The Secret of Devotion to God

Shree Hari

The Secret of Devotion to God

BhaktiBhaktBhagvant Guru chaturnaamBaapuek |

Inke pad bandankiyenasatbighnaanek ||

1) The Saint “Guru” who shows the path of devotion (bhakti)

2) The Beloved God (Bhagwaan)

3) The devotees (Bhakt) that are devoted to God and

4) Those who follow the path of devotion as laid down by the saints is “bhakti” devotion.

There are different names for these four, but in essence they are all one only.

An aspirant who with a determinate intellect and with a firm conviction recites the name of the Lord and meditates on the form of the Lord, who excels in this, attains God quickly.

Jo jeevchaahemuktiko to sumarije Ram |

Hariyaagailaichaalataamjaiseaavegaam ||

1) There are various spiritual practices laid down for God Realization, of these spiritual disciplines, the main is - grace of the saints and great souls and association with them. It has been said inRamcharitramanas -

Bhaktisutantrasakal such khaani |

Binusatsangnapaavahinpraani ||

Bhakittaat anu6am such moolaa |

Milayijosanthoyianukoolaa ||

The meeting of such saints is only out of grace of God. Sri Goswamiji says –

Santbisudhmilahinpaitehi |

Chitavahin Ram kripakarijehi ||

… Binuharikripamilahinnahinsantaa |

... Santsangatisansrutikarantaa ||

Devotion is the name of real love of God. It has been said –

Pannagaarisunupremsambhajannadoosaraan |

Asibichaaripunipunimuni karat Ram gun gaan ||

Attainment of such divine love becomes effortless, withassociation of saints; because where the saints and great souls reside, there the eternal Lord’s divine glories, qualities, truths, essential teachings and divine stories are taking place. In their surroundings only these divine activities are going on. The divine stories of the Lord, are the kind that are capable of wiping out the sins of endless births and are capable of giving intense bliss to the heart and the ears. Gains accrue from sacrifices, charity, austerities, religious observances, visiting holy places etc, those disciplines, but these require much effort and result in many virtues, however there are far greater gains than that, in listening to spiritual discourses (satsang). Because by listening to the divine stories of God from a loving saint and great soul, sins are wiped out. By this the inner faculties become very pure, and faith and fondness for the Lotus Feet of the Lord manifests. The saints and great souls who reveal the path of devotion (bhaktimarg) are themselves the spiritual guides for the path of devotion. In describing their qualities, it is said in SrimadBhagwat -

Kripaaluradrutadrohastitikshuhsarvadehinaam |

Satyasaaronavadhyaatmasamahsarvopakaarakah ||

Kaamairhatadhirdaantomruduhshuchirakinchan |

Aneehomitbhukshaantahsthiromacchaaranomunih ||

Apramattogabheeraatmadrutimaanjitshagunah |

Amaaneemaanadahkalpomaitrahkaarunikahkavih ||

(11/11/29/31)

“The devotee of God is compassionate, he is free from the feelings of animosity, he has forbearance and joyfully accepts difficulties, lives a life of truth, free of sins, is equanimous, a well wisher of all beings, filled with pure intellect that never comes under the influence of desires , highly discipline, soft natured, pure, free of attachment and sense of ”mine-ness” for things, free of wanting those things that are unnecessary and that are to be avoided; is non violent in his eating, quiet, stable, dependent on God, deep thinker, free from lust, intoxicants and any negligence “pramaad” , reserved natured, steadfast and perserverent; has attained victory of the six main modifications of the mind - desires, anger, greed, attachment, envy and jealousy; free from wanting honor, but gives honor and respect to all, eminent in experiential knowledge about the Lord, friendly with all, compassionate and has acquired the knowledge of truth.

