Two types of Bhakti (13/2/2018)

Today I would like to share some thoughts on two types of bhakti, namely sakama bhakti and nishkama bhakti.  

             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.

The relevance of God (24/2/2017)

In our tradition we have a very vast scriptural literature. The primary scriptures being the vedās; and based on the vedās, we have got several secondary streams of literature. And we believe that the vedās have been given by the Lord Himself, for the benefit of the humanity. In the vedā itself it is said, [śvetāśvataropaniṣad] -

yo brahmāṇaṃ vidadhāti pūrvaṃ yo vai vedāṃśca prahiṇoti tasmai

taṃ ha devaṃ ātmabuddhiprakāśaṃ mumukṣurvai śaraṇamahaṃ prapadye

            After creating the universe, the Lord gave the vedās to brahmā; and from brahmā, the Vedic teaching tradition has been coming down. This Vedic literature offers to help the humanity in leading a smooth and successful life. This scriptural guidance is available free of cost. The only required condition is, we should have trust in the efficacy and the validity and the utility of the vedās. If we have got that basic śraddhā, and we are willing to take the guidelines, it is available. Whoever is willing to follow the vedā, is called a vaidikaḥ.

            In modern times, they are called as Hindus. Hindu is a modern name; but, our real name is vaidikaḥ - the one who accepts vedā as the guide in one’s life. When we look at these vast scriptures, the vedā prescribes a life-style for us. And that life-style is a God-centred life, meaning, our life is going-around or centred-around God only. It is indicated by the pradakṣiṇa & namaskāra we do at the end of a pūjā. Pradakṣiṇam is a process in which God is kept in the centre and we go around God; indicating that, 'my life will be centred around God only'.

For this purpose, the scriptures bring God in to almost every activity of human life. It is not a one-day-a-week affair; but, throughout the day, throughout the life, we are not supposed to take our vision or mind away from the Lord. Therefore, in Hindu culture, God is involved in every activity of life. The day starts with remembrance of God.

brāhme muhūrte utthāya cintayet ātmano hutam namaskṛtya gurum viṣṇum mātaram pitaram ca

            Therefore, the day starts with the four-fold namaskāra of guru, viṣṇu, mātā, and pitā (Mātā pita guru daivam). Not only the day just begins with God, in every activity God is involved. Before eating we are supposed to remember God and offer to God; and then only eat. During snānam also we are supposed to visualise God to be in our heart and our snānam is an abhiṣekam done to the Lord. Not only the daily chores are connected with God, all other aspects of Hindu life - whether it is dance or whether it is music or whether it is art or whether it is architecture – they are all centred on God.

            Thus, scriptures give us instructions to maintain this God-centric lifestyle. The scriptures are not merely the prescriptions for God-centred life; but, there is a teaching to support this lifestyle. Why this God-centred life is prescribed?

            Therefore, not only we lead a God-centred life, we also knew the purpose behind leading such a life. But, unfortunately, over the period, gradually the backup teaching was lost, nobody is studying the scriptures. And without the backup teaching, when we are only mechanically going through that lifestyle, it becomes an empty shell - often appearing 'a meaningless ritual'.

            Rituals are not meaningless; the problem is that, one has not learnt the purpose and principle behind it. Though, this God-centred tradition had been maintained, but not the backup teaching. It is a well-developed backup teaching. Even though it is a very, very vast subject, today I would like to share a few salient features of the backup teaching to support the God-centered lifestyle.

            The first and foremost lesson of this backup teaching is - What is the very definition of God? We are just mechanically using the word 'God'. What is the definition of God?' The scriptures give a provisional definition. That provisional definition is, that God is the 'creator of the world' - sṛṣṭi kartā.  

But, when we are really ready to think well, the scriptures refine that definition. The refinement is required; because, vedā really does not believe in a 'creation' at all. The reason being, nothing can be created or destroyed. According to the modern scientific principle of 'law of conservation of matter and energy' matter can never be created, matter can never be destroyed, which means, everything is always there. As it is said, when a candle burns, nothing is lost. One form of matter is getting converted into another form! There is only transformation taking place; nothing is created nothing is destroyed. Therefore, we cannot talk about the 'creation of a world'. Even modern science does not accept the creation of this world. Before the world emerges, it was already existent in potential form. What is potentially there in an un-manifest form, alone comes to manifestation.

            This manifestation or emergence or evolution of this universe we are calling 'creation'. But, it is only abhivyaktiḥ, not sṛṣṭiḥ. Abhivyaktiḥ means, the manifestation of the entire universe – which was there in potential form - which we call as the 'seed' of the universe. Vedā defines God as the very seed of this entire universe, whose existence you can never question; because, without the seed, you cannot have a universe. Just as, without a seed, a tree cannot come. Without the seed, the universe cannot appear. This 'seed', which existed before the emergence of the universe, is called īśvaraḥ.

bījasyāntarivāńkuro jagadidaṃ prāńnirvikalpaṃ punaḥ māyākalpita deśakālakalanā vaicitrya citrīkṛtam  ... [dakṣiṇāmūrti stotraṃ]

And in bhagavad gītā, kṛṣṇā says, bījaṃ māṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ viddhi pārtha sanātanam [7.10]

- Arjunā!, may you understand me, the Lord, to be the very cause or the seed of the entire universe.

            From that 'seed' - which is called God - alone, the entire universe, consisting of all the galaxies (in modern language) and planets and all living beings, everything emerges. Then, the scriptures point out that, you can divide the entire universe broadly into two categories. One is, the emergence of the inert material universe - called acetana tattvam; and the second is, emergence of the living being - which is called the cetana tattvam. Not only the universe consists of the inert material part, the universe consists of the sentient living beings also, called cetanatattvam. Thus, cetana-acetana rūpa prapañcaḥ, which is vyakta prapañcaḥ (vyaktaḥ means manifest universe), consisting of cetana- acetana aṃśa dvayam, evolved out of that one 'seed', called God.

            Then, the scriptures point out, if the universe is a mixture of these two, (cetana and acetana), both cetana and acetana, must have also existed in the seed, in potential form. Because, what is not in the potential form cannot emerge. From the coconut seed only coconut tree emerges, not mango tree; because, it is not there. Mango tree emerges out of mango seed. So, whatever emerges out, must be already existing in the 'seed'. If the universe is a mixture of cetana and acetana tattvam, then, God the 'seed' - also must be a composite entity, consisting of cetana-acetana  dvayam.  Therefore, both - life as well as matter - must be there in the beginning.

