinterest in money and worldly things. He wanted Nanak to handle money and develop an
interest in money. He, once made Nanak
to sit in the shop. A customer came with
a demand for 25 measures of groundnut.
Nanak started pouring nuts using the measure and counted Ek, Do, teen. In Hindi ‘tera’ is for thirteen and ‘tera’
also means ‘yours’. He counted upto
twelve and when he uttered the word ‘tera’, he went into a state of ‘samadhi’. He repeated ‘tera’ for the next few
measures. The customer was
surprised. “What are you doing?” asked
he. Nanak was in a trance and said, “Sab
kucch tera. Kyaa hai mera?” (All is yours. What is mine?) The spirit of Yagya is similar. ‘Idam na mama’ (this is not mine) is the
Mantra recited while making offerings to fire.
Every bit of this world is Yours.
Nirmama!
Sadhu Ravi Meher was a
persian preacher. He had three
sons. Once, he had gone out for a
lecture programme. All his three sons caught
smallpox and died. His wife hid the dead
bodies under a cot. The sadhu returned
in the night. The wife remained silent
when he asked about the children. He
finished his bath, worship and sat for dinner.
He again asked, “where are the childre?
Have they gone to bed earlier today?”
The wife remained silent. After a
while, she said, “The neighbour had come in the noon asking for the utensils we
borrowed last week”. “The utensils are
theirs. You returned or not?” “You are right. I returned the utensils”. After the dinner, he again enquired about the
children. She took him into the room and
showed him the three dead bodies under the cot.
He talked on religion and Paramaatman.
Yet, he had not probably grasped the ideas he talked. He cried, beat his chest, fainted. He was hysterical. The wife consoled him and calmly said, “You
only said a few minutes back that they took what is theirs. The chidren are His. He gave them to us. Now, He has taken them back. Is it proper to grieve?” This is ‘Nirmama’.
5.
Nirahankaara:
- Aham is ‘me’. Nirahankara is ‘not me’, absence of ‘me’
feeling. Man binds self with prakruti
and feels ‘It is me’. He identifies with
the body, buddhi, the post he holds, etc. feels these to be ‘me’. I am beautiful; I am strong;
I am youthful; I am
intelligent; I am talented; I am rich;
I am humble; I am noble hearted; I am independent; I am of helping mind; I am the owner of huge assets; I am famous;
I am of superior caste; I am
honest; I am powerful; I am a big officer; I am poor;
I am helpless; I am
ignorant; I am sick; Oh!
how many types of ‘I’. He is
jubiliant, if the considered ‘I’ is pleased and is upset if the considered ‘I’
is hurt or insulted. ‘No one cares for
me’; ‘No one loves me’; ‘No one listens to me’, ‘Whom do you this am I’?; ‘You teaching ME?’; ‘You will realize My value only after I
die’; ‘None else would have faced so
much sufferings as ME’; ‘When I (with so
much intelligence) could not grasp this, how can you (a dud)?’; these are some of blah blahs of a bloated I.
An egoless state or a
state of Nirahankaara is the primary condition for Bhakti or devotion. Shri Rama’s younger brother Bharata was a
monument of Nirahankaara. He faced so
many insults. He was so much
misunderstood. Yet, he was not
disturbed. Bharata was in his maternal
uncle’s country, when his mother sought the two boons from King Dasharatha, one
to make Bharata the king and the other to send Shri Rama to the forests for
fourteen years. Mother Kaikeyi thought
that Bharata would be pleased and agree to this. But, she was wrong. Bharata was misunderstood and wrongly
assessed by his mother. Bharata was
asked to return under King’s orders.
When he returned, his other two mothers, the ministers, and the people
misunderstood and mistook him to be part of the conspiracy to send Shri Rama
away. They abused and cursed him for no
fault of his. He decided to go the
forests to fetch Shri Rama back to Ayodhya.
His intention was now doubted by the boatman Guha and brother
Lakshmana. Bharata was never perturbed
by all these. He placed Shri Rama’s
Sandals on the throne and ruled in His name.
He himself lived the life of a rigorous penance in a hut outside Ayodhya
for fourteen years. At the end of
fourteen years, Shri Rama sent Shri Anjaneya to test Bharata’s mind. “If it remains unchanged, we’ll return to
Ayodhya. Otherwise, we’ll stay back in
the forests”. Now, this was the severest
test for Bharata’s ‘Nirahankaara’ state.
He was doubted even by his dearest Rama.
All these for a ‘crime’ in no way connected to him. Anyone with even the slightest ego would have
broken down or would have burst out in rage.
But, Bharata was a Muni, a great Bhakta, totally Nirahankaara Bhakta!
6.
Sama
Duhkha Sukha: - Equi poised in pleasure
and pain. Balanced in both favourable
and adverse situations. One who has
always been in misery can possibly bear pain and not get stumbled, but may not
be so when faced with pleasure.