Only such a devotee of the Lord,can enter the path of devotion. (to be continued)

2) This “jeev” (embodied soul), even if it receives the highest post or thing in this world, then too its hunger will not be satiated till it does not attain the Eternal, its very own Lord, because only God is such through whom all fulfillment is possible. Besides God, everyone else is incomplete and imperfect. Perfect is only that One Supreme Beingand though being complete and perfect, is the kind that without any cause is eternally compassionate and merciful towards all beings. Along with that He is also Almighty and everywhere. There may be few that are well-wishers of all, but he may not be all knowing. Due to not knowing the cause of our suffering, he may not be able to remove that suffering. And even if he knows everything, then too he may not be all capable, and due to not being entirely capable, he cannot remove our suffering. And even if he knows everything, and is all capable, then too if he is not a good hearted, affectionate one, then though even seeing someone suffering, he does not feel sorry, whereby he cannot distance our sorrow. In this manner, even if he is also good hearted i.e. compassionate, and all capable, but does not know the sorrows of others, then too it will not work. And if he is good hearted and everywhere, but is not all capable, then inspite of knowing our sorrows, he cannot remove the suffering; because he is incapable of removing the suffering. However, all these three points are present,all at the same time in God.

He who depending only on That All good-hearted, well-wisher (SarvaSuhrde, All pervading (Sarvagya), Almighty (Sarvashaktimaan) God, engaging in devotion and worship (bhakti), is a devotee. There are all kinds of men that are entitled to practice devotion of the Lord. God has said in the Gita 9/30, 9/32 and 9/33 that Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, women folks, and even those that are born of sinful wombs and those with bad conduct – these seven all are entitled to My devotion.

Apichetsuduraachaarobhajatemaamananyabhaak |

Saadhurevasamantavyahsamyagvyavasito hi saha ||

Maam hi paarthvyapaashrityayepisyuhpaapyonayah |

Striyovaishyaasthashoodraastepiyaantiparaamgatim ||

Kim punahrbrahmanaahpunyaabhaktaarajarshayastathaa |

Even if the vilest of sinner worships Me with exclusive devotion, he should be considered a saint, for he has rightly resolved to be My devotee. In other words, he has single pointed determined that there is nothing else that is like devotion and worship of God.

“ O’Arjuna, womenfolk, Vaisya, Sudras, and even those, that are born of sinful wombs, taking refuge in Me, attain the Supreme God.”

“No wonder then, that the holy Brahmana and devout Kshatriya, saints, should attain Him. Therefore, having obtained this transient and unhappy body, do continually worship Me.”

In these verses, God has considered even those who have fallen down in their conduct and the lowest in classes as being entitled for devotion and worship of Him. The word “paapyoni” is so pervasive and inclusive, that anyone, whether animal or bird, all living creatures are eligible for devotion of God.

It has been stated in SrimadBhagwat that even if one has no desire, or has all sortsof desires, or desiresonly liberation, then too, an intelligent gentleman through intense discipline of Devotion (Love), must worship the eternal One Divine Lord only.

Akaamahsarvakaamovaamokshakaamudaaradhih |

Teevrenabhaktiyogenyajetpurushamparam || (2/3/10)

In this stanza, the word “akaam” must be understood as a “jnaanibhakt” (wise devotee, a lover of God), “Mokshkaam” must be understood as a devotee with quest to know and “Sarvakaam” must be understood as one who is devoted to the Lord for pleasures, material prosperity, and to remove his afflictions.

A “jnaanibhakt,” a wise devotee of the Lord is he who knows the truth about God, know God in essence, and with a disinterested spirit naturally, constantly and continuously worships and is devoted to God. A devotee who is a “jigyaasu” (one who has quest for knowledge, inquires on the truth), who wishes to know the essential nature of God and then worships and remembers God. “aarthaarthibhakt” is one who depends on God and wants worldly pleasures and material things from God alone and “aartbhakt is one who wishes to be relieved from worldly afflictions and difficulties through God.

