Sutra 15
Tallakshnani vachyante nana matabhedat.
Characteristics of that bhakthi (parama prema) are described variously
because of different approaches.
We now consider various definitions of Para Bhakthi arising from different modes of worship i.e. with the body, words, and mind. The action done with body is Puja, the action done with words is chanting and singing, and action done with the mind is meditation. Just as water coming into the ocean can come from different approaches and still merge and become one with the ocean, all these different approaches to bhakthi lead to the same goal of being one with God. In the next three Sutras, definitions of Sri Veda Vyasa, Maharishi Garg and Sage Sandilya highlighting each one of these three modes are quoted. Sage Narada gives his own definition and further explanation, after these quotations.
Sutra
16
Pujaadishu
anuraga iti Paaraasaryah.
In puja,
etc, it is the deep love, according to the son of sage Pararsara, i.e., Sri
Veda Vyasa.
Sutra 17
Kathaadishviti Gargah
“Through
sacred stories, etc,” So declares Maharishi Garga.
Sutra
18
aatma rati avirodhena iti saandilyah.
Must not be opposed to delight in the inner Self, so declares Sage Sandilya
According to Sri Veda Vyasa, bhakthi
means having a wholehearted love for God in puja where puja stands
for all the ritual activities connected with the worship of God. This
means, total involvement without distractions and with deep love for God in all
the rituals connected with the worship like abhisheka, dressing up the idol of
God, offering flowers and naivedyam,
performing arati to the Deity, chanting Mantras and stotras etc. In all these acts of worship done with intense
attachment to God and with full understanding of the significance behind the
rituals, the organs of perception and action and the mind and intellect are all
brought together at the feet of the beloved God. This is the method of bhakthi,
according to Veda Vyasa.
Maharishi Garga states
that indulgence in talks of God’s glory and greatness, listening to the stories
and repeating them with tears of joy, singing His glories and chanting His
names with deep love etc. constitute bhakthi. This viewpoint highlights the verbal aspect of bhakthi by placing
emphasis on words in the form of story-telling, devotional singing of kirtans
and bhajans, and Japa or the repetition of the God’s various names.
Sage
Sandilya states that practice of bhakthi must be without hindrance to the
enjoyment of inner bliss of Athma in meditation. This viewpoint
highlights the mind angle by placing emphasis on dhyana wherein one immerses
oneself in total love for the Lord in meditation, shutting out all
distractions.
Sutra 19
Naradastu tadarpitaakhilaachaarata, tadvismarane paramavyaakulateti.
Sage Narada says; It is
that state (of self-surrender) wherein all activities are dedicated to
Him and in the moments of forgetting Him, experiencing great grief.
In this Sutra, Sage Narada presents his view wherein all three aspects mentioned before are combined. Everything one does in the name of bhakthi must be dedicated or consecrated to God. No matter what it is, however big or small, however elaborate, or simple, the act, word, and thought must combine and be offered jointly at the feet of God. That becomes the complete definition of bhakthi. And Narada has built into his definition a ‘recovery clause’ which is not there in the other three definitions i.e. just in case the bhaktha forgets God in the midst of all the excitement of activity, he should be deeply repentant for forgetting God and feel great grief over the lapse.
Sutra 20
Astyevamevam.
Thus, and thus, there is.
Sutra 21
Yatha vrajagopikaanaam.
For example, (that) of the
Gopis of Vraja.
Sutra 20 implies that there are many
examples of surrender and Sutra 21 gives a popular example of total
surrender. The example is that of Gopis
of Brindavan whose love for Lord Krishna
represented total surrender; one characterized by not only the surrender of
body, mind, and the will, but also with an intensity of devotion that on any
occasion of separation from the object of love suffering extreme torment. This pure love of Gopies for Lord Krishna is narrated in
detail in Srimad Bhagavatham. The Vaishnava
saints like Jayadeva got their inspiration from the love of Gopis. Sage Narada, by taking the example of Gopis
is illustrating what is really a total surrender.
Sutra 22
Tatrapi na
mahaatmyajnanavismrityapavaadah.
Even here, the doubt
(that) the knowledge of the glory of Lord was forgotten, does not exist.
Sutra 23
Tadvihinam jaraanaamiva
Lack
of that (knowledge) makes it like the passion of illicit lovers.
Sutra 24
Nastyeva
tasmin tatsukhasukhitvam.
Indeed,
in that there is no happiness in the happiness of other.
In the above three Sutras Sage Narada
tries to establish Gopis’ bhakthi is proper and genuine by establishing that
their bhakthi is viveka-janya-bhakthi i.e. based on devotion born of
discrimination and knowledge. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (9-11):
Avajaananti
maam moodhaah maanusheem tanumaashritam;
Param
bhaavamajaananto mama bhootamaheshwaram.
Not
knowing My supreme nature as the Lord of all beings, deluded people disregard
Me who have taken a human body.
Narada states in Sutra 22
that Gopis do not belong to this deluded group of people and they did not
mistake Him as a mortal samsari.
He asserts that the Gopis knew that Krishna was an avatara and
their love was a total surrender to the Lord. At no time they forgot His real glory
as God and so their bhakthi is viveka-janya-bhakthi that is pure and beyond
reproach. In fact, the Gopis are considered by some commentators as
incarnations of great God-realised sages, who desired to feel their oneness
with the Supreme on earth while taking up a human birth. They chose their birth
very carefully as Gopis, to coincide with the Avatara of Lord Krishna.
Had Gopis not recognized the Lordship of Lord Krishna,
their love would be at the level of common love like girls passionately going
after their secret lovers which is aviveka-janya-raga only, says sage Narada in
Sutra 23. Aviveka-janya-raga is lust
only and is not love at all. It is an
animal instinct. And in lust there is a sense of separateness as the lusty considers
the beloved as entirely another and does not have the bliss of oneness. The relationship of Gopis with Lord Kṛiṣhṇa
was based on pure selfless love, with the knowledge of His divinity and a feeling of oneness, and it was not
an impure attachment.
Supporting the position that Gopis’ love was no ordinary romantic love, sage Narada says in Sutra 24 that in ordinary love, happiness derived from the happiness of their beloved, i.e., happiness from pleasing another is missing. Gopis did not have that type of love as many a verse in Bhagavatam reveal Gopis’ dedication and selflessness.
----------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment