Bhakti – A fast means for realisation

Devotion, bhakti, is acclaimed to be the most efficient means to unite the ‘jiva’ with the Supreme. It is called ‘Bhakti yoga’, in which the word yoga means a tool, an effective strategy, to achieve a goal. The word ‘yoga’ is derived from two root words in Sanskrit. One root means ‘to focus, to concentrate’ and the second root means ‘to unite’. Patanjali’s yoga relates to focusing the mind, concentrating the mind. In the Gita, it relates ‘to unite’ the individual with the Supreme. Each chapter of the Gita is given the title ‘yoga’ in the sense that each one is a means to bring about such unity. The right performance of karma is a means. Self-restraint, meditation, etc., are other augmenting factors.

‘Mere Bhakti’ is not yoga (means of unification). When I am a supplicant seeking relief from distress, or if I am seeking to advance my career or financial position, it is not a means for union with the Supreme. It becomes yoga, a means, when I am not a person seeking relief from distress and not asking for material advancement. I must be a genuine seeker. Any method which does not remove the impurities of the mind is not a good one.

The union of ‘jiva’ with the Supreme is possible when three things take place – 1) the mind has to get rid of its impurities, 2) lose interest in worldly attractions, and 3) dwell firmly in the right understanding of the Supreme. Gita gives us the right understanding of the Supreme, but it merely tells us how to attain dispassion (vairagya) for worldly objects. It also tells us how to get rid of the impurities of the mind by right action, by self-restraint, and by meditation. By itself it does not remove impurities, by itself it does not bring dispassion. We have to make an effort in the manner described by Krishna. The text itself does not remove our impurities or generate dispassion.

Srimad Bhagavatam is said to be a text which does all the above three functions in a fast track. Practicing self-restraint may take long years and so is attaining dispassion for worldly objects. One may attain textual knowledge of the scriptures, but it has not transformed the inside of the person. The strategy of Bhagavatam is different. Listening to it is itself a jnana-yagna. It removes the impurities of the mind; generates dispassion and gives us the right knowledge of the Supreme.

How is this possible? It is the power of the story. When a text tells us to be truthful, kind or charitable, the words are understood but we do not feel them emotionally. A story involves us emotionally; it makes us identify with the characters and feel the emotions along with the actors. We can understand this through the mundane example of our adoration for a film star. We get involved in a story, identify with the star, share his emotions and see the superhuman acts and as a result we come to love or adore the person. This adoration may be a mere addiction, changing with time as and when a new star emerges. There is no cleansing of emotions unless the film is a good work of art produced by a filmmaker who has portrayed a human problem in it.

Srimad Bhagavatam tells several stories of great devotees such as Prahlada, Dhruva, Ambarisha and many others. There are stories of great jnani-s such as Bharata. The pitfalls in the spiritual path are excellently illustrated in his story. Some stories, such as the serpent in the lake (Kaliya), or the elephant caught by a crocodile, or the demons killed by Krishna in his childhood, are symbolic. The story of Bali is an illustration of surrender of ego. The story of Hiranyakasipu is an illustration of avarice and pride, which are doomed to fail.

The seeker understands the real nature of the Supreme in all its purity, transcendence and love. Listening to these stories develops love for the Lord and love is what constitutes real devotion, as Narada says in his Bhakti sutras (1-2). It is an unconditional love, in which the seeker does not even bother to seek liberation. Such love gives the right knowledge of the Supreme. It brings and lodges the Lord in the heart of the seeker (Bhagavatam 1-1-2), claims sage Vyasa.

When the heart of the seeker is filled with the Lord, the impure tendencies are driven out, the seeker has no time to think of his mundane desires. As the love for the Lord grows, he develops dispassion. He attains purity of mind in a fast-track manner, says Vyasa. Ego, which is the great obstacle in this path, gets surrendered and gradually merges in the personality of the Supreme.

(The writer is a former DGP, Andhra Pradesh)