Similarly, the one used to plenty and pleasures, may not lose balance in
pleasurable situation, but will be disturbed in adverse situation. To remain the same to both pain and pleasure
is ‘sama duhkha sukha’ and is a mark of Bhakti.
Bhakta
Tukaram’s wife was delighted. “Finally,
my husband has become responsible to the family needs”, she thought, when she
saw him coming with a bundle of sugarcane on his head. Within a minute, her delight turned into
anger. Bhakta Tukaram was surrounded by
children on the street. Each of them
chanted, ‘Vittala Vittala’ and he would respond with a chant, ‘Panduranga
Vittala’ and gift each one of them with a sugarcane. Only one sugarcane remained with him when he
reached home. He gave that to his
wife. She was so enraged that she beat
him with same. The sugarcane broke into
four pieces. “Oh! Look at the grace of Panduranga. He has made four pieces of the sugarcane, as
there are four lives in the house.
Vittala, Vittala, Hari Hari Vittala”.
He was ecstatic and dancing in joy.
Sama duhkha sukha!
Dayasindhu
was a sadhu in Jagannatha Puri. He used
to sing glory of Jagannatha and sustain on Bhiksha or alms. One day, he chanted, ‘Bhavatee Bhikshaam
Dehee’ at the doorstep of a house. He
repeated it thrice as is the practice.
The woman in the house was selfish and short-termed. She got annoyed and threw abuses at him and
also a rag with which she was washing the floor. Sadhu Dayasindhu was smiling as ever. He took the rag and returned to the
temple. He washed and cleaned it and
made hundred and eight wicks out of it for the lamps. It was Ekadashi and a special evening in the
temple. He lighted hundred and eight lamps,
sang melodious bhajans in the Sannidhi of Lord Jagannatha. He was in a state of blissful ecstacy. The women who insulted him was in the temple
and was repentant as she realized his greatness. She humbly bowed at his feet. He was smiling, as was he when the rag was
thrown on him. Sama duhkha sukha!
Swami
Vivekananda learnt about the postponement of the Inter religeous Parliament by
three months, after he arrived in America at the end of May. He had very little money in a land with no
acquaintances. He went to the southern
parts of America and stayed in the countryside for three months. He returned to Chicago on the 9th
of September, in time for the conference beginning on the 11th. His small bundle of clothes was stolen and
lost and with it was lost the ‘letter of introduction’ to the organizers of the
conference. He was on the streets on the
9th and 10th of September. He spent the days roads and the nights in a
cement pipe by the side of the road.
There was no way he could enter the conference hall. He sat under a tree leaving everything to
God’s will. A lady appeared before him
and requested him to come to her house.
She arranged for his bath, breakfast and took him to the conference
hall. She introduced Swami Vivekananda
to Cardinal Gibbons, the chairman of the conference. Swami Vivekananda was finally on the stage,
with other participants. On the
inaugiral day, he spoke for a mere five minutes. That was the famous speech beginning with the
words, ‘Dear brothers and sisters of America’.
He was instantly famous. The New
York Times wrote, “Swami Vivekananda was undoubtedly the Hero of the
conference”. The richest of Chicago
competed with each other to host him. He
was at the residence of one of the richest and most influencial in Chicago on
the night of 11th September.
He was honoured with stay in a cosiest room, and served the best food
and fruits. He stared at the dazzling
Chicago at night, through the window and was intears. He remembered the millions of poor deprived
of even a single meal a day. The host
found him lying on the floor in the morning.
His eyes were reddish as wept and fainted. He was on the roads the previous night and on
the top of the world the next. He was
unknown person on the 10th night and had become most famous and most
sought after on the 11th.
This dramatic change did not stump him.
Sama duhkha sukha!
7.
Kshamee:
- Kshamee is the one who pardons. This is and aspect of the pure hearted. Only the Nirahankaari can forgive. It is common for human to hit back when the
‘I’ is hurt. He will wait for the right
opportunity to seek revenge. If he is
weak and can not pay back, he will be delighted when his adversary is in
trouble. “Even God could not bear what
he did to me. that is why, he has
punished him”. He will be pleased to
pull God also, in his petty game. His
ego will be in full light even when he forgives. “Poor fellow!
Let me be magnanimous and forgive you”, he will brag. Only the one whose I is completely subdued,
can forgive in real sense. He is
Kshamee. Forgiving is not mere
verbal. To erase every trace of the hurt
caused to self, is forgiving. When hurt
is not remembered, where is the need for ‘hit back’? There is no need for the act of forgiving
either. Such a person is Kshamee.
During
the Mughal rule, not only officers, but also common Muslim delighted in teasing
Hindus, especially the Sadhus. Sadhu
Ekanath used to wake up before Sunrise and go to river Godavari for his daily
bath. One day, when he got out of the river
after his bath, a Mussalman spat on him.
Ekanath went back to the river, took a dip and returned. This time the Mussalman threw cow-dung on
him. Ekanatha was not angry and took one
more bath. This went on and on. Verily, a war was on between love and hate,
between forbearance and envy.
Ultimately, love won and hate defeated.
Forbearance won vanquishing envy.
The Mussalman was exhausted and sought Sadhu Ekanath’s pardon. Ekanath calmly replied, “You have not
anything to be apologetic. It is me, who
should thank you. You have blessed me
with so many dips in the Holy river Godavari on this auspeciou day of
Ekadashi”. Kshamee!
8. Santushta Satatham: - Satatham Santushta
is the ‘ever contented, ever joyous.
There is a secret hidden in the word santosha, meaning happiness. Tosha is content and tushta is the one who is
contented, one who is full. Santosha
means total or perfect contentment and that is the word used for happiness. Where there is complaint, there is
sadness. Happiness is possible only when
there is no complaint and there is total contentment. These are two types of attitudes. One who is plunged in the worldly life with
all its shades has the attitude of finding faults, of complaining, of
dissatisfaction. Hence, he is always
tense and sad. The attitude of a bhakta
is of viewing the whole, of contentment, and hence, he is always in a blissful
state.
Shri Ravidas, a cobbler and very poor, was a Krishna
Bhakta. Once, a Sadhu visited him in his
hut. Ravidas welcomed him and honoured
him with food. He presented the Sadhu
witha pair of new sandals, when he departed.
Th Sadhu was ovewhelmed, at Ravidas’ genuine hospitality. He said, “Dear Ravidas, you are doing great
service to the Sadhus. I feel your
serice should continue unhampered. It
should not stop for want of money. I
wish to give you a special stone, the Parasmani. It can convert iron into gold, by a mere
touch. Poverty will not peep into your
house once again”. So saying, he touched
the cobbler’s stand made of steel and it turned into dazzling gold. Ravidas’s face turned gloomy. “How will I ever stich a shoe?” he
despaired. “Why do you grieve? You can purchase a thousand steel stands with
this golden one. And, why at all should
you stich shoes? Whenever you need
money, you can just touch any piece of iron and get any amount of gold. Now, you can devote more time in Bhakti and
service of Sadhu”. The Sadhu’s words
tried to tempt Ravidas. “No. I do not need this. Please take this back. I remember Shri Krishna in my own small way. I serve the Sadhus to the extent possible. The thought on gold and ways to protect it
will snatch away Shri Krishna’s memory from me”, said Ravidas. The Sadhu did not agree and placed the
Parasmani stone in the thatched roof and said, “I hide this here. Whenever you feel like, you can take it and
use it for creating wealth”. The Sadhu
returned after a couple of years and was surprised to find Ravidas in the same
state of poverty. “Where is the stone I
gave you?” he asked. “Look at the place
where you left it. It will be there”,
replied Ravidas. The Sadhu was
pleasantly surprised. Here is a man
refusing to take a treasure pot at arm’s reach.
“If you had willed, you could have built a grand temple for Shri Krishna
and served food to thousands daily and earned a lot of Punya”. (The illusionary thought of doing greater
service to humanity if we could get large amount of money, is a trap.) “I spend my time apart from shoemaking, in
small Pooja and involve in very little service to those at my doorstep. And I am peaceful in this humble
service. Let me be in this state” said
Ravidas. The Sadhu humbly bowed down and
touched his feet. Saint Ravidas, the
Santushta!
9.
Yogee: -
Ever relating with the Paramaatman.
Always plunged in the thoughts of the Lord. It does not, mean not in worldly
activities. It does not mean he is
divorced from the world and is in seclusion.
He is not attached or stuck to the world. The taste of the world does linger in his
mind. The vision of the world colour his
mind. We drink Coffee. It leaves its fragrance within us. The next day, this fragrance left within us
cause our eyes and mind to look for coffee.
The nose, tongue and the mind get excited and pleased at the arrival of
coffee. And are upset and displeased at
non-arrival. The Yogee is engrossed in
Paramaatman. His body consumes
coffee. His tongue touches the coffee. The coffee does not stir up his
interior. There is no imprint of this
intake of coffee within him. Sant
Gyaaneshwar was a parama yogee. He did
the Gita in simple Marathi, named Gyaaneshwari.
His father took up Sannyaasa, returned home and re-entered
Grihastaashram (family life) and hence was boycotted by the village. The childhood of Gyaanesgwar was a period of
great distress. His parents passed away,
leaving a younger brother and a sister under his care. He was barely twelve years of age then. The village elders humiliated these children
and made them suffer for daily food and shelter. These bitter experiences did leave any impact
in Gyaaneshwar’s young Yogee mind. A
perfect Yogee!
10.
Yataatmaa: - Yataatmaa is one in perfect control of his
body, senses, mind and buddhi. The mind
and Buddhi of a Bhakta, having been offered to the Lord, are already silenced
and peaceful. Hence, there is no need
for him to exercise control over these.
11.
Drudha Nischaya: - The determined. Most of us aspire to adhere to Dharma, ‘to
the extent possible’. Conviction that,
‘I will stick to Dharma’ is determination.