            Thus, according to Vedic scriptures, God is a composite entity, consisting of cetana acetana aṃśa dvayam. Different names are given in the scriptures. In the bhagavad gītā, kṛṣṇā names them as puruṣa and prakṛti. puruṣa referring to the sentient component and prakṛti referring to the insentient component.

prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva viddhyanādī ubhāvapi

vikārāṃśca guṇāṃścaiva viddhi prakṛtisambhavān [gītā 13.19]

kāryakāraṇakartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate

puruṣaḥ sukhaduḥkhānāṃ bhoktṛtve heturucyate [gītā 13.20]

            Puruṣa evolves in the form of living beings. Prakṛti evolves in the form of the inert principle. This puruṣa- prakṛti mixture is called īśvaraḥ. Otherwise called, brahman-māyā; māyā sahitam brahman is īśvara. Symbolically, it is represented as ardhanārīśvaraḥ. Ardhanārīśvara represents puruṣa-prakṛti tattvam. Not separately, but together.

            So, the first lesson of the backup teaching is – our lives should be God-centric. And that God, which is the centre of our life, is none other than the 'seed' of the universe, which is cetana-acetana tattva dvayam. This is lesson number one.

            The next lesson that these scriptures give - now that we know 'God is the seed' or 'cause'; and the world - the prapañca, is the 'product', the kāryam. Or, God is kāraṇam; world is kāryam. God is avyaktam; world is vyaktam. So, kāraṇa īśvaraḥ and kārya prapañca. kāraṇa īśvaraḥ – meaning God, the cause. kārya prapañca means – world, the product.

            Then, the scriptures point out, when you study the cause and effect, we can recognise certain features belonging to both. 'Causal features' and 'effectual features', these are very important to know in the backup teaching.

            To understand the features of the cause and effect, our scriptures generally take certain examples. In chāndogya upaniṣad, several examples are given in ṣaṣṭho'dhyāyaḥ (sixth chapter)

yathā somyaikena mṛtpiṇḍena sarvaṃ mṛnmayaṃ vijñātaṃ syād vācārambhaṇaṃ vikāro

nāmadheyaṃ mṛttiketyeva satyam

yathā somyaikena lohamaṇinā sarvaṃ lohamayaṃ vijñātaṃ syād vācārambhaṇaṃ vikāro

nāmadheyaṃ lohamityeva satyam ...

            The example is to, understand. Let us imagine a piece of gold out of which the goldsmith brings out varieties of ornaments. In fact, goldsmith does not 'create' ornaments, according to our revised understanding. He does not 'create' ornaments, he has shaped the gold into varieties of ornaments.

            Now, if you study the features of gold and ornaments, we can note four features n the 'cause' and four features in the 'effect'.  

What are the four features of the cause? Gold is one lump - ekaḥ. Gold is the content or the substance behind all the ornaments. Therefore, gold is the essence or sāraḥ (ekaḥ and sāraḥ). And, gold is nityaḥ. Before the emergence of ornament, gold 'was'. After emergence of the ornament, gold 'is'. So, even after the emergence of ornaments gold is. Even after melting of ornaments, gold 'will be'. Therefore, kāraṇam trikāle api tiṣṭhati (trikālam means, past, present and future). Finally, gold is independently existent by itself, even without the support of ornaments. Therefore, it is called satyam (satyam means, independently existent).

            Thus, kāraṇam is eka sāra nitya satyam. We will take the first letter of each one. E-eka, S-sāra, N-nitya, S-satyam. 'ESNS'. Kāraṇam is ESNS. Remember, kāraṇam is the essence.

            What about ornaments? They are diagonally opposite. Aneka (aneka means countless products). And asāra, ornaments do not have substantiality of their own. Ornaments do not have any weight of their own, weight of ornaments really belong to gold only. Therefore, ornament is pith less, it is non-substantial, asāraḥ. Then, the ornament is anityaḥ. And finally, asatyaḥ (asatyaḥ meaning - It does not have its own original existence. It has only borrowed existence).

            Our scriptures say, you have to extrapolate this to God and the world also. God being the kāraṇam God has to be ekam. That is why, in modern science also, before the big bang happened, even before the manifestation of time & space itself, the condition, they name it singularity. 'Single', means, ekam only.

            Not only that. God is the sāra - the only substantial entity. Then, what is the third one? God alone is nityam. What about the world? It is anityam. Finally, God alone is satyam. The only reality that is existing independently. Whereas, the world is anekaḥ, asāraḥ, anityaḥ and asatyaḥ. This is a very important corollary, derived from the second lesson.

            So, why are these things told? Since the world by its very nature is aneka, asāra, anitya, asatyam, it has got certain advantages or plus points, and also certain negative points. An intelligent person, who is living in this world and making a life in this world, must be aware of these plus points and negative points.

            The world is full of variety, in śabda sparśa rūpa rasa gandha. Each sense organ has got its own area and in each one, there are infinite varieties. Therefore, the world has got beauty, world has got variety, world has got novelty (they are all the glories of this universe and wonderful, so enjoy them thoroughly). But, even though the world has got all these things, it is anityam, asatyam and asāram. Asāram means, it is empty or hollow. Superficially, it is attractive; but, it is empty on enquiry. Not only it is hollow, it is also fleeting and temporary. Therefore, nothing in life is stable. Everything is beautiful but nothing is stable. Whether it is material object or the people or our own relationships or our own body, everything is kṣaṇa bhańguraṃ - unstable, perishable. Therefore, we can never rely upon anything in the world for our security.

            One of the fundamental human problems is, we are all born with a sense of insecurity. Our scriptures call this, the problem of saṃsāra. Among many definitions of saṃsāra, one of the definitions is, the sense of insecurity

            Right from birth as a baby we felt insecure clinging on to the mother's sari and that clinging continues later to varieties of objects etc. All the human struggles are, according to our scriptures, driven by the sense of insecurity. It is because of the sense of insecurity and to get out of this problem of insecurity, we are holding on to things, without knowing that those very things are insecure. I acquire things to solve the problem of insecurity; and later, I am worried about their security. Therefore, world can never give security.

            Freedom from this problem is called mokṣaḥ. If you want to solve this insecurity problem, we should never hold on to the anitya vastu. We should have 'nitya anitya vastu vivekaḥ'. What is that nitya vastu? kāraṇa īśvaraḥ alone is śāśvatam. Therefore, every human being, if he/she has to resolve this fundamental problem, he/she should not seek the worldly things but, has to seek God, and God alone. Until then, there will be continuous problem of insecurity. Either one is affected by fear or affected by grief, as Arjunā does in the first chapter of the gītā.

sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukham ca pariśuṣyati vepathuḥ ca śarīre me roma-harṣaḥ ca jāyate

gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate hastāttvakcaiva paridahyate na ca śaknomyavasthātuṃ bhramatīva ca me

manaḥ ...

