Upasana Yoga

The word “Upasana” literally means “staying or sitting near”.  It should be understood as staying near God, referred to as Iswara. This proximity is mental proximity, which is achieved through meditation and also through manasa puja, mental worship.  So Upasana is translated as meditation and worship, depending on the context and we shall see it in both these meanings.  The practice of Upsana is called “Upasana Yoga”.  Like Bhakthi in Bhakti Yoga, Upasana of Upasana Yoga is the path of pure, unselfish love and devotion and cosmic love is its essence.   Upasana is approaching the chosen ideal or object of worship by meditating on it, in accordance with the teachings of the sastras and guru. The fundamental aim of Upasakas as of Bhakthas is union with the Lord, whatever the name or form, for all are worshipping one higher reality, Iswara, only in various forms and names.  As Kanchi Periyaval had observed of Bhakthi, the main aim of Upasana is to quell all desires and get attracted to that Infinite source of Bliss, Iswara.

A great example for manasa Puja is Pusalar Nayanar. Pusalar was a great devotee of Lord Siva. He tried to build a temple for Lord Siva in his mind using his imagination, observing all  the rituals of temple-building, like sanctifying the ground and laying  the first stone on an auspicious day etc., mentally.  Over course of time he completed his mind-temple and selected an auspicious time for the Kumbhabhishekam ceremony.  The same time and day the Pallava king had  selected  for consecration of the temple he was building in the capital city.  Lord Siva appeared in the king's dream and instructed him to postpone the date of consecration as He would be present at that time in Thiruninravur for the consecration of His devotee Pusalar's temple.. The king postponed the date as per the divine decree and journeyed to see the temple of Pusalar, which Lord had  favoured over his own. However, on reaching Thiruninravur, the king could not find any new temple visible in the town and was perplexed. He reached Pusalar's house and informed Pusalar about his dream. The saint was overwhelmed by Lord’s words in king’s dream and told him that he had built the temple in his heart.  The king felt humble before Pusalar's devotion and bowed down to him and stayed with him as  Pusalar consecrated the temple mentally and took his blessings and left.  Pusalar continued his manasa puja in his mental temple until his death and on his death he attained liberation. 

This is from the angle of Upasana as Bhakthi.  We shall see briefly Upasana as meditation.  Upasana is defined as a flow of thoughts centred on Ishta Devata, standing for Iswara, undistracted by other thoughts.  Ramana Maharishi compares the flow of thoughts to the continuous flow of viscous liquid like oil or ghee from one vessel to another and to the flow of water in a perennial river where the flow is effortless and continuous. The support which helps in keeping the mind fixed on one particular thought is known as ‘Alambana’.  Alambana is a symbol to worship the invisible Devata.  Alambana is taken as the Lord Himself even though it may be a symbol or image.  The Alambana can be the image/form of Ishta Devata, when it is called Prathima Upasana,  In Prathima Upasana Alambana has clear features. Prathima Upasana is Saguna Devata Upasana.  If Alambana is a symbol without clear features like Saligramam or flame of a lamp or a lump of turmeric, on which Ishta Devata is invoked it is called Pratheeka Upasana.  Pratheeka upasana can be either Saguna Devata Upasana or Nirguna Brahma Upasana.  In the latter case the Alambana will be like the sound of Om or Prana etc.  Ahamgrahopasana is a higher form of Pratheeka Upasana in which Iswara is invoked on oneself and this is also called Abedha Upasana.  Nidhidhyasanam is a special Upasana coming under Jnana Yoga where the meditation is on a Mahavakhya that proclaims Jeeva-Brahma identity. 

Sri Krishna talks about certain disciplines one must follow for success in meditation. We shall see a few of them selectively. For the practice of meditation a distraction-free place is to be chosen and one should also ensure body-mind control at the time of meditation.  Further:

प्रशान्तात्मा विगतभीर्ब्रह्मचारिव्रते स्थितः।
मनः संयम्य मच्चित्तो युक्त आसीत मत्परः।।6.14।।

Prashaantaatmaa vigatabheer brahmachaarivrate sthitah;

Manah samyamya macchitto yukta aaseeta matparah

He should remain seated with a serenely quiet mind, free from fear, firm in the vow of a Brahmachari, and with the mind controlled and fixed on Me (Ishta Devata), having Me as the supreme Goal.

Keeping the mind controlled and fixed on a subject, be it Prathima or Pratheeka is a difficult one.  But it can be achieved through constant practice and detachment, as success in Upasana cannot be achieved without control of mind.  So Sri.Krishna also states:

असंयतात्मना योगो दुष्प्राप इति मे मतिः।
वश्यात्मना तु यतता शक्योऽवाप्तुमुपायतः।।6.36।।

Asamyataatmanaa yogo dushpraapa iti me matih;

Vashyaatmanaa tu yatataa shakyo’vaaptumupaayatah.

My conviction is that Yoga is difficult to be attained by one of uncontrolled mind. But it is possible to be attained by one who strives and has a controlled mind.

Sri Krishna prescribes perseverance in effort as the only means of striving for control of mind. 

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम्।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत्।।6.26।।

Yato yato nishcharati manashchanchalamasthiram;

Tatastato niyamyaitad aatmanyeva vasham nayet.

From whatever cause the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it and bring it under the control of the Self alone.

Sri Krishna also spells out the fruits of such meditation as liberation.