‘I’ll follow Dharma so long there is no trouble’ is convenience and not
conviction. Vibheeshan argued with
Ravana on Dharma, but was firm to tread the path of Dharma. He chose the path of Dharma, in other words,
he chose to stand by Shri Ram, only after he was insulted and kicked out by
Ravana.
Drudha
Nischaya is the firmness, not swaying from chosen path, under any
circumstances. The nine years old
Narayan was on the banks of River Godavari, for his evening obligations, when
he saw there the ruins of the temple tower, vandalised by the Mughals. He was deeply anguished. He offered palmful of water thrice and took a
vow to replace the rule which indulged in demolition of temples by a rule which
will protect temples. He entered the
temple and stood in front of Anjaneye sannidhi and prayed. “Oh Anjaneya!
You jumpled acroos the ocean and found Mother Sita, abducted and
imprisoned by Ravana. You killed
thousands in Ravana’s army, torched Lanka and demoralized Ravana. Please give me that kind of physical strength
and will power. The child remained
speechless and always in introspective mood after that. He would say, “I am thinking of the world”,
when asked the reason for his silence.
The elders were worried and thought marriage would cure his
‘ailment’. They fixed a bride for him
and started preparations for his marriage.
The day of marriage arrived.
Narayan in his early teens was decorated as the groom and brought to the
Mandapam. The Mantras were recited. There is a practice of reciting
Mangalashtakam before the bondage is finalized.
The word ‘Savadhan’ is repeated eight times in this Mantram. (Savadhan means ‘be alert’.) It cautions the bride and the groom about the
responsibilities towards each other and other responsibilities in a married
life. Narayan was really alerted by the
word. “Oh Narayana! What are you about to do? You are getting trapped. You have taken a vow to a different life”. Narayan was reminded of his vow. He threw the marriage garland, jumped off the
marriage platform and started running.
The others were puzzled and ran after him to catch. His was a speed fuelled by a mission and
others could not match. He jumped into
the river Godavari, swam across and disappeared into the forests. He reappeared as Swami Samartha Ramadas after
twelve years, at the end of a severe penance.
He had been blessed by the Darshan of Shri Anjaneya. He had practised a rigorous physical exercise
and his body had become as if it was made of steel. He roamed around, established Anjaneya
temples in every small village and inspired thousands of youth to regular and
tough physical exercise. In fact, his
work was laying the foundation for Shivaji’s Independent Hindu Rajya. He was the spiritual guide of Shivaji
Maharaj. Yes. He was an emblem of Determination. Drudha Nischayee Swami Samartha Ramadas!
The
will power of the Gurus in Sikh tradition was very high. The impact of their firmness is visible in
the Sikh society till date. The sixth
Guru, Guru Arjan Dev was roasted alive by the Mughal king, Shahjahan, for
refusing to convert into Islam. The
ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was arrested, by Aurangazeb, along with his three
disciples. He was confined in a small
sized cage and tortured to accept Islam.
He refused. His three disciples
were tortured and brutally done to death, in front of him. One was split into two by running a saw on
head. Bags of cotton were tied all the
body of the second disciple and ignited.
The cotton burnt slowly and killed him after long and horrible
torture. The third disciple was placed
in an oil pot and fried to death. Guru
Tegh Bahadur was calm and unperturbed.
He was beheaded. His son and the
Tenth Guru, Shri Guru Gobind continued the fight. His two elder sons were killed in a battle
against muslim army. His younger two
sons were arrested and threatend with live burial. They were merely nine and seven years
old. A wall was built around them and
they were asked to accept Islam, everytime the wall rose by a few inches. They were stubbornly refused to convert,
saying, “We are born in a family of Lions and will not be cowed down by
lambs”. They were buried alive, in the
wall. Banda Bairagi took the leadership
after Shri Guru Gobind. He too was
arrested and asked to convert. His body
was amputed bit by bit. His eyes were
pierced, his one year old child was killed and his heart thrust into his
mouth. He was brutally mercilessly
tortured for 92 days. He faced death
valiantly, but refused to give up Hindu Dharma.
This was the great sikh tradition of Will Power. The quality dear to Shri Krishna, Drudha
Nischaya!
12.
Mayyaarpita
Manah Buddhi: - Manas and Buddhi
surrendered to Me. Mind surrenders where
there is love. A Bhakta is one who is
disinterested in anything else but God.
The Buddhi (the Intellect) surrenders where there is Shraddha. There is nothing superior or treasurable than
The Lord for the Bhakta. Love and
Shraddha for Him are the twin assets of a Bhakta. Hence, surrender of Mind and Buddhi is easily
perfected by a Bhakta. The Bhakta does
not consider mind and buddhi as his own.
When the ‘whole’ is surrendered, the ‘parts’ have no other option. The great and inspiring poetic creations by
Meera, Jayadeva, Tulasidas, Tyagabrahmam, are by absolutely surrendered minds.