            Even the very thought of losing his near & dear ones, even the imaginary loss, Arjunā is unable to withstand. "When I cannot withstand even the imaginary loss, how am I going to withstand the actual loss?" Therefore, if we are far-sighted ones, we cannot use the world for security. If the world cannot give security, it cannot give peace of mind also. How can an insecure person enjoy peace? If there is no peace and security, where is the question of happiness? All the sense pleasures that people are after, are not for solving the problem, but only for forgetting the fundamental problem that is constantly disturbing. We are only trying to forget the problems, by pursuing sense pleasures. .

            Therefore, scriptures guide us. If you want to solve the fundamental problem, then seek God for security.  Spirituality begins when I have recognised the problem of insecurity and when I turn towards God.

            Then, the scriptures go to the next lesson. How to find God? Where to find God? Because, world cannot help me. It is beautiful like the example of cardboard chair. A cardboard chair has been beautifully made and well decorated with varieties of papers, various colours, stickers, etc.  You can use it for everything except for sitting over that. Similarly, according to the scriptures, the entire world is like a cardboard chair. Emotionally leaning on anything in the creation, is like sitting on a card board chair. So, our scriptures say, 'leaning on the world for emotional health is a risky affair. Learn to find God and lean on God and God alone’.

ananyāścintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham

            How to find God and find security? That is the final part of the teaching. Scriptures present it in two stages. The first stage is, preparation of the mind to find God. Because, God is the principle, which is the ultimate seed and cause; and which being the extremely subtle principle, beyond even time and space.

            Because, before singularity (the word 'before' itself is meaningless) time and space existed. It must be an extremely subtle principle. So, we have to prepare the mind. And therefore the initial stage is, make use of the world for preparing the mind,

            Therefore, never use the world for peace, security and happiness because world simply cannot give these. World is not useless, use it as a field of service - by serving the world in different areas, by contributing to the world. That is elaborately discussed in the scriptures in the form of pañca mahā yajñaḥ. Contribute to your family, to the society, to the culture, to the animals, to the plants - all these are wonderful infrastructure required for the spiritual sādhana. Therefore, use the world for, preparing the mind.

            Once the mind is prepared, seek God by taking the help of a guru. And with the help of the guru and scriptural teaching, you will find God.

            Where to find God? The scriptures ask - where to find the kāraṇam? Where have you got the gold in all the ornaments? Wherever the ornaments are, there itself the gold ‘is’. Behind the temporary ornaments, the permanent gold is hidden. Similarly, behind the temporary universe, the infinite nitya īśvara is hidden.

ańguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣo madhya ātmani tiṣṭhati

īśānaṃ bhūtabhavyasya na tato vijugupsate

etadvai tat [kaṭhopaniṣad mantrā 2.1.12]

In this very world itself, in every object, in every living being, which means, in the very 'me', in the perishable part of 'me', behind the perishable part of 'me', the imperishable God is available.  

            May you seek that God, find that god and discover security in that very eternal truth in 'you'. Thereafter, life becomes not a struggle for security; but, an expression of the security, that 'I already have found in God'.

            Thus, first part of life is to serve the world for preparing the mind. After finding God, life is to serve the world, to declare the glory of the Lord. First, the preparation; next is declaration. First step is preparation by serving. Next step is service again, declaring the glory of the Lord. I do not need anything for my peace security and happiness as I have found them within me myself.

ādi śańkarācāryā - among the many ślokās he wrote, there is a very beautiful work called śivāparādha kṣamāpaṇa stotram, a beautiful set of ślokās. There he says, 'I did not know that you alone are the ultimate security. Therefore, I was running after various things of the world. In boyhood stage, I was interested in toys. In youth, I was interested in friends. In old age, I am worried about something else. In each stage, I just spent my life in search of one thing or other. I did not seek you'.

            'kṣantavyo me aparādhaḥ śiva śiva śiva bho śrī-mahādeva śambho'. I did not recognise your presence and value. Therefore, after getting many battering life experiences, now only I know, 'I cannot rely on any blessed thing, except God'.

kiṃ vā anena dhanena vājikaribhiḥ prāptena rājyena kiṃ kiṃ vā putra-kalatra-mitra-paśubhir

dehena gehena kim

jñātvaitat kṣaṇa-bhańguraṃ sapadi re tyājyaṃ mano dūrataḥ svātmārthaṃ guruvākyato bhaja mana śrīpārvatīvallabham

            kiṃ vā anena dhanena - what is the use of money? Money cannot avoid old age; money cannot help me escape from diseases or death. Therefore, dhanena vājikaribhiḥ prāptena rājyena kiṃ - kingdom you get, what is the use? kiṃ vā putra kalatra mitra paśubhir - What is the use of kalatra (spouse), mitra (friend), paśubhih (cattle, pet)

            jñātva etat kṣaṇa bhańguraṃ - Already they are in the process of dying. Indications are already there. tyājyaṃ mano dūrataḥ - stop depending on all these perishable things, hey manaḥ (mind). Śańkarācāryā is advising his own mind. Hey manaḥ, dūrataḥ tyājyaṃ - drop all the dependences on the world. Emotional dependence on the world is called, attachment. Give up all the attachments. Serve them; but, never get attached to them. jñātva etat kṣaṇa bhańguraṃ sapadi re - God can take away anything at any time. Therefore, from world dependence, may you switch over to God dependence.  vātmārthaṃ guruvākyataḥ - with the help of guru's teaching, bhaja mana śrīpārvatī vallabham - may you seek pārvatī parameśvara

            Māyā sahitam brahma - īśvara, who is everywhere, may you seek. And once you seek that Lord, ultimately you will find, that God is ekaḥ sāraḥ nityaḥ and satyaḥ. God is there in my very heart. In fact, it is nothing but my real and higher nature. When I claim that God as my real nature, that is called 'aham brahma asmi'. That God - discovered as 'self' - is the real 'I'. Therefore, God dependence becomes self-dependence. Life's mission is accomplished. Thereafter, the whole life is a joy. All the upaniṣads talk about the joy of that person who has found security in himself. Life becomes a līlā for him.

aṇoraṇīyān aham eva tadvad mahān ahaṃ viśvam ahaṃ vicitram

purātano'haṃ puruṣo'ham īśaḥ hiraṇmayo'haṃ śivarūpam asmi [kaivalyopaniṣad 20]

‘I am’ that self, which is the real nature behind the entire universe. Thus, life itself will become successful and meaningful; because, we would have solved our fundamental problem of saṃsāra.  But, all these are possible only if we take the guidance of the scriptures and lead a life which is God-centric.

And in Hinduism, we have got so many rituals and functions and they are meant to regularly remind us, 'do not get lost in worldly pursuit and forget the real goal of discovering security in that ultimate God which is myself '. And, śivarātri pūjā is also only to remind us of this truth.

