|| Shree Hari ||
God and His Devotion
भगवान् और उनकी भक्ति
Of all the spiritual
practices for attaining one’s salvation, Devotion “Bhakti” is best of all ‒ ‘त्रिसत्यस्य भक्तिरेव गरीयसी भक्तिरेव गरीयसी ।’ (नारदभक्तिसूत्र ८१) Love and remembrance of the Lord and His Name
(bhajan) is devotion. The meaning of “bhajan” is to take in (assimilate, absorb). Just as food, water and air are taken-in by the body, similarly for the “self” it is essential to take in God. In other words, to love His is bhajan.
पन्नगारि सुनु
प्रेम सम भजन न दूसर आन ।
अस बिचारि मुनि पुनि पुनि करत राम गुन गान ॥
There is no “bhajan” equal to love, therefore, time and again the contemplative ones sing the glories of God - It means that on singing the glories of the Lord, one develops love for Him. God appears nice, appears sweet, He appears dear and loving - this is Love. The insentient, the perishable things, in other words, leaving aside the attraction that we have towards money, pleasures, family, body, , let our attraction be towards God only - this is called love. In reality, our attraction is towards God only, but giving importance to perishable objects, we have instead developed an attraction for the world. Just as Gangajal (holy water of Ganga) is so sacred, that even on seeing it, sins of millions of years are destroyed. However, in rainy season, after flooding, when the water lever decreases, then some of the water gets lodged in small puddles and ditches. This stale and standing water is very impure, like “alcohol” . The reason being that it has become separated from the
flow of Gangaji, it has become distant from Gangaji. Gangaji has severed (renounced) relationship with it. If we fill our water contained with the water of Gangaji, it does not become impure, because we have taken it from Gangaji. Gangaji has not renounced relationship with it. Similarly God is most sacred and holy -‒‘पवित्रं परमं भवान्’ (गीता १० । १२) “Pavitram param bhavaan” (Gita 10/12). And being a part (ansh, fraction) of Him, our “self” is also holy and pure ‒‘चेतन अमल सहज सुख रासी’(मानस, उत्तर॰ ११७ । १) “Chetan Amal Sahaj Sukh Raasi” (Manas, Utter. 117/1). However, not being attracted to God, and instead attracted to perishable sense pleasures, our life has become like the “stagnant Ganga water”
which is most impure and unholy. Just as with the rising flow of Gangaji, the water from the stagnant pools, blends with Gangaji and becomes pure and holy, in the same way, when one develops attraction towards God then his entire life becomes most holy and sacred.
Just as the flow of Gangaji, is constantly going
towards the ocean, in the same way, twenty-four hours, the flow of our tendencies should go towards God. Whether God makes Himself visible to us or not, whether He accepts us or not, but our mind should only go towards God. Just as Bharatji Maharaj said ‒
जानहुँ राम कुटिल करि मोही । लोग कहउ गुर साहिब द्रोही ॥
सीता राम चरन रति मोरे । अनुदिन बढ़उ अनुग्रह तोरें ॥
(मानस, अयोध्या॰ २०५ । १)
Jaanahun Ram kutil kari mohi, log kahau gur saahib drohi
Sita Ram charan rati more, anudin badhau anugraha tore (Manas, Ayodhya. 205/1)
Let Shri Ram take me for a wicked fellow, and let the people call me an enemy of my preceptor and master. All the same by your grace may my devotion to the feet of Sita and Sri Rama grow day by day. (to be continued)
From book in Hindi ‘ Bhagwaan aur Unki Bhakti’ by Swami Ramsukhdasji