-\-
यस्मान्नोद्विजते
लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः ।
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो
यः स च मे प्रियः ॥ १५ ॥
He by whom the world is not agitated, and who cannot be
agitated by the world, who is freed from joy, envy, fear and anxiety, - he is
dear to Me.
(XII - 15)
Shri Krishna is
mentioning two types of incitement; one
inciting many and many inciting one.
Udvega is a stormy mix of fear, hatred, grief, and anger. It is very short lived emotional burst. One word, one wordless sign or even a look is
enough to incite. It is potent enough to
cloud intellect and thinking. It destroys
discretion. Hitler incited passionate
hatred in the minds of masses. Lakhs of
Jews were eliminated. Our own young
Prime Minister commented, “Some plants will perish if a tree falls” and
justified the killings thousands of Sikhs.
I have personally experienced a mob venting deep rooted hatred. I was new to Chennai and gained acquaintance
of Rajasthani traders in Sahukarpet.
They used to celebrate Holi within the four walls of a hall. The hatred propogated in Tamil Nadu by the
Dravidian parties against the Northerners was the reason. That year, we decided to take out a
procession on the streets. We exchanged
colours cautiously. In spite of our
utmost caution, colour powder got sprinkled on a ‘Tamil’. Within seconds, a mob gathered and started
attacking us with everything it could lay hands on, stones, chappals, bottles,
Iron rods. Our group got scattered and
ran for life. I got a nasty and deep cut
on my back, by a knife thrown.
Application of colour was not the reason for this violence. It was a mere spark to ignite the hatred,
accumulated over years through the hate-campaign. Similarly, there are instances of mob
inciting an individual. In the casinos
and gambling dens, the player is excited by the crowd to play on. The WWF shows on some TV channels is also an
example of many inciting one. A timid
crowd fulfills its own hidden emotions by gathering behind one and inciting
him. One lacking in confidence hides
behind others, trying to gather support for selfish motives. Such a person is susceptible to incitement by
others too. A person is susceptible to
incitement by others, only if fear, hatred, lack of confidence, jealousy, etc
have preoccupied his mind.
(13)
Not to incite others and (14) Not to be incited by others. These two are great attributes. Balance, Purity, Determination, Clarity and
Shraddha are essntials for gaining these two qualities. The actions of a Bhakta do not incite or
excite others. But, the wicked ones
nourish hatred for him. The Bhakta is
not responsible for this. Bhartruhari in
his famous Neeti Shatakam has this to say.
“The deer in the grass fields, the fish in waters, and the Bhakta in his
contented state of mind live in peace.
But, the hunter, the fisherman and the wicked develop hatred and enmity,
unprovoked and unreasonable, towards the deer, fish and the Bhakta
respectively”. (61st).
(15)
The Bhakta free from joy, envy, fear and excitement or anxiety is dear to
Me. Harsha is euphoria or
jubiliation. It does not mean that
Bhakta is not happy. He is ever
blissful. He is affected by the sensual
and momentous worldly pleasures.
Amarsha
is envy developing in mind on seeing someone else rise and prosper. Worldly things like wealth, fame, status,
etc. are the factors for this envy. Envy
does not spare even the persons in spiritual world. It is acceptable if the progress of others
inspires one to work harder. But, the
thought on his ‘growth and higher status’ is bad and unhealthy. It will cause fall. The realization that Paramaatman is the Only
One and there is nothing else, will help in eliminating envy.
Fear
is common to all. Fear of death is very
powerful. The wise Gyaani may not have
other fears. He too is not exempt
fromfear of death. The troubles
developing in body due to long hours of spiritual practice, cause fear in
him. Fears about the well being of
family may torture evn the other-wise detached spiritual seeker. But, the Bhakta lives totally relying on God. He has surrendered wholly to Him. He accepts every happening as His grace. Hence, a Bhakta has no fears or anxiety about
anything. In the sixteenth chapter, Shri
Krishna mentions fearlessness as a Divine attribute.
Udvega
is the excitement or disturbance rising in the mind. Not only the other lives, but natural
calamities like earthquake, cyclone, fire, etc. may also cause Udvega. A spiritual seeker may be disturbed at not
achieving desired results in his practice.
If reliance on Him is not total and a bit of own effort is alive, the
Bhakta is excited. The burgler breaks into
a house with cash and valuables inside.
What will he take if there is nothing inside? Similarly, a bhakta is without the impurities
like likes and dislikes, lack of Shraddha, discontent, etc. How could the external factors disturb his
mind?
-\-
अनपेक्षः
शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथः ।
सर्वारम्भ
परित्यागी यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥ १६ ॥
He who is free from dependence, who is pure, prompt,
unconcerned, untroubled, renouncing every undertaking, - he who is thus devoted
to Me, is dear to Me.
(XII - 16)
Yo Mad Bhaktah sa mae
Priyah: - Shri Krishna elaborates on one more set of qualities in the devotee
dearest to Him.
16.
Anapeksha: - The one who does not expects.
Should we not expect even the normal, essential needs, for the body’s
sustenance? There is a phenomenon we
commonly come across. One desires and
tries passionately. He does not
get. But, the one not wanting, not in
the race, gets. Bhakta usually may not
have other expectations. Yet, he too may
expect the bare essentials for body’s sustenance. He may expect to get the Grace of God, or the
Vision of God. Not to have even these
expectations is Perfect Love.
There
was a Sadhu. The incident that inspired
him to become one is interesting. He
joined the court of a king as his counseller after finishing twelve years of
Gurukula education. One day, the
princess came to him to clarify. He
looked at her chest area and asked innocently, “What are these two swellings on
your chest?” “These are for production
and storage of food for my child, when I bear one” she replied. He was wonderstruck. ‘So, He has made arrangements for feeding a
yet-to be born child. He will difinitely
take care of me too. Why should I worry
and try to please the King for an unworthy employment?’ He instantly left the palace. Yet, he wanted to test God. He decided not make any effort for food. He went to the forest and hid at the top of a
tree. Day passed and it was night
time. Nothing happened till it was
midnight. A gang of four dacoits came
there to partition the day’s loot. The
leader said, “I feel hungry. Go and look
for fruits, if any”. Two of them went in
search of food. They found a shephard’s
food package hung from a tree. The food
was sufficient for four of them. They
were about to start eating, when the leader said, “Do not eat. This food may be poisoned. There must be someone who knows our den
(meeting place). He has conspired to kill
us and take all the loot. He must
definitely be hiding somewhere around.
Go and find out”. They found out
the youth hiding on the top of a tree.
They pulled him down. One of them
forced the food into his mouth while the others held his hands. He was joyous at realizing God’s grace and
was in tears. And he become a Sadhu that
very second.
Aspiration to be blessed
with God’s Vision or Liberation also need not be there. He knows.
May He act as per His wish. Who
are we to demand? Love, Perfect Love
without any expectation, is the mark of a Bhakta. Like a flower emitting and spreading
scent. No. It is wrong to say, it emits or spreads
smell. The flower does not do
anything. It just is. Smell is its being. Smell is an expression of its being. Love is Nature. It is not an act. Love is experienced by every one. If it is restricted to own child, or own relation,
it is not Love. It is attachment with
expectation, like trade.
17. Shuchi: - Purity. Purity, internal and external. Cleanliness in body, clothes, speech,
thoughts, etc. That is the Nature of a
Bhakta. In the present times, outer
cleanliness is considered most important.
It is meant merely for show off.
We avoid white dhoti and go for coloured lungi and jeans, as impurity is
not explicitly visible. Bath is replaced
with perfumes and scented powders. ‘Impurity
is OK, but should not be visible to the world.
Many of us put in so much effort to make the outer clothes shining and
impressive, but use shabby, torn inner wear.
Clear
pronunciation, good choice of words and meaningful speech are indicators of
purity in speech. The speech of a Bhakta,
immersed in Love for God, is pure, benevolent.
The most important is purity in mind, the thoughts. Perfect cleanliness in all the external
factors without purity within, is hypocritical.
The interior of a Bhakta is full of Divinity and has no place for
impurity.
18.
Daksha: - Alert. One who is watchful in
his deed. One who does not fluctuate
from his chosen path. There is only one
deed for every human being. That is to
realize that all the alluring pleasures in the world are mythical and can not
be source for happiness. Alertness in
not getting trapped in these is a quality dear to the God.
19.
Udaaseena: - Ut means ‘on’. Aaseena
means ‘to sit’. One seated peacefully,
without any worries, is Udaaseena. One
seated on a peak of a mountain can see all the anxious run, furious storm of
grief, frenzied jubiliation and all other movements in the town below. If he sits higher, he may probably see the
movement of the whole earth. Similarly,
the Bhakta, seated peacefully over the many ups and downs of life, is dear to
the Lord.
20.
Gatavyathah: - This is different word for Udaaseena. One who is never sad and grieving. Anything may come, may not come. He is never gloomy and is ear devotee of the
Lord.
21.
Sarvaarambha Parityaagee: - One who has renounced all undertakings, the start
of every undertaking. Undertakings are
initiated with the sole purpose of seeking pleasures and comforts and for
gaining the suitable objects. The
purpose may not be explicit at the start of any undertaking. Efforts are made to hide this selfish purpose
behind noble thoughts and glossy words.
One sees a luxury vehicle and is drawn towards it. He desires to own it. He says, “I do not seek the comforts. I am just wondering at man’s wonderful
creative ability. Anyhow, it will be
useful to so many, if I purchase one”.
He looks at a beautiful woman and convinces himself that he is merely
appreciating beauty. When he initites a
new undertaking for earning wealth, he says, “I do not need wealth at all. But, so many good, beneficial projects can be
run if I earn substantial wealth. If
wealth comes to a good man (like me), the whole town will be benefitted”. ‘Substantial’ is never defined and hence,
wealth earning for self goes on. A
bhakta refuses even to start such ventures and is dear to Him.