युञ्जन्नेवं सदाऽऽत्मानं योगी नियतमानसः।
शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति।।6.15।।

Yunjannevam sadaa’tmaanam yogee niyatamaanasah;

Shaantim nirvaanaparamaam matsamsthaamadhigacchati.

Engaging the mind thus always(in meditation), the yogi of controlled mind achieves the Peace abiding in Me, which culminates in Liberation. 

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Ananya Bhakthi – a brief analysis.

Bhakthi comes from the root Bhaj , which means to serve with attachment, here the attachment is to God.  Those who follow the path of bhakthi are called bhakthas. These bhakthas can be broadly divided into two groups, Sakama bhakthas and Nishkama bhakthas.  Sakama bhakthas are those whose devotion to God and worship of God is motivated by material wants and desires.  So here God is not the end goal of the bhaktha.  God is only an intermediate means through whose help he wants to attain the fulfillment of his material wants. This is usually the early stages of bhakthi in which we most are. In this early stage God is worshipped in many forms, depending upon bhaktha’s moods and needs.  In this early stage there is also much importance to rituals, and worship is offered equally out of fear as of love.

The Nishkama bhakthas are those bhakthas for whom God is the end as well as means. They do not have a material goal either for themselves or in respect of others to whom they are attached, except for the welfare of all of humanity as a class.  For them bhavana, the mental attitude, in bhakthi  is more important  than any physical  ritual.  Under Nishkama bhakthas come Jijnasu bhakthas and Jnani bhakthas.  The Jijnasu bhakthas  have as their goal Jnanam, knowledge of God and to this end pray for anthakaranasuddhi, the purity of mind and thoughts, necessary for acquiring Jnanam overcoming raga and dwesha.  Their goal is spiritual goal which is related to God, who can be called as Iswara as well.  Those Nishkama  bhakthas, who after attaining  Jnanam, revel in that Jnanam with bhakthi  are the Jnani bhakthas.  The Jijnasu’s path to Jnanam is through ananya bhakthi.  

Lord Krishna gives the formula for ananya bhakthi that is the hallmark of Bhakthiyoga in a few places in Gita. We shall see two of them starting with the advice to Arjuna in 9-27.

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्। ( Yad karoshi Yad asnasi yad juhoshi dadhasi yad )

यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम्॥ (Yad tapasysi kaunteya tad kurushva madharpanam )

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever ritual you perform, whatever you give, whatever religious discipline you follow, Arjuna, please do it as an offering to me.

After revealing his Viswarupa, Sri Krishna again spells out the recipe for ananya bhakthi to Arjuna in 11-55.

मत्कर्मकृन्मत्परमो मदभक्तः सङ्गवर्जितः। matkarmakrit matparamo madbhakthaha sangavarjithaha।

निर्वैरः सर्वभूतेषु यः स मामेति पाण्डव॥ nirvairah sarvabhutheshu yah sa mamethi Pandava॥

He who does actions for Me, who looks upon Me as the Supreme goal, who is devoted to Me, who is free from attachment and who bears no enmity towards any being, he attains Me.

In this sloka Lord Krishna has laid down four criterions for ananya bhakthi with a rider that such an ananya bhaktha will attain Him.  As Lord Krishna is speaking these words not as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva but as the incarnation of Cosmic Supreme, attaining Him is Mukthi or liberation from the cycle of birth and death and so we can take these as criterions for a bhaktha to reach his spiritual goal of liberation. They are:

 1)   Whose work is all for Iswara  

2)  For whom Iswara is the Supreme goal

3)  Who is free from all worldly associations

4)  Who has no sense of enmity towards any living being. 

Criterion 1 was explained in the sloka we saw earlier i.e. sloka 9-27.  For a Nishkama bhaktha seeking liberation, Iswara is the Supreme goal.  His attachment is only to Iswara and to Satsangh and so he is free from all other worldly associations and material attachments.  Criterion 4 which results from the Universal vision, that Lord Krishna speaks of in Gita 10-8, is very important as it lifts bhakthi to its higher form, Parabhakthi.  For what constitutes lower form of bhakthi, let me quote from Swami Vivekananda’s work on Bhathiyoga

Swamiji  writes “ The one great advantage of Bhakti  is that it is the easiest, and the most natural way to reach the great divine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its lower forms it oftentimes degenerates into hideous fanaticism……... That singleness of attachment (Nishthâ) to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else. All the weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or country have only one way of loving their own ideal, i.e. by hating every other ideal. Herein is the explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal. This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct of guarding the master’s property from intrusion; only, the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an enemy in whatever dress he may come before it. Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgement.”

He further states later “It has always to be understood that the personal God worshipped by bhaktha is not separate or different from the Brahman.  All is Brahman, the one without a second; only the Brahman, as unity or absolute, is too much of an abstraction to be loved and worshipped; so the bhaktha chooses the relative aspect of Brahman, that is Ishwara, the Supreme Ruler”.  So all personal Gods are to be understood as different manifestations of Brahman.  With name and form, they are different, but without name and form, as Absolute Truth, there is no difference.  Swamiji uses a simile to drive home this point. 

In Swamiji’s words “Brahman is as the clay or substance out of which an infinite variety of articles are fashioned. As clay, they are all one; but form or manifestation differentiates them. ….. the clay-mouse can never become a clay -elephant, because, as manifestations, form alone makes them what they are, though as unformed clay they are all one. Ishvara is the highest manifestation of the Absolute Reality, or in other words, the highest possible reading of the Absolute by the human mind”.  From this understanding comes the Universal vision an essential constituent of ananya bhakthi that can lead to Mukthi.

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