            Our life has to be God-centric. Our mission has to be discovery of that God in ourselves. With these words, I will conclude my talk.

5 features of Bhakti (7/03/2016)

Sadāśiva samārambhāṁ śaṅkarācāryamadhyamām asmad ācārya paryantām vandē guru paramparām. One of the words which is very widely used in all religious and spiritual circles is the word Bhakti. Since it is so widely used, the word bhakti has several shades of meanings. And different groups understand the word bhakti in its own way. And unfortunately, the meaning of the word bhakti has changed so much, nowadays that the popular meaning of the word has deviated from the traditional meaning of the word bhakti. 

              Nowadays the word bhakti is popularly used in the sense of blind, thoughtless, obsessive, emotional involvement - with a particular form of any deity and get into an emotional frenzy, in the name of bhakti. Since this meaning has come away from, deviated from, the original concept of bhakti found in the scriptures, it is worth knowing the important features of bhakti, as visualised by our scriptures. And I would like to mention today five such important features of bhakti.

            The first feature is, reverential appreciation as the comic intelligence behind the universe; because of which, there is order, harmony and natural functioning of the entire universe of things and beings. And the - our original scriptures, define this cosmic intelligence beautifully as, the eternal, all pervading and inherent intelligence or consciousness principle. Since is eternal and all pervading, there is no specific form for Ishwara . There is no specific form for ishwara , which means, god should not be mistaken as a person, residing somewhere, with limbs like a human being. Ishwara should not be looked upon as a person, residing somewhere, with limbs like human beings. Such a specific form is not there for Ishwara. Vedas defines Ishwara in several places. And in Mundaka Upanishad (1.1.6) the definition given is - yat tad adreśyam agrāhyam agotram avarṇam acakṣuḥśrotraṃ tad apāṇipādam । nityaṃ vibhuṃ sarvagataṃ ṣmaṃ tad avyayaṃ ṃ paripaśyanti dhīrāḥ ॥

            Bhagavan is the cosmic intelligence - for whom, there are no limbs like, eyes or ears; has no limbs, like hands legs etc. Therefore, reverential appreciation of this intelligence not in one place; but, as inherent in the entire universe. This is the first feature of bhakti. And even though Bhagavan in His original form, original nature, is formless, for the sake of worship and meditation, scriptures themselves provide provisional forms. The scriptures themselves give provisional forms, temporary forms; for the sake of worship like abhisekam, puja etc. Provisional forms are given. But, we should remember, they are only provisional and temporary forms given for us to worship, to appreciate the formless one. And therefore, scriptures warn that, never be emotionally hooked to any particular form and make it an obstacle to discovery of the original god. Getting stuck to any particular form and getting emotionally lost in that particular form - this kind of obsessive, emotional bhakti is never recommended in the scriptures. Not only it is not real bhakti, it is considered to be an obstacle to transcend the form. We start with a provisional FORM; but later, bhagavan should not be appreciated in one place; but must be recognised as, the invisible, inherent, intelligence that is pervading everywhere. Therefore, the first feature of bhakti is, reverential appreciation of as cosmic intelligence.  

Then, the second feature of bhakti is, reverential appreciation of the very universe itself as the body of Ishwara . If Bhagavan is inherent in the entire universe, pervading the entire universe, the universe must be the physical body of the Lord. Just as, 'I' am the conscious principle inherent in my entire body, God is the cosmic intelligence inherent in the universe. Therefore, the universe must be appreciated as the body of the Lord. Appreciating the universe as - not confining Him to an idol or a photo or a particular picture; but, appreciating the whole universe as Viswarupa Ishwara. And this reverential appreciation of the world is very, very important; because, as even our appreciation of the whole universe - consisting of a mixture of good and bad - when I learn to reverentially appreciate, then gradually, both my attachment and aversion will get diluted. Vishrupa bhakti is the most important attitude, which will help us in reducing our attachment and aversion. And this is very important for emotional balance and peace of mind. Lesser the appreciation, greater will be my raga and dvesha .

That is why, if you read the meaning of Rudram, you will find the whole universe is described as Rdura in Vishrupa. Shiva in the form stones, in the form of tree, in the form of noble people, in the form of robbers! Therefore, everything is appreciated as Vishrupa Ishwara ; so that, I will avoid attachment towards the positives and hatred towards the negatives. Neither attachment nor hatred. The only attitude I have is reverential appreciation. Rudram is description of Shiva as the universe. Purusha Suktam is the description of Vishnu as the universe.

And if the universe is called Shiva; and the universe is called Vishnu; what is the difference between S and V? So, the one who has got real bhakti, will never, never differentiate different forms as different GODS. We do not have different gods at all; we have only different forms, representing one . Whether you call it S or V, there is no question of comparison.

And so, scriptures say, whichever compares the deities and claims, 'my Shiva is superior' or 'my Vishnu is superior’; I will go only to Shiva temple, not to Vishnu temple'; the sastra strongly criticises - whoever compares Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma etc and grades them as He is superior - one is gold medal, another is silver/bronze medal etc. the one who argues, , writes books and books establishing alone is great or alone is great, scriptures say, 'they are committing sin, for which the punishment is Stomach disease.

Therefore, we should be very, very careful. Let us use some form for worship; but, we should remember, Bhagavan is not confined to this form. the whole universe is manifestation of the lord only.  

Then, what is the third feature of traditional bhakti? Reverential appreciation of Ishwara as the source of the s, our primary scriptures.  As Brihdaranyaka Upanishad says: All the vedas, the primary scriptures, are like the breathing that came out of the Lord., along with this creation, has given out the scriptures also. And this appreciation is very, very important for a bhakta . Without the scriptures, we have no way of knowing GOD himself. Because, all our instruments of knowledge - including modern scientific equipments and any amount of search or research they do - they are not able to come across or discover , indicating that Ishwara is not accessible for the human beings and the human instruments. Therefore, if I have to know Bhagavan, the only source is the scriptures. And I am grateful to GOD, because GOD has given the scriptures to know HIM. In the absence of scriptures, the very existence of the Lord is unknowable. And in the absence of Bhagavan, where is the question of bhakti? In the absence of bhakti, where is Bhakta? The very survival of the Bhakta is because of the scriptures only. Therefore, i should know to appreciate bhagavan as the source of the scriptures. Vedanta krit Veda Videva cha aham. Again, the Upanishad (6.18) says - yo brahmā aṃ vidadhāti pūrvaṃ yo vai vedāṃśca prahi oti tasmai ।taṃ ha devaṃ ātmabuddhiprakāśaṃ mumuk urvai śara amahaṃ prapadye ॥

That is why we chant Dakshinamurthy slokam. Bhagavan as the source of scriptures is called Dakshinamurthi or Sadashiva . Therefore, for a bhakta , the third feature is, reverential appreciation of bhagavan as the source of scriptures.

The fourth feature is, reverential appreciation of the scriptures themselves, as a gift from the lord. This is very important for a Bhakta to use the scriptures as a guide map for his life. A Bhakta is one who uses Bhagavan's scriptures as a guide map for his life. And if I have to use the scriptures as my guide map, I should have full faith and trust in the validity of scriptures.

And that is why, for developing this reverence, daily they had brahma yagna yajna which is the worship of the scriptures themselves. A bhakta should not confine to the worship of bhagavan only; but, he should worship the scriptures themselves as a gift from the lord. Like the GPS in the cars. When I am in an unknown place, I require a guideline. In my life's journey also, n has given god's positioning system (GPS) means, I will use scriptures as my guide. Even Vyakarana (grammar) which we use to study the scriptures - all of them we reverentially appreciate. Nowadays, the importance of scriptures is coming down. Traditional bhakti includes worship of scriptures and using the scriptures as a guide map.

Then the fifth feature- the final and the most important feature of traditional bhakti. If I have to use scriptures as a guide map, I will have to 'study the scriptures systematically'. Just as I go through an educational system for worldly knowledge, so too every Bhakta , if he wants to be a Bhakta in the traditional sense of the term. A devotee has to go through two fold educational systems. One educational system I need not tell. Already there is a big line, because March has come! Big lines in front schools for LKG or pre-kg or pre-pre-kg or pre-prepre-kg admission.  So also, if we want to practise bhakti and if we want to be a bhakta , the fifth and most important feature is, systematic study of the scriptures - so that, I can follow the lifestyle as well as the code of conduct given by Bhagavan in the scriptures. If Bhagavan has to address the Bhakta , HE can address through the scriptures, prescribing a lifestyle as well as the code of conduct. Only if I go through and try to follow the lifestyle and code of conduct, I can be called a devotee worth the name; otherwise, it becomes a mere vesham (a show) for some time, to get into an emotional frenzy. That is not the real bhakti.

The Lord Himself says: I have instructed all the bhaktas to follow a particular lifestyle and a code of conduct through the scriptures, and I expect them to follow that. If a devotee does not study the scriptures and does not follow those instructions, ’I look upon him as my very enemy'. Very strong word He is using! Therefore, the fifth feature of bhakti is “Systematic study of the scriptures”

But, if I have to study the scriptures, we do face a difficulty; because, our scriptural literature is very vast. vedas themselves are very big; and later, many secondary scriptures have come, which expound and elaborate the vedic teaching. They are called smriti granthas. And so, we have got a very vast literature. And we do not have time to study the whole thing. Therefore, Bhagavan as Krishna condensed all the Vedas into Bhagavad Gita. A true Bhakta will have to study the scriptures and follow the instructions given.

Scriptures talk about sat karmani- appropriate actions, in the form of pancha Maha yagna. I am not going into the details. The students will be remembering what are the proper actions and what are the proper values to be observed. In the 16th chapter of the Gita , right values to be followed, the wrong habits to be given-up – Daivi Sampath & Asuri sampatti - they are all described. Sat Karmani, Sat guna and Sat bhavanah , healthy attitudes - all of them a bhaktas has to know; and he should attempt to follow. Merely doing nama sanskrithanam , in the name of bhakti, is not traditional. Traditional bhakti involves taking instructions from God , through the scriptures, and Bhagavan will be happy if one follows those. The best way - in the Gita 12th chapter Krishna says, 'the one who follows these instructions, they are dear to me'. Advesta Sarva Bhutanam- First virtue Krishnan says is, Bhaktas must be one who cannot afford to hate anyone. Hatred must be abolished. Like that, every value Bhagavan gives in the scriptures we have to follow them.

Therefore, what is the fifth feature? Reverential study of the scriptures. And not only it will help me become a true bhakta , it will remove several misconceptions regarding bhakti and bhakta, which are very, very prevalent now, because people do not study scriptures. When it is not informed bhakti, there will be several misconceptions.

And one of the widely prevalent misconceptions is that Bhakta ill never have problems in life. Bhagavan will take away all our Papa karma and we will not have headache, stomach ache problems, everything will be fine. This is a very, very big misconception. The scriptures never make such promise. Whether one is or non-bhakta , Prarabdha Karma will have to be experienced, by everyone. You should not ask the question, 'why he is getting into problem? He is doing lot of puja . So, why problem?' This is as though means, no problem. Such a promise is never given. Promise for bhakti is, inner peace and strength to confront the problem with courage, confidence. Bhakti will give inner balance and inner strength, which will help me confront my karma with courage and confidence.

One says, 'Oh Lord, yadyad bhavyam bhavatu bhagavan, purva karmana rupam . 'According to the law of Karma , whatever I have to face, I do not want to dodge or escape. I should reap the results of my own actions. I am ready for that, oh lord. You send whatever is my karma phalam; but, keep my bhakti intact, so that I will have confidence and courage that - with your grace - I will be able to confront and conquer them'. Therefore, let it be clear, Bhaktas or abhaktas, problems are going to come.

And the second, widely prevalent misconception is – (and these are all promoted all over in several bhakti programs. There is a channel itself - bhakti channel. Everywhere, what they promote is this) - that a bhakta can get anything just by sending an application to Bhagavan. He is exempt from all effort. And they say, Bhagavan is the slave of the bhakta! And therefore, the moment you send the application, what will the LORD do? Instantaneously, He will do one miracle! That is why, all the channels will be full of miracle stories only, trying to point out, 'you need not do anything; only send an application! You can write on a piece of paper and keep it in Bhagavan's padam. Traditional bhakti or traditional scriptures, never say that. Whether you are bhakta or abhakta , goals can be accomplished only by following the appropriate effort in the appropriate direction. All goals can be achieved by hard work only.

And, for a bhakta , two types of karmas are available. He can do worldly activities also, and parallely, he can do vaidika karma also - laukika karma and vaidika karma . But, he only have to put forth the effort. Prayer is not - is not just you go and say, 'GOD, give me one million rupees.' And the next day it is there. No. That would not work. We have to work. Bhakti is not a replacement for Karma or hard work. A Bhakta must do karma with bhakti, for fulfilling the goals of life, whether it is dharma, artha or kama . And, if this is not understood, and I keep on praying to Bhagavan; and still, things do not happen. I keep on sending applications; but, nothing happens. I expect Bhgavan will do some miracle. But, miracle is not something which will regularly happen. Why? If it regularly happens, it will not be a miracle!