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यो न
हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति ।
शुभाशुभपरित्यागी
भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः ॥ १७ ॥
He neither rejoices, nor hates, nor grieves, nor desires, renouncing
good and evil, full of devotion, he is dear to Me.
(XII - 17)
26. Shubhaashubha Parityaagee: - He resorts
to neither unholy acts nor holy or pious acts.
It does not mean he has given up these acts. More than doing or avoiding the acts, he does
not hold prejudice against or bias towards these acts. He neither hates unholy acts, nor is he
attached to holy ones. He is in actions
without any attachment or bondage with those.
In such a state, he does not do even while doing.
-\-
समः
शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः ।
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु
समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥ १८ ॥
तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी
सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् ।
अनिकेतः
स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः ॥ १९ ॥
He who is the same to friend and foe, and also in honour and
dishonour; who is the same in heat and
cold, and in pleasure and pain; who is
free from attachment; to whom censure
and praise are equal; who is silent,
content with anything, homeless, steady-minded, full of devotion, - that man is
dear to Me.
(XII – 18, 19)
A devotee is dear to the
Paramaatman when equilibrium, sense of balance develops in him. Equilibrium so developed reflects in all
actions and interactions. Yet, Shri
Krishna takes up in detail various situations where equilibrium is to be
attained. 27. A friend is one who acts favourably, with our
well-being in mind, and soothing to our minds.
The one who acts in contrary, unfavourably, against our well-being,
disliked by our minds, is an adversary. Only
humans are being discussed here. The
temple priest performs worship of the ‘Idol’ atleast five times a day. Is he dear to the Lord? Yes, if he is equal and balanced in his
interactions with men. Is he the same
when a minister (who can do favours) visits the temple and a richkshaw-puller
visits. Is he the same to one who places
rupee notes in the plate and one who offers coins? A devotee is expected to be equal in
relation, not merely with the unconnected men, but also with friends and
adversaries.
28. Maana is an experience that stimulates
Ahankara. Apamaana is that which injures
Ahankara. If one regards self as someone
of importance, he develops ahankara. One
for whom there is nothing else other than Paramaatman, one who has surrendered
to Him, has no Maana and Apamaana.
29.
Cold and warmth, within limits, are comfortable to the body and painful or
discomfort if beyond limits. One who is
equal in both the situations need not be with insensitive skin. His mind does neither relish nor dislikes
these situations. He does not seek one
and reject the other. In fact, his mind
is unconcerned and fails to register these experiences.
30.
Experience soothing to the manas is Sukha and uncomfortable to the manas is
Duhkha. Sukha and duhkha are only for
those who seek worldly objects, only for those whose manas is directed towards
the senses. To walk a distance is
duhkha. To travel the distance in a
vehicle is sukha. To travel in a crowded
vehicle is duhkha. To travel alone in an
AC vehicle is sukha. If one can eat his
favourite items, it is sukha. If he has
to eat whatever is thrown at him, it is duhkha.
If one can roam around freely, it is sukha. If restrictions are imposed, then it is
duhkha. When there is preferrance, when
there is an effort to avoid one seek another, the inner equi-poise is
disturbed. To remain unconcerned at
anything that comes, is equilibrium.
What is sukha and what is duhkha for the one who has turned away from
the world and turned his sight towards the Paramaatman? None of the worldly objects can give him
either sukha or duhkha. 31. The detached one, living in this world like a
lotus-petal, is dear to the Paramaatman.
32.
To be appreciated is fame and its opposite is ridicule. Man has an inherent fear of being destroyed
and reduced to nothing. Fear of death is
a similar one. He seeks fame to
establish self permanently in others’ minds and hence in this world. (A devotee engaged in spiritual practices
reveals his experiences only with an intent of acquiring fame.) On the contrary, he feels as if he is being
destroyed when subjected to ridicule.
There are a few who resort to suicide on being ridiculed as they cease
to see any purpose in living. Shri
Krishna performed His Leela in Brindavan and was the cynosure of all eyes
there. He was appreciated and admired when
He vanquished Kamsa and set right the governance in Mathura. He was ridiculed and mocked at, when He fled
from Mathura and established a new state in Dwarika, when Mathura faced
continuous onslaughts by Jarasandha and his army. He was abused and accused of meanness and
wickedness by Shishupala and Jarasandha, in the court of Yudhishthira. Shri Krishna was perturbed neither by fame
and appreciation nor by ridicule and accusation. He remained calm. One who is same to both fame and ridicule is
dear to Him.
33.
Mouni: - Mouni is one who is silent. Not
talking is not Silence. No talking can
be attained through practise or can also be the effect of an ailment. Tsunami waves are caused by tremours under
the sea thousands of kilometers away.
Talk is the effect of thoughts arising deep within.
Mounam or silence is total absence of tremours within. Attachment with the world and developments
therein causes thought waves within while Seeking the Paramaatman
silences. Mounam results when the
Paramaatman fills up the inner world.
