Food for thought - 04.12.2021
If bhakthi is the journey to the divine
shravanam, keerthanam,smaranam are the signboards
Atma descends on to the earth with the mission to experience, practice and live its life and attain mukthi through various ways. It can be through bhakthi; it can be through dharma; it can be through service etc.
Today we are going to discuss one of the ways to attain mukthi which is bhakthi. Bhakthi is the real nectar or the amrutham, it breaks the shackles of life and death and helps atma to attain freedom. What happens then? When one attains the highest level of bhakthi he becomes perfect, immortal and fully satisfied.
You may ask what is perfection?
Perfection is the objective which the atma attaines to realise the self, the divine and the relationship between the two.All his desires are gratified by this realisation.He never feels the want of anything. He enjoys the supreme bliss and calmness within himself. In other words he becomes a siddhar.
Bhakthi gives three most important things according to narada muni in his Bhakti sutras.
Siddho bhavati
Amrito bhavati
Tripto bhavati
He who has attained siddhi becomes perfect which is siddho bhavati.
He who has attained realisation is amrito bhavati
He who is perfect, and has attained realisation is completely satisfied with his life is tripto bhavati.
Narada muni explains thus:
“Yallabdhwa puman siddho bhavati, amrito bhavati,tripto bhavati”
Meaning:
On attaining the supreme bhakthi or love man becomes perfect, immortal and fully satisfied.
How does the atma feel when it is immersed in bhakthi?
It feels nothing.
It rises above all wants
There is no grief and doesn’t feel the loss of anything or anyone
It has no hatred towards anyone.
It does not work to promote his own self interest.
It becomes intoxicated with divine love. He is in a state of union with the divine.
It is satisfied with itself.
Chandogya upanisad says :
“The man who rejoices in the Self is satisfied and is content in the Self, who plays in the Self, for him verily there is nothing to do”
So understand that no one can make you happy, only those who rejoice in themselves are happy.
So what stops us from attaining this state?
The vasanas (the subtle desires) are the one which draws us towards life and away from the divine which is coupled with Avidya(ignorance).
Avidya has got two forces:
Avarana or veiling power- the sakthi that screens the person from his real satchitananda swaroopa behind
Vikshepa sakthi - that draws the senses and the desires towards external objects.
The restlessness of the mind is due to the above two factors.
Avidya (ignorance) clouds the understanding and produces intoxication, destroys the intellect and makes the intellect perverted and empty. That is why man searches for pleasure and happiness outside and falls prey to passion. He never believes in devotion, or the factors he is under control.He does not believe in deriving happiness within himself, he thinks external factors alone can bring happiness. If that is the case then all the rich men in the world should be happy and their search should stop. But it doesn’t happen.
Now coming to the signboards in the journey. The three most important signboards.
shravanam, keerthanam,smaranam. As practicing Hindus we all know that listening to slokas, songs, recitation of mantras, listening to discourses & puranas draws bhathi within and it shows us the margam or the way towards the divine.
Why are the signboards prescribed by our ancestors?
The reason is for the purification of the mind which is the basic requirement for the journey towards the divine. It is a tapas. For example,people who go to Kashi perform austerity or tapas why? When people go to palani malai they carry kavadi why? When people go to thirupathi they walk up to the temple why? These are all austerities to attain bhakthi. A stepping stone for reaching the divine.
Why do I say signboards? Because it is just a choice, you can choose to see it or choose not to see it.This choice depends on the nature of the person.
As Bhagavad gita says:
“sattvanurupa sarvasya shraddha bhavati bharata
shraddha-mayo ‘yam purusho yo yach-chhraddhah sa eva sah”
Meaning:
The faith of all humans conforms to the nature of their mind. All people possess faith, and whatever the nature of their faith, that is verily what they are.
Those who develop the conviction that money is of paramount importance in the world spend their entire life accumulating it. Those who believe that fame counts more than anything else dedicate their time and energy in chasing political posts and social designations. Those who believe in noble values sacrifice everything to uphold them.
So make your choices wisely even when you are in the path of bhakthi.
Sarvejana sukinobhavanthu
Comments