In Gita these same devotees’ desire laden and desire free sentiments are revealed in four ways -

Chaturvidhabhajantemaamjanaahsukrutinorjuna |

Aartojigyaasuratharthigyaani cha bharatashabh || (Gita 7/16)

“Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O’Arjuna; the seeker, of wealth, the afflicted, those who quest for knowledge and the wise (jnani). “

Of these the devotee of the ordinary category is the one who is a seeker of wealth and pleasures “arthaarthi”, higher than that is the afflicted devotee (aart), and above that is one who has a quest for knowledge (jiyaasu) and greater than the “jiyaasu” is one who is a lover of God (gyaani)bhakt. He who enters in the loving devotion of the Lord desiring pleasures and sense objects, his aim is primarily that of things and his focus on devotion and love of God is secondary; because he worships God for material things, not for God Himself. He considers God as a means for producing wealth, then too having full faith and trust in God, he worships and remembers the Lord therefore he is called a devotee (bhakt).

He who naturally loves God, and he who is innately engaged in remembrance and worship of the Lord, however, but when his wealth and prosperity diminishes, or when the body is undergoing pain and suffering; then to remove those afflictions, he calls out to the Lord, that “Aarth” devotee, does not wish to engage in sense pleasures or hoard like the “Arthaarthi”, but when the things owned disappear, and the body undergoes difficulties and he cannot bear the bodily pain and difficulties, thus his expectation and desire from it is lesser and a devotee who has quest for knowing (jigyaasu) does not desire either power or grandeur, nor does he care about being provided with the basic essentials; he only wants to know the Truth, the Essence Nature of God and for know this he remains entirely dependent on God alone, and worships God.

Over here God has neither placed the order of the various devotees as –

-Jnani (lover of God), jigyaasu (quest for knowledge), aart (afflicted), arthaarthi (seeker of wealth and pleasures); nor

-arthaathi, aart, jigyaasu, jnani, but rather God has said

-aart, jigyasu, arthaarthiaurjnani.

Here there appears to be an extra-ordinary reason why God placed “jigyaasu” in the middle of “aart” and “arthaarthi”, that a “jigyasu” is suffering from the sorrow of birth and death. And the devotee who is …. In this manner the aart and the arthaarthi who along with pleasure and material prosperity also have desire for liberation, therefore whatever difficulties … when one desires worldly pleasures, then understanding the sins in the form of desires, their hearts undergo regrets and “glaani”. Thus “aart” and “arthaarthi” - of these two, either one can become a seeker to truth, either can get to know the essence of God and some who are hungry for love of God, can attain God’s divine love and in the end both of them become free of desires and reach the level of a loving devote (jnanibhakt). A jnani (wise loving devotee) is entirely free of desires (nishkaam), to share about the state of being totally free of all desires, God has used the word “cha”, and expressed this state to be the most extra-ordinary of all states. Similarly the “jnani” devotee’s devotion is entirely free of any desires and is based on exclusivity.

It has been shared in the SrimadBhagwat -

Aatmaraamaaschmunayhonirgranthaaapyurukrame |

Kurvantyahaitukimbhaktimithambhootgunohairh || (1/7/10)

“He whose knot is removed through knowledge, such a great soul, a contemplative one also continues without any cause, to be in loving devotion of God , because God is such that he has extra-ordinary transcendental qualities.”

God regards all devotees as very generous - “udaaraahsarveevaite (Gita 7/18). But how are “Arthaarthi” and “Aart” devotees generous? The answer to that is that it is only God’s generosity that He regards as devotees all those who want from Him and those who want their afflictions removed by Him; however God can also call them generous based on the perspective that they take His support first, thereafter He too worship and remembers them (Gita 4/11). The third point is that they could have very quickly obtained their fruits by worshipping the demi-gods and attained their much desire fruit “abhishtphal” (Gita 4/12), and on being devoted to God, He may fulfill their desires or He may not, then too they instead of worshipping those demi-gods, they have on having extra-ordinary faith and belief in God, they have worshipped Him alone. Therefore they are generous.

