We all know the
word bhakti means devotion to Ishwara, the Ishwara about whom a bhakta has got
some understanding, from the scriptures. That Ishwara or Bhagawan is the
ultimate cause of universe, śriṣṭi sthiti laya kartā.
The Bhagawan is sarvajñaḥ omniscient,
sarva-śaktiḥ omnipotent etc,. A bhakta has got a general understanding, and the
devotion towards such an Ishwara is called bhakti. And for the sake of practicing
bhakti, our scriptures have given several forms for the Bhagawan, even though Bhagawan
is only one. Several representative forms are given in the form of Shiva,
Vishnu, Devi, etc,.
And
according to the taste, a bhakta shows his devotion towards the desired iṣṭa
devatā. This reverential attitude towards Bhagawan is bhakti. The attitude is
bhakti and the worship is also called bhakti. And this bhakti alone is of two
types, sakama bhakti and nishkama bhakti.
What is sakama bhakti? When a bhakta
offers reverential worship, and through that worship he wants to fulfil his
various desires. He wants to employ the bhakti for the fulfilment of his
desires.
The desires can be either in the form
of getting various things, or in the form of getting rid of various things.
When a sakama bhakta uses this sakama bhakti, for the fulfillment of his
desires, he has got a rough idea about the sakama bhakti. And the understanding
of the sakama bhakti is based on various ideas, he has heard and gathered from
different sources.
What is the common understanding of sakama
bhakti ? It is widely held understanding, unfortunately a wrong understanding,
in many places a bhakta has heard that Bhagawan is omniscient, omnipotent and
all compassionate. The combination is very important - omniscient, omnipotent
and compassionate. We are all children of the Bhagawan. Because Bhagawan is the
creator and we are bhaktas, when we appeal to the Bhagawan for anything, what
is Bhagawan’s job?
As the omniscient , omnipotent,
compassionate Lord, whatever I appeal, Bhagawan will fulfill. Bhagawan can
never say, “I cannot give”. When I seek, anything from local people, they can
answer,“I cannot afford”. But Bhagawan cannot give
that answer. Therefore what is the expectation of the bhakta? Whatever I ask,
it is Bhagawan’s job to just keep giving them.
There is something fundamentally
wrong about our understanding of sakama bhakti, therefore we should revise our
understanding. According to the scriptures, sakama bhakti means sakama karma sahita
bhakti. Always sakama bhakti should go along with a relevant karma or action. A
relevant karma prescribed by the scriptures, based on the type of kāma. The
scriptures do prescribe varieties of sakama karmāṇi. After performing those
karmāṇi or actions, a sakama bhakta appeals for the karma phalam. So the appeal
is always for sakama karma phalam. And when Bhagawan receives this appeal, Bhagawan
gives the result not based on the appeal, but based on the type of karma
performed. Because Bhagawan is defined as karma-phala-dātā. Therefore sakama
bhakti should be understood as a type of karma only. And
once I understand it is a karma, and Bhagawan will give the karma-phalam not
according to my desire, but according to the law of karma.
According to sakama bhakti which is a
form of karma, the phalam is going to be dependent on the law of karma. So, the
result may be in keeping with my expectation, or the result may not be in keeping
with my expectation. The karma-phalam can be aniṣṭaṁ iṣṭaṁ miśraṁ ca trividhaṁ karmaṇaḥ.
Therefore, sakama bhakti may become successful, or may not become successful. There
is no guarantee, that our sakama bhakti, our sakama pūja or our sakama japa or
our sakama pārāyaṇam will be always successful. This understanding must be very
clear.
Thus a sakama bhakta faces a very
high risk of losing his very faith in God, if he doesn’t understand the
principle of sakama bhakti, when his expectations fail. Therefore according to
our scriptures, bhakti should never be confined to sakama bhakti only. In the
Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna strongly criticizes, sakama bhaktas who totally
rely upon sakama bhakti
yāmimāṁ puṣpitāṁ vācaṁ pravadantyavipaścitaḥ vedavādaratāḥ
pārtha nānyadastīti vādinaḥ BG Verse 2-42
kāmātmānaḥ svargaparā janmakarmaphalapradām kriyāviśeṣabahulāṁ
bhogaiśvaryagatiṁ prati BG Verse 2-43
bhogaiśvaryaprasaktānāṁ tayāpahṛtacetasām vyavasāyātmikā
buddhiḥ samādhau na vidhīyate BG Verse 2-44
kāmaistaistairhṛtajñānāḥ
prapadyante'nyadevatāḥ taṁ taṁ niyamamāsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā BG Verse
7-20
These sakama bhakta’s mind will never rest in
peace. It is always with anxiety. When sakama bhakti doesn’t work, it would
give rise to lot of anger and depression. Anger towards God himself. And in
Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna warns that the success of sakama bhakti is highly
doubtful, because always rules and regulations in sakama bhakti, are more
rigid. Which deity should be worshipped? What naivedyam should be offered?
Which type of flower can be offered? What should be the type of puja? If we
violate the prescribed rules and regulations, result may not come as expected.
Even with a little bit of practice of
nishkama bhakti, one will see a sea of change in his/her mind. The difference
will be in the degree of success, but it is always success. The degree of
success is directly proportional to the time and effort I am willing to put in
practicing this yoga-abhyāsa as prescribed in scriptures. And by practicing this, I seek mental strength rather than
anything else. Scriptures point out as what type of transformation one
can accomplish by practicing nishkama bhakti. It is so wonderful and attractive.
In Bhagavad
Gita there is a chapter called, ‘bhakti-yoga’ in which Lord Krishna condenses
the nishkama bhakti and yoga-abhyāsa in a set of 10 - 12 verses.
santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātmā dṛḍhaniścayaḥ mayyarpitamanobuddhiryo
madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ BG Verse 12-14
satataṁ santuṣṭaḥ - always happy and
contented with whatever he can earn legitimately without comparing himself with
others. He is happy with what he has. yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ
harṣāmarṣabhayodvegairmukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ BG Verse 12-15 The one who doesn’t disturb the world also.
He enjoys such a tender considerate mind that he doesn’t disturb the world. But
more importantly he enjoys such a strong mind that he is not disturbed by the
events of the world. Not only the world, events happening in the family, events
happening to own body.
yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati
śubhāśubhaparityāgī bhaktimānyaḥ sa me priyaḥ BG Verse 12-17 He doesn’t divide
the world into subham and asubham. For him the whole creation is manifestation
of Bhagawan. Therefore, there is no aśubham , everything is śubham and maṅgalam
only. We don’t consider anything aśubham including death .
“ mṛtyorbhibheti
kiṁ mūḍhā kiṁ na vimuñcati”.
Are you afraid of death O fool!? Just by
being afraid of death, do you think that death will leave you”? Biggest problem
of the mind is bhayam. And the first benefit of nishkama bhakti is
understanding and removal of this bhayam.
abhayaṁ satvasaṁśuddhiḥ jñāna yoga
vyavasthitiḥ BG Verse 16-1
abhayaṁ pratiṣṭhāṁ vindate atha so'bhayaṁ(सोऽभयं) gato
bhavati TU
Therefore sakama bhakti is ok, but more
important is nishkama bhakti. It requires scriptural study, minimum Bhagavad
Gita study. Jnanam is the remedy for bhayam and jnanam is the only medicine for
bhayam. Thus understand sakama bhakti, understand nishkama bhakti. Follow both
of them and enjoy the benefit of bhakti. On this auspicious śivarātri day (or
night), may Lord Shiva help us in practice nishkama bhakti, study of
scriptures, and discover a strong mind.
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