So, when you expect miracles, and miracles do not happen, many Bhaktas will begin to question the efficacy of bhakti. Many Bhaktas- uninformed , who do not study the scriptures, they question the efficacy of bhakti. They question the fairness of GOD. I am doing Puja; but, I am not getting; whereas, my neighbour does not do Puja , and still he got! That is more sorrow. And therefore, I question the fairness of GOD. And such bhakti becomes so fragile and shaky, that Bhaktas question the existence o of GOD! Uninformed bhakti - mere emotional obsession; without, proper scriptural study - will be fragile and shaky. At any time, nasthika thoughts will come. Out of mere fear, we may not express that.

Therefore, bhakti must be informed bhakti; which means, (a) study of scriptures is a must; and, (b) effort is required for achieving our goals. Mere bhakti cannot help achieve the goal. Bhakti, with appropriate karmā alone, will achieve the goals of dharma, artha and kama.

If I need moksha (many people are not interested in it; but, by chance if a person wants moksha) by merely sending an application to Bhagavan, a Bhakta cannot get mokha . For moksha also, an appropriate effort is required which is spiritual knowledge alone. That means, knowing the real nature of GOD, real nature of world and real nature of myself. The truth behind GOD, world and me, that truth – tattva jnana , tattva bhodena, moksha bhavati. Scriptures make it very clear. Bhakta must do karma for worldly benefit. Bhakta must gain jnanam for moksha.

And the Upanishad says that, 'without spiritual knowledge, you can get moksha , under one condition'. You have to role the sky like a carpet. You should go to one end of the earth and start rolling the sky. And you should role from one end to other, and submit it to Bhagavan. Then, HE will give moksha , without jnanam! So, what does it mean? You cannot role the sky; therefore, you cannot get moksha , without knowledge! And so, how does knowledge come? For jnanam also, do you just send an application? Lord, give me jnanam! And then, does Bhagavan drill a hole in the head and inject? Just as the worldly goals require effort, any jnanam also requires effort. Whether it is physics or chemistry or economics, any knowledge, requires a systematic study. Spiritual knowledge also requires a systematic study. Guru, sastra, and upadesa . Because, scriptures alone talk about 'the truth behind god, world and the individual'. Therefore, guru, sastra, upadesa , we have to go through. I call it, a spiritual education program.

In Bhagavad [4-34], Lord ṣṇ says, tadviddhi pra ipātena paripraśnena sevayā I upadek yanti te jñānaṃ jñāninas tattva darśina ॥ Therefore, be a bhakta . But, what should you remember? For achieving worldly goals, Bhakta will have to work; is required. For attaining moksha goal, Bhakta also will have to go through systematic study of the scriptures which reveal the truth. If this is not understood, I will say that, 'I will not require karma . I do not require scriptural study. That is all for intellectuals only. I am following bhakti marga '. So, by claiming 'I am following bhakti ', they think they do not require karma or jnanam . Remember, there is no bhakti separated from karma and jnanam. Bhakta will have to do karma, following all the code of conduct etc.

This is traditional bhakti, we should remember. It is not an emotional attachment to a finite Bhagavan in the form of a person. It is not an emotional obsession; but, it is a proper approach, with the help of the scriptures. Thus, the five features of bhakti every should remember. What are the five features? I will enumerate and conclude.

(1) Reverential appreciation of GOD as the cosmic intelligence. Cosmic, invisible, intelligent principle, behind the universe; because of which, there is order, harmony and natural function of the entire universe. Forms are only temporary, not final. From the forms, we have to go to the formless, which is everywhere.

(2) The second feature is, reverential appreciation of the very visible universe itself as the very body of the lord. For this , where is Bhagavan? HE is everywhere. 7th chapter of the [7-8], says – raso hampsu kaunteya prahashmi sasisuryayou . Sunlight is Bhagavan; moonlight is Bhagavan; are Panchabhutas are lingams. Today, devotees will go and see all those things and stand in a long queue in a particular place. Truth is all the five elements are in Bhagavan and not just in these lingas. These places only representative in Kalahasti, Kanchipuram etc., the idea is, for me, the whole universe is HIS vishwarupa. So, the second feature is, reverential appreciation of universe as the body of the lord.

(3) Reverential appreciation as the source of the scriptures.

(4) Reverential appreciation of the scriptures as a gift from god, as a GPS for navigation in my life's journey.

(5) Reverential study of scriptures so that, I can understand the lifestyle of the and the code of conduct for a bhakta , as prescribed by in the scriptures, which I can attempt to follow.

Only when i have all these five features, I am a Bhakta in the traditional sense of the term With these words, I conclude and today we have done Shiva Puja wherein we see Shiva as the source of the scriptures and bhakti!

God, in Hinduism (17/02/2015)

Our religion Hinduism is called Vaidika karma or Sanatana dharma as it is based on Vedic scriptures or Vedas. And all those people who follow Vaidika dharma or Hinduism are called Vaidikaah and now we popularly call ourselves Hindus. A real Hindu or Vaidikaah is one who wants to take the guidance of Hinduism (Vedic scriptures) to lead his life. Like other religions Hinduism is also based on the theme of God or Ishwarah Himself. Not only is the religion centred on God, it also instructs a person to lead a God centric life. This God centred life of a Hindu is broadly divided into two stages: The first stage is called Ishwara Aradhanam. Aradhanam means worship and so Ishwara Aradhanam is worship of God. The first stage of human life must be in the form of God worship. The second stage of God centred life is called Ishwara Jnanam (knowing Ishwara). So the first stage is worshipping god and the second stage is knowing god. Our religion considers that both these stages as very very important for everyone to make the life meaningful and successful. Both these stages are important and must be followed in this particular order also. They are neither simultaneous nor in the reverse order; the sequence has to be Ishwara Aradhanam and then Ishwara Jnanam. Without Ishwara Aradhanam Ishwara Jnanam is impossible and without Ishwara Jnanam Ishwara Aradhanam is incomplete. Therefore everyone must go through both.

            When we go through this order we come to know an important thing. Ishwara Aradhanam is the first stage and in this phase the aspirant will not have Ishwara Jnanam. Now the question is if Ishwara jnanam is not there then what is the basis for Ishwara Aradhanam? How can I worship when I don’t know much about Ishwara? For that the answer is the first stage of Ishwara Aradhanam is not based on knowledge but it is based on FAITH in god. It is based on Ishwara Shraddha that “I have faith in the existence of God” and this is possible in Hinduism for the faculty of faith is there for every human being. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says “sraddha-mayo 'yam purusho yo yac-chraddhah sa eva sah”. Therefore everyone is an embodiment of faith. Everyone is faithful. Even the so called rationalist who is mocking at the faithfuls is himself faithful. The only difference is that he has placed his faith on reason (we should not take rationalist as one who has faith in ration card!). Therefore he is also a faithful person. We the Hindus are not intimidated by these rationalists because we know that reason has got several limitations. That is why we cannot lead a life purely based on reason alone. According to us it is irrational to place total faith in reason for it has many shortcomings that the scriptures clearly point out. In Brahma sutras there is a special topic “na tarka aprattishtanam” that talks about the limitations of reason. Therefore according to us all the rationalists are irrational and we are not intimidated by them. We have follow Hinduism by having faith in Ishwara Aradhanam. And to practice Ishwara Aradhanam we require only two things: faith is Ishwara and faith in aradhanam or worship. And we require basic information to implement this aradhanam. At this stage we don’t require jnanam as much as faith and basic information for conducting aradhanam. And our scriptures give general information regarding God which is shriti-shruthi-laya kartha – the creator, sustainer and resolver of the entire universe. This much information is more than enough for Ishwara Aradhanam.

