Bhakti Yoga
Divine Life
Society Publication: Bhakti
Yoga by Swami Sivananda
WHAT IS
BHAKTI ?
The devotee wants God and God
alone. There is no selfish expectation or fear here and is called 'Parama Prem
Rupa'. The term Bhakti comes from the root 'Bhaj', which means
'to be attached to God'. Bhajan, worship, Bhakti, Anurag, Prem, Priti are
synonymous terms.
Bhakti is intense devotion,
supreme love and attachment to God. First arises faith. Then follows attraction
and after that adoration. Adoration leads to suppression of mundane desires.
The result is single-mindedness and satisfaction. Then grow attachment and
supreme love towards God.
In this type of highest Bhakti
all attraction and attachment which one has for objects of enjoyment are
transferred to the only dearest object, viz., God. This leads the devotee to an
eternal union with his Beloved and culminates in oneness.
One classification is Sakamya
and Nishkamya Bhakti. Sakamya Bhakti is devotion with desire for
material gains and well-being. But you will not get supreme satisfaction,
immortality and Moksha through Sakamya Bhakti. God has already given you a good
position, a good job, wife and children and enough wealth. Be contented with
these. Aspire for Nishkamya Bhakti. Your heart will be purified and the Divine
Grace will descend upon you. Be in communion with the Lord, you will become one
with the Lord and you will enjoy all the Divine Aisvaryas (Divine attributes
like wisdom, renunciation, power, etc.).
Another classification of
Bhakti is Apara-Bhakti and Para-Bhakti. Apara-Bhakti is for
beginners in Yoga. The beginner decorates an image with flowers and garlands,
rings the bell, offers Naivedya (food-offerings), wave lights; he observes
rituals and ceremonies. The Bhakta here regards the Lord as a Supreme Person,
who is immanent in that image and who can be propitiated through that form
only. Gradually, from Apara-Bhakti, the devotee goes to Para-Bhakti, the
highest form of Bhakti. He sees the Lord and Lord alone everywhere and feels
His Power manifest as the entire universe. Para-Bhakti and Jnana are one. But
every Bhakta will have to start from Apara-Bhakti. Before you take your food,
offer it to God mentally; and the food will be purified. When you pass through
a garden of flowers, mentally offer all the flowers to the Lord in Archana
(offering flowers in worship). Such practices will lead to Para-Bhakti.
Bhakti is also classified into
Gauna-Bhakti and Mukhya-Bhakti. Gauna-Bhakti is the lower Bhakti
and Mukhya-Bhakti is the higher type of Bhakti.
The enemy of devotion is
egoism and desire. Where there is no Kama or desire, there alone will
Rama (the Lord) manifest Himself. The enemies of peace and devotion are lust,
anger and greed. Anger destroys your peace and your health also. When a man
abuses you, keep peaceful. You lose vitality if you become a prey to fits of
temper.
Bhakti is not merely a stage
of emotionalism, but a thorough discipline and training of one's will and the
mind, a sure means to intuitive realization of God Almighty through intense
love and affection for Him. It is a means to thorough apprehension of the true
knowledge of Reality, beginning from the ordinary form of idol worship right
upto the highest form of cosmic realization of your oneness with Him.
You can achieve this by
following the eleven fundamental factors which Sri Ramanuja had prescribed.
They are Abhyasa or practice of continuous thinking of God; Viveka
or discrimination; Vimoka or freedom from everything else and longing
for God; Satyam or truthfulness; Arjavam or straightforwardness; Kriya
or doing good to others; Kalyana or wishing well-being to all; Daya
or compassion; Ahimsa or non-injury; Dana or charity; and Anavasada
or cheerfulness and optimism.
People question: "How can we love
God whom we have not seen?"
Live in the company of saints.
Hear the Lilas of God. Study the sacred scriptures. Worship Him first in His
several forms as manifested in the world. Worship any image or picture of the
Lord or the Guru. Recite His Name. Sing His glories. Stay for one year in
Ayodhya or Brindavan, Chirakut or Pandhapur, Benares or Ananda Kutir. You will
develop love for God.
Every act must be done that
awakens the emotion of Bhakti. Keep the Puja(worship) room clean. Decorate the
room. Burn incense. Light a lamp. Keep a clean seat. Bathe. Wear clean clothes.