From this it is proven that however sinful a birth, however bad one’s conduct has been and however sinful the sentiments have been, that one too is entitled to devotion and love of God.

Feeling of mine-ness with God, having implicit faith in Him – this is the main, heartfelt quality of a devotee. A devotees’ heart is all pervading in the entire universe, attracts God and makes him manifest in this world, just as God manifested for both Dhruv and Prahlad.

The devotee’s heart becomes continuously and uninterruptedly absorbed and engrossed in the Lord of all, that Supreme Being. In this manner the heart’s engrossment can be due to one’s fear or hate as in case or Mareech, Kans, Shishupal etc. However, that engrossment cannot lead to devotion; because the joy of relish in devotion is not experienced. Just as some individual takes a dip in the purifying Gangajiin the months of “Vaishaak” (beginning of summer, April – May timeframe), then he becomes free of all sins, and his inner-senses are purified; and even in taking a dip, he experiences a relish, a certain joyful feeling, however he who immerses in Gangaji in “Maagh” (winter months, January – February timeframe), his sins are most definitely wiped out, but due to the cold, there isn’t the joy of bathing, rather that joy is screened out and he experiences difficulties. In this way,those in a relationship with God out of fear and hate,their inner-senses instead of being joyful, are sorrowful and worried. Therefore their inner-senses are cannot enter into devotion. Thus “Bhakti” devotion is he whose inner-senses become one with God, due to feeling of “my very own” (aatmiyataa) and with firm faith, love and devotion. However those that have established a relation with God and think of Him due to fear and hatred,they are better than those who have no belief in God. Then what to speak of those who withfaith and love,without any selfish motive, are exclusively devoted to God. Just as Gangaji is naturally and constantly flowing towards the sea, in this she neither has her own purpose nor does she stop anywhere, similarly, a devotee who is exclusively devoted to God, he neither desires anything of his own, nor does he ever take a break from remembrance and worship of God; he is constantly and at all times, without a selfish motive engaged in devotion and love of God. Even ShriNaradjisays -

“BhaktEkaantinomukhyaah” (NaradBhaktisootra - 67).

3) Only considering that One God as one’s beloved, and being devoted and worshipping Him is the best of all forms of devotion. One can also perform spiritual disciplines by regarding the entire world as a manifestation of God ; because God Himself manifested in the form of this world, therefore this entire Universe is a form of God and one can be devoted to the demi-gods etc by seeing the presence of God in them, and the fruits of that too is God Realization. In this manner, those who are devoted to God have two mainqualities - 1) The spiritual aspirant must be free of all desires and 2) He has a sense of God in that which he worships. By these, God Realization is a certainty. However even if there is not a feeling of presence of God in the entire world, but if the aspirant is entirely free of desires then too, the fruits of his service will be God Realization alone. Even though Dhruv’s devotion and worship was desire laden, then too, out of Lord’s grace, on attaining his desired fruit, he attain God, as well. If someone considering demi-gods to be demi-gods, and beingfree of desires, followsorders of the Lord for the Lord’s pleasure and is devoted to Him, then the fruits of that too is God Realization. Then he who himself is devoted to God, without any selfish desires, and is exclusively devoted, constantly and always to God, then even God wishes to meet that exclusive devotee. God has said in the Gita -

Ananyachetaahsatatamyomaamsmaratinityashah |

Tasyaahamsulabhpaarthnityayuktasyayoginah || (Gita 8/14)

“The yogi who perpetually thinks of Me and undividedly remains absorbed in Me, to him I am easily attainable. (Gita 8/14)

The important point about devotion is - becoming God’s (self surrender), and relentlessly, at all times, remembering and thinking of Him alone with faith, devotion and fullness of love, without any self-interest. There is immense power inrecollection and meditating “smaran” on God. This same point is depicted in the stories of devotees, that with an intense longing and determinate intellect, whatever way and whichever way, a devotee, remembers God, God manifests.