Nature of True Bhakti
True Bhakti ordevotion is that condition of a devotees mind when it is unable to bear even amoments separation from the shelter of God, and when even if is forciblywithdrawn from that shelter, by force of circ*mstances, it struggles and rushesback and attaches itself to God, like a needle to a magnet.
Ankolamnija beeja-santatih ayaskaantopalam soochika, Sadhveenaija vibhum lataa ksh*tiruham sindhuh sarid Vallabham; Praapnoteehayathaa tathaa pasupateh paadaaravindadvyam, Chetovrittir-upetyatishthati sadaa saa bhaktirityuchyate. |  |
This verseoccurs in Sivaananda Lahari, and in it, Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada has explainedwhat real bhakti is. The relationship between the devotee and Isavarais explained with reference to five examples. They are: the tree known as ankolamand its seeds; the lodestone and the needle; a chaste woman and herhusband; a creeper and a tree; and a river and the ocean. The ankola tree (azhinchilmaram in Tamil) is found in the forest. It is that when its fruit falls to theground, the seeds, liberated from the fruit by some compelling force within,move close to the trunk of the tree, gradually climb up, and get inseparableattached to the tree. During my travels, I was shown this tree in a forest. Isaw the seeds sticking to the trunk of the tree, though I was not able toobserve the actual movement of the seeds from the ground to the tree. Theexample of the seeds which fall away form the tree struggling back andattaching themselves to the tree, is denoted by the words, ankolam nijabeeja santatih.
The next examplegiven is ayakaantopalam soochika .Ayaskaanta means magnet, upalammeans stone, and soochika means needle. When a needle is brought near alodestone, it rushes towards the stone and gets itself attached to it.Similarly, the mind of a devotee rushes towards God and finds a heaven there.The next example is that of a saadhvee, a pativrata or chastewoman and her husband, is significant. The literal meaning of vibhuh is,one who pervades everywhere. The idea Sri Sankara wants to convey by using theterm vibhuh is that a true pativrata has only the thought of herhusband uppermost in her mind, all the time, whatever other objects may be infront of her eyes. She is so saturated with the thought of her husband that shesees her husband, whichever way she may turn. So also a bhakta see onlyGod in everything around him.
The example of Lataacreeper, and ksh*tiruha tree, is next given to indicate the mindsfrantic efforts to get itself attached to Isvara like a creeper to a tree. As acreeper grows, its shoots sway hither and thither, in an attempt to get a holdon something to which they can attach themselves. The moment the shoots comeinto contact with a neighbouring tree, the creeper winds itself around that tree,get itself attached to the tree. The mind of the devotee is constantly insearch of Isvara, and the moment He is realised, it attaches itself to Himinseparably.
The last exampleis that of the sindhuh, river and SaridvallabhaOcean.A river has a small origin on a mountain. In the intial stage of its course,which can be compared to our own childhood, the river is noisy, plays about byjumping from one rock to another, and is resless and so flows fast. Its speedreflects its anxiety to join the ocean. When nearing the sea, the river becomescalm and placid. This state can be compared to a womans humility, shyness, andserenity in the presence of her husband. The ocean, being a loving husband,rushes forward to receive the river in her arms. That is why the river water issaltish for some distance inland from its mouth. Similarly, the restless soulfinds serenity when it reaches the proximity of God, and finally gets engulfedin that ocean of Supreme Bliss.
Sri Sankara hasexpounded advaita tatva both in the main them of the verse and in theillustrating similies. Water from the sea evaporates into cloud and returns tothe earth as rain. The rainwater goes back to the sea as rivers. In that way acircle is completed. The river and the sea, though apparently two, are inreality one. By the process of evaporation, the volume increased by the inflowof river waters. In the same way, everything in this universe is part of God.He is everything and everything ultimately merges in Him. He is Full always,and His fullness is in no way affected either by creation or by the merger inHim of the created beings. The human soul, jeevatma, is restless like acreeper, in search of a support to sustain it, and eager to rejoin its source,like the river is to rejoin the ocean, its ultimate source. As the jeeva getsto be more and more proximate to God, it obtains saanti or serenity, like thatwhich the waters of a river attain near the rivers confluence with the sea.The bhakta, who eventually becomes a jnani see only Isvara ineverything, even as a pativarata thinks only of her husband and lord.When the should finally finds its haven in the Paramaatma, it uniteswith the Paramaatma, like creeper