Apply Vibhuti (sacred ash) or Bhasma, and Kumkum on the forehead. Wear
Rudraksha or Tulasi Mala. All these produce a benign influence on the mind,
increase concentration and elevate the mind. They help to create the necessary
Bhava or feeling to invoke the Deity that you want to worship.
Practice of right conduct,
Satsanga, Japa, Smarana, Kirtan, prayer, worship, service of saints, residence
in places of pilgrimage, service of the poor and the sick with divine Bhava,
observance of Varnashrama duties, offering of all actions and their fruits to
the Lord, feeling the presence of the Lord in all beings, prostrations before
the image and saints, renunciation of earthly enjoyments and wealth, charity,
austerities and vows, practice of Ahimsa, Satyam and Brahmacharya - all these
will help you to develop Bhakti.
When the devotee grows in
devotion there is absolute self-forgetfulness. This is called Bhava.
Bhava establishes a true relationship between the devotee and the Lord. Bhava
then grows into Maha-Bhava wherein the devotee lives, moves and has his
being in the Lord. This is Parama-Prema, the consummation of love or
Supreme Love.
There are five kinds of Bhava
in Bhakti. They are Shanta, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhurya
Bhavas. Practice whichever Bhava suits your temperament.
In Shanta Bhava, the devotee
is Shanta or peaceful and is not highly emotional. His heart is filled with
love and joy. Bhishma was a Shanta Bhakta. Sri Hanuman was a Dasya Bhakta. He
had Dasya Bhava, servant attitude. He found joy and bliss in the service of his
Master Lord Rama. In Sakhya Bhava, God is a friend and the devotee moves with
the Lord on equal terms. Arjuna and Krishna used to sit, eat, talk and walk
together as intimate friends. In Vatsalya Bhava, the devotee serves, feeds and looks
upon God as a mother does in the case of her child and there is no fear in this
Bhava. Yasoda had this Bhava with Lord
Krishna. The last is Madhurya Bhava or Kanta Bhava, the highest form of Bhakti –
Atma Samarpana. This was the relation between Radha and Krishna, oneness in
separation and separation in oneness. Lord Gauranga, Jayadeva, Mira and Andal
had this Bhava.
A Caution: Divine love
is born of sattva. But earthly lust is born of rajas and attachment to bodies. Strong
selfishness is the root of worldly passion; divine love is the product of loss
of egoism. This is the greatest difference between lust (kama) and divine love
(prema). The two are related as darkness is related to light. The austere
transformation of the human into the divine is the beginning of true love for
God.
Devotion to God is developed
in nine different ways. Intense love and supreme attachment to God through a
Bhava is the common factor in all the nine modes.
In the Srimad-Bhagavata and
the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine forms of Bhakti are:
Sravana (hearing of
God's Lilas and stories), Kirtana (singing of His glories), Smarana
(remembrance of His name and presence), Padasevana (service of His
feet), Archana (worship of God), Vandana (prostration to Lord), Dasya
(cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God), Sakhya (cultivation of
the friend-Bhava) and Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self).
A devotee can take up any of
these paths and reach the highest state. The highest truth is Absoluteness and
the soul rises above through different states of consciousness until it attains
Absolute Perfection when it becomes identical with God. This is the culmination
of all aspiration and love.
Bhakti softens the heart and
removes jealousy, hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride and arrogance. It infuses
joy, divine ecstasy, bliss, peace and knowledge. All cares, worries and
anxieties, fears, mental torments and tribulations entirely vanish. The devotee
is freed from the Samsaric wheel of births and deaths. He attains the immortal
abode of everlasting peace, bliss and knowledge.
The fruits of Bhakti is Jnana.
Jnana intensifies Bhakti. Even Jnanis like Sankara, Madhusudana and Suka Dev
took to Bhakti after Realization to enjoy the sweetness of loving relationship
with God.
Knowledge or wisdom will dawn
by itself when you practice Bhakti Yoga. Pray to the Lord. Sing His glory, Recite
His Name and become a channel of His grace. Seek, surrender and become one with
the cosmic will. He will become your charioteer on the field of life and you
will reach the destination, the Abode of Immortal Bliss.
Excerpts from:
Bhakti
Yoga by Swami Sivananda
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