Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga is
the path of devotion.For many readers of the Bhagavad Gita, the book
appears only as a text of Bhakti or devotional path."How can it be
anything else?" ---they ask.After all , the Lord himself spoke and spoke
about devotion to his own person.
When Lord Krishna spoke to Arjuna all those esoteric knowledge,
note that Arjuna considered him only as a friend, not an incarnation of
God.Krishna was his friend,philosopher and guide.Slowly the Lord
convinces him that he is not an ordinary human being or just a
saint,but God himself. First the Lord says that he knows about his past
lives and that of Arjuna, but Arjuna does not know about his past
life.He taught ancient rishies, long dead according to time scale...all
these are indications of the Lord's Divine Being....In Chapter 9, the
Lord says that he is everything.
" I am the way,the supporter,the Lord,
the witness,the Abode,the friend, the origin,the Dissolution,the
resting place,the store house, the eternal seed " [9:18]
Still Arjuna is not convinced.The Lord then tells emphatically:
"I am the origin of all,eveything
evolves from Me.Knowing this,the wise worship Me with loving
ecstasy." [10:8]
This verse clinches the issue.If you are wise,you will realize that
Lord Krishna is the Origin of everything."You will worship Me with
devotional fervour."
But the friend Arjuna does not take Krishna to be the Supreme
Being...Why? because the Lord was too close to him as a friend and
guide..this is the difficulty....How many people saw divinity in Sri
Ramakrishna when he lived on earth?..only a few.How many persons took
Shirdi Sai Baba as divine being?--only a few.
If only people would worship him with devotion,the Lord will give the wisdom---same as that of a jnani.
"I am the Self existing in the heart of all beings" [10:20]
Slowly the not- so- wise Arjuna,like most of us,gets convinced of the divinity of Krishna.
Now , humbled, Arjuna asks:
" O Supreme Being,I desire to see Thy Godly Form" [11: 3]
Then the Lord gives him divine sight --- a form of intuitve perception...
' But with those eyes of thine, thou canst see Me; therefore I give
thee divine sight.Behold my supreme Yoga
Power"
[11-8]
Now ,with Divine sight , Arjuna sees the Vishwa -rupa-darshan ---the
cosmic form of Krishna the Lord."With many faces, many eyes
--------.The awesome form ,like a blinding Thousand Suns should blaze
forth..."Note that the cosmic form of the Lord cannot be seen with
human eyes----one needs cosmic vision.....
Now comes the lesson for Arjuna and all of us...".How to get the cosmic vision?"
The Lord tells towards the end of Chapter 11:
"Neither by the vedas,nor by austerities, nor by charity,
nor by sacrifice can I be seen as thou had seen
Me. [11:53]
But by single
-hearted devotion alone, can I be seen in this manner ,O Arjuna, and
perceived in reality and also entered into. "
[11:54]
These two verses seal all the arguments about the efficacy of
devotional path.If one developes single-hearted devotion to Lord
Krishna, then he will have cosmic vision through which he will also
attain Jnana and merge with the Divine Being.
These verses have been the main plank of bhakti Yogis or Supreme devotees.
{ Note that vedas, austerities,charity and sacrifices are not
unimportant.....but these alone will not lead to beatitude.One needs
supreme, one pointed devotion to the Lord.
There are anecdotes of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu [Gauranga] who was indeed a
scholar, tought a vedic school, but threw away all scriptures,sent the
students away and took to singing and dancing about Lord Krishna.Such
was his devotion.]
[Note : The cosmic vision which was 'like a thousand suns' from the
Gita was quoted by Robert Oppenheimer,the atomic scientist who was
directing the Manhatten Project, at the time of first (test)
atomic bomb blast in Alamogardo,New Mexico, USA in 1945.]
Practical Means
The Lord elaborates on the path of devotion in Chapter12;It is a brief chapter with only 20 verses.
The Lord clearly states that it is difficult to worship the
unmanifested [the abstract ,formless,attributeless God or Self of
philosophers], but easy to pursue devotion with Personal God {ishta devata}--God with
form.
One verse from this chapter will do to bring home the path of devotion:
"For them whose hearts
are thus fixed on Me, O Arjuna, I become ere long [very soon] the
Saviour from the Ocean of mortal samsara [the cycle of birth and
death]. [12:7]"
The previous verse states:
" Those who
surrendering all actions to Me, and regarding Me as the Supreme
Goal,worship Me with single-hearted
devotion" [12-6]
The message is clear: surrender all actions to
Me---karma yoga;regard Me as the supreme goal--faith in Him; worship
with single hearted devotion....
Note that in verse 7 the Lord promises that before long or very soon, He will act as your Saviour.
[The Lord then narrates the qualities of a devotee in verses 13 to 20.]
[Note: An elaborate treatment of bhakti Yoga is given in Narada Bhakti
Sutras and also in Shandilya's and other texts based on the Bhagavata
puranas like Bhakti Ratna Vali. But none has the authority of Lord's
words found in the Gita.
The Gita , like other great scriptures, should be read several times, as it reveals layer after layer of meaning and insight.!
May the devotees take to the verses in the Gita.!
Self Surrender
The highest form of devotion is that of Self-Surrender to the
Lord,called 'Saranagathi' by Vaishnava saints.The devotee slowly gets
the feeling that he is not the doer,only the Lord does everything.Since
he is not the doer,he is not the enjoyer also.In this state of mind, he
does actions more like a robot.The results or fruits of actions do not
cling to him.He becomes a true renunciate in thought and action.When
that state is reached,with the Lord as the sole refuge, the Grace
of the Lord decends on the devotee.All the sins due to past actions are
absolved.The Lord gives him the liberation or Moksha.Two verses give
the gist of this yoga:
'Surrendering mentally all actions to Me, regarding Me as
the highest goal,resorting to Self-knowledge, do thou fix thy heart on
Me. " [B G 18-57]
" Giving up all dharmas ,come to Me alone for refuge. I shall free thee from all sins.Grieve not!"
---------------------- [B G 18-66]
The Lord makes the final promise in this verse which is the culminating teaching of the Lord.