            Then the next instruction our scriptures give is that Ishwara can be invoked in several forms for the sake of aradhanam. We have male forms like Shiva, Krishna. Rama etc and we have female forms like Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi and we have got mixed form like ardha nareeshwara, we have got animal form like matsya, kurma, varaha, we have human-animals mixed form like Narasimha form. Like that we have so many forms and so many options are there in which we can invoke Ishwara for Ishwara aradhanam at home. In addition to all these forms we have symbols also in which we can invoke the Lord like Shiva linga or saligram or omkara. Therefore God can be invoked in any form and Ishwara aradhanam is the first stage of the Hindu way of life. And we can do this aradhanam in a formal way (we learn from somebody how to worship God in a formal way) and if we do not know that then even a simple informal aradhanam we can practice. We have kayika puja or physical worship in which we offer a few flowers and have a simple arathi and for naivedayam we have raisins or candy. Do this daily aradhanam and get the blessings of the Lord. If we are not ready for kayika puja then we have vachika puja where we can do some parayanam like shiva manasa puja and so many slokas are there in so many languages. We are supposed to spend some time exclusively on Ishwara Aradhanam and there are no excuses allowed if we want to remain a Hindu worth the name. So be it either kayika aradhanam or vachika aradhanam or manasa aradhanam (in shiva-manasa puja I mentally offer worship). Even five minutes worship daily makes us a follower of Vedic scriptures. And this daily Ishwara Aradhanam has got an extension which is considered extremely important. What is it? At the end of the puja I have to de-invoke the Lord. In ritualistic term it is called “yatha sthanam prattistapayame” where the Lord is asked to go back to HIS original abode. Then the question would arise: what is the original residence of Bhagavan? Some say Vaikasa lokam, some say Kailasha lokam and others Brahma lokam, Hare Krishna people will say Brindavanam; but the scriptures point out that the original residence of the Lord is our own heart. So at the end of the puja we have to install Bhagavan in our own hearts. And this will be extremely useful the rest of the day because we are doing everything by keeping Bhagavan inside our hearts. And the scriptures give a beautiful meaning for the word Bhagawan.

            Bhagavan means ONE who has infinite resources and these are divided into six: aishwaryam (power), veeryam (courage), yashas (fame), sri (wealth), jnanam (knowledge), vairagyam (detachment). All these six fold resources in infinite measures is Bhagahah. And Bhagawan means the Lord of infinite power and resources. Therefore we can say Bhagavan is UPS like the UPS we use in our homes. It means “uninterrupted power supply”. They can fail in our homes but Bhagavan is the greatest and uninterrupted power supply and when I install that Bhagavan in my heart then I have got uninterrupted power supply. And when I have got faith in God and when that God is installed in me then I will also become a source of UPS. Bhagavan is maha UPS and when HE is installed in me, therefore I have infinite limitless power in me. Therefore faith in the Lord will be converted into faith into myself. And how much power I have will be proportional to how much faith I have in God. As tradition says: how much benefit you get from all these things is directly proportional to your faith in them? And what are they? Mantrey (how much benefit you get from mantras will depend upon how much faith you have in them), thirthey (a holy place), vijai (in a Brahmana pujari), devey (in Gods), deivagney (astrologer), bheshajai (in medicine or doctor).  Never go to a doctor who you consider useless, sit in meditation and develop faith on the doctor and only then visit him/her. With faith even placebo will work and finally gurey (teacher). So when I install God in me and therefore I have faith in my power and my resources and therefore I work with self-confidence. And throughout the day I have Bhagawan in my heart and our scriptures say that “May you offer all your karmas as an offering to the Lord” as we chanted Yadyatkarma karomi tattadakhilam Shambho tavaaraadhanam and then even daily food becomes an aradhanam to the Lord. Now not only the daily puja becomes an aradhanam but our everyday activities become an aradhama. Therefore convert your life itself into an Ishwara Aradhanam. And once you offer your karmas to the Lord then whatever consequences come, I am ready to face them. At the time of performing the karma I tell the Lord, “I am offering this karma to YOU. I want and prefer success. But O Lord, I am ready for any type of result that YOU give me as per the laws of karma.” I prefer success but I am ready for any failure also as I don’t call failure as failure. And I have a new name for failure which is Ishwara Prasadah. So every action in the day is Ishwara Arpanam and every experience is Ishwara Prasadah. So the day starts with aradhanam and then extends also to aradhanam. And this aradhanam is compulsory for every Hindu. The scale of aradhanam can be small or big but we cannot avoid this first stage which is based on faith in god and faith in the efficacy of the aradhanam. The scriptures extend aradhanam for some people who are interested in Ishwara Dharshanam; having the darshanam of the Lord in the form they have invoked. A Rama Bhakta may be interested in Rama Darshanam, Krishna bhakti in Krishna darshanam. The scriptures say that if a bhakta practices aradhanam and mantra japa of that form of the Lord then he/she can have the darshanam of that form also. Shankaracharya says in his brahma sutram,” The Lord will give darshanam to the bhakta but he should do extra sadhanam”. Thyagaraja is supposed to have had Rama darshanam and he chanted Rama nama 96 crore times. And here we are who say Rama nama 10 times and we expect Rama darshanam! The point is Ishwara aradhanam will make our lives wonderful because of our extra power and extra self-confidence. Life can become beautiful, life can become joyful and life can become generally successful and life can become peaceful also even in the midst of some adversities and failures extra. So the first stage of Hinduism is Ishwara aradhanam is faith based and not based on knowledge. This faith based Ishwara aradhanam will prepare an aspirant gradually them for the second stage, which is Ishwara jnanam.

            For entering the second stage three factors are required. The first factor is a sincere desire to know what is God or who is God. … a sincere deep desire to know which Krishna calls as jignasa bhakti. The previous stage is artha, arthathee bhakti while jignasa bhakti is the sincere desire to know as “different people worship different forms of God and which is the real form of God?”. Is Rama god, Krishna god or Shiva or do we have many gods? And if there are many gods what is the hierarchy? If you ask a Vaishava he will say “ega perumal” and under HIM will come other gods including Shiva. And if you ask a Shaiva bhakta, today is Shivaratri also, and he will say “my Shiva is great”. So which one is god? Where is god located? Are there many gods? What is the nature of God? All these questions a person deeply wants to know. This is a deep desire and not a casual desire which is jignasa.

            The second factor is I need a spiritual guide to help me. I need a guide to educate me as to the real nature of the Lord. And the third factor is a matured mind and a subtle intellect to understand the nature of God because when we want to know the real nature we enter an abstract and subtle subject. Therefore the mind must also be matured, the intellect must also be subtle. The Ishwara aradhanam will give us all the three factors: sincere desire, spiritual guide and also a matured mind.

            Once we enter the second stage what is the teaching that we come to know. I will briefly deal with them. A spiritual guide makes use of our Vedic scriptures to teach us who or what God is. The Upanishads are primary sources of this knowledge and secondary scriptures like Bhagavad Gita also. How do the Upanishads present Ishwara?

            In the first stage of Ishwara Aradhanam we defined Ishwara as shrithi-shruthi-laya kartha. We use the word jagat kartha but in the second stage, Ishwara jnanam, the language is slightly changed. Instead of the word “kartha” we use the word “karanam”. Now we define God as the cause of the universe, the source of the universe, and origin of the universe. Even modern scientists accept that the universe originated at a particular time which they study in cosmology where they talk about Big Bang etc. We need not go deeper but what I am saying is even the scientists talk about origination or evolution of the universe. Which means from non-origin state the origin state must come for from non-existent thing nothing can come. There is a fundamental cause that exists and this karanam is called Ishwara. And the entire universe is a product evolving or originating from that karanam. That is why Bhagavan is called karaneeshwara which is a famous temple.

            Once you understand Ishwara as karanam (cause) and the world is the effect then we can analyse the nature of both Ishwara and the world. The scriptures help us understand that through many examples. Like gold as the karanam and ornaments as the karyam, as clay as the karanam and pots as the karyam, or iron as the karanam and various kinds of hardware as the karyam. Based on these examples given in the Upanishad we have to understand Ishwara. Studying the examples we can know the features of karanam and the important features of karyam. On this auspicious Shivaratri day I will recount four important features of both karanam and karyam that you are all aware as upanishadic students.

            Gold the cause is ekam (one) and from that lump we have several ornaments. Therefore karanam ekam and karyam anakam. So how many Gods are there? God can only be ONE but HE can be invoked in several forms.

            The second feature is Gold is the karanam and ornaments karyam. The ornaments cannot exist without gold as gold alone is the content of all the ornaments. Therefore we can conclude karanam is the CONTENT (saaram) for the entire universe which is the karyam. Now tell me where is God? In kailasam or Vaikuntam or etc. Since god is the very saaram, god has to be behind everything. God cannot have a particular location as God is behind all the products which are like different ornaments in different names and forms. So god is saaram and world is asaaram (which is pit less and hollow).

            The third important feature is “gold existed before the arrival of ornaments, during the existence of ornaments and after the melting of ornaments. Gold exists in the past, in the present, and the future but the ornaments have got a beginning. And anything with a beginning will also have an ending.” Therefore karanam in nityam and karyam is anityam. God is nityah and the world is fleeting.

            The fourth feature is “gold, the karanam, by itself exists INDEPENDENTLY. It does not depend on the ornaments for its existence. Therefore swantantra tattvam whereas the ornaments, the products, does not exist independently and they all have borrowed existence. They do not have real existence. Whatever has independent existence is called Satyam and whatever is seemingly existent with borrowed existence, they are called asatyam. Ishwara ekah satyah while jagat is asatyah.

            When we get Ishwara jnanam we understand these four features: ekah, saarah, nityam and satyam. God is one, hold or fit, eternal, and the only real one. And the world is nekah, asaarah, anityam and asatyam. By analysing further we discover another important practical message. The ornaments are very useful for beautifying our body. Ornaments are used for hands, legs, neck, tongue and even eye-brows (new and new fashions). Ornaments have got beauty, ornaments have got variety, ornaments have got novelty. But when you want financial security, security does it depend on ornaments or gold? When ornament is brought or sold people only look at the gold. The karyam gives beauty but what gives security? The karanam alone can give security. The world is beautiful, wonderful, it has variety. But whenever you want security, you have to hold on to only God. So if you want security, if you want peace you never depend upon anything in the world (whether they are things, beings, or positions, or possessions for nothing is reliable). You have to hold on to Ishwara and Ishwara only. Initially Ishwara aradhanam and later Ishwara alambanam. If a sanyasi can renounce everything, from where does he get that courage? He does not want to depend on anything he is renouncing. Even after renouncing he has got self-confidence because he feels that his security is not the share market that is crashing every other day, not the bank money whose interest is coming down, not the people around me. I only depend on Ishwara as my alambanam. For me God is the truth beyond all forms and HE is the truth behind everything. The rationalist say God is no where while we Hindus say that the God is NOW HERE. God is there is the speck and also in the pillar. And if Ishwara is everywhere is ekah, saarah, nityam and satyam then that Ishwara must be in me also. This is the first stage of self-enquiry and then we come to the next higher state. It is very subtle and very abstract. And who is the ekah, saara, nitya, satyam Bhagavan residing in me? There are two things that are constantly there in every living being – chaitanyam (consciousness) and achatanam (matter). The body is continuously changing, the thoughts are continuously changing and what is the constant changeless factor? I am aware of all these changes and this chaitanyam is the nature of Bhagavan. The second factor is when I introduce myself as a body, male or young or old. I am old, I am young, I am handsome, I am a man etc. In all of them what is the constant factor? I AM. This is existence or satyam principle. Sat chit ananda is the Karanam Ishwara principle who is everywhere and who is in me also. And when I learn to identify with that core then I can say: aham brahma asmi. This makes my life purnam.

            We start from Ishwara aradhanam and go to Ishwara jnanam and understand that Ishwara is in everything and understand that Ishwara is in me and then come to the conclusion that Ishwara is me. This is the journey of a Hindu and it is possible to achieve this purnatvam in one life itself. This teaching has been given in the Vedas and Vedas have been given by the Lord Parameshwara and hence we are always indebted to Bhagavan. Sadasiva samarambham, shankaracharya madhyamam, asmad acharya paryantam vande Guru paramparam. On this auspicious Shivaratri day we do the aradhanam of Ishwara and we receive the knowledge of Ishwara and we have to discover this purnatvam which is the journey for all of us.