The mouni is dear to Me.
34.
Santushta: - Contented. It has been
already explained. Enakenachit is a
unique phrase. Unconcerned with the ways
of the world. He is full within that he
is not interested in and is not disturbed by developments in the world around.
35.
Aniketa: - Aniketa is ‘shelter-less’.
Does not mean he is on the road.
A subhashitam says ‘Udaara Charitaanaam tu Vasudhaiva Kutumbhakam’. The whole world is home or family to a broad
minded person. There is another
subhashitam which says, ‘Swadesho Bhuvanatrayam’, or all the three worlds are
own village. When the whole world, nay
all the three worlds, are waiting to be his home, why squeeze self into a small
piece of land calling it ‘my house’?
When the Paramaatman Himself is ready to embrace him, why cling on to
petty things calling those ‘mine’? One
with no ‘own’ house is very dear to the Paramaatman.
36.
Sthiramathih: - One with firm, stable Buddhi.
He is the same as the sthitapragnya, discussed in detail in the second
chapter. Detached one, unconcerned one
can be sthiramathi. One desirous of
gaining sukha from worldly objects can not be detached (II - 44). Even the knowledge that the world is an
illusion may not erase attachment. We
know well that the cinema is a mere shadow on a screen. That does not cause detachment. We see people weeping, laughing, applauding
in a cinema hall. Devotion to the Parama
will not stabilize buddhi, so long as the attachment with the world
remains. The moment attachment is gone,
Buddhi is stabilized, due to the realization that ‘Only Parama is’ (II-41). The one with stable-buddhi is dear to the
Parmaatman.
-\-
ये तु
धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते ।
श्रद्द्धाना
मत्परमा भक्तास्तेsतीव मे प्रियाः ॥ २० ॥
And they who follow this Immortal Dharma, as described
above, endued with Shraddha, regarding Me as the Supreme Goal, and devoted, -
they are exceedingly dear to Me.
(XII - 20)
Elaboration on Bhakti
Yog concludes with this shlokam. Shri
Krishna mentions three important aspects here.
Shraddha is the basis for Bhakti Yog.
There can not be Bhakti in absence of Shraddha. The goal of Bhakti is Paramaatman. Nothing else, incuding special,
extra-ordinary powers or worldly comforts and affluence can be the purpose of
Bhakti. The third aspect is that mere
knowing is not enough. Practising the
knowledge is more important. The devotee
who tries in this direction is My most beloved devotee. In the previous seven shlokams, He mentions
the devotees who have attained Bhakti Yog and says they are dear to Me. In this concluding shlokam, He is mentioning
the childlike devotee trying to take the first step on the path of Bhakti. The other children, of course, are dear to
Me. But, this Child is Most Beloved.
In the shlokams 13 to
19, Shri Krishna repeats five times the phrase ‘he is my dear devotee’ (Shlokam
14, 15, 16, 17 and 19). He has mentioned
36 bhavanas and says the one with these is dear to Me. Does He expect all the 36 in one? Shri Krishna mentions the Bhavana dear to Him in
five groups. The devotee needs to adopt
one of these. Otherwise, He would not
have repeated some of the Bhavanas.
[Santushta appears twice (14th and 19th). ‘One in whom the pairs like desire-hate,
happiness-grief are absent’ has been mentioned using different terms, in all
the five parts. It is termed ‘Adweshta
(no hatred), Nirmama (no attachment) and Sama duhkha-sukha (same in pleasure and
pain)’ in the 13-14th; ‘Harsha
amarsha Bhaya Udvega Mukta’ in 15th;
in 16th, He uses the terms ‘Anapeksha (without expectation),
Udaaseena (unconcerned), and Gatavyatha (beyond grief)’; It is ‘na hrushyati na dweshti na shochati na
kaankshati’ in the 17th; In
the 19th shlokam, He says, ‘Sanga vivarjitha (One who has dissolved
attachment) sheetoshna sukhaduhkheshu sama (same in hot and cold, pain and
pleasure)’. The devotee in whom one of
these five groups of Bhavan is present in total, dear to the Paramaatman.
When we analyse the
bhavanas, we realize that in Bhakti the core issue, the most essential one is
to eradicate attachment and hatred, to establish an equi-poise in sight. This status is achieved through practise in the
Yoga-marga. The same is attained in
Bhakti-marga upon the realization that ‘He is the only One’ and there is
nothing else.
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ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सु ब्रह्म विद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्री कृष्णार्जुन संवादे 'भक्ति योगो नाम’ द्वादशोsध्यायः ॥
Thus concludes ‘Bhakti
Yog’, the twelfth chapter in the grand dialogue between Shree Krishna and
Arjuna, called the Shreemad Bhagawad Geetha, which is verily an Upanishad,
elaborating on ‘The Divine Knowledge’ and also describing the ‘Way to Godhood’.
\\\\\ HARIH OM TAT SAT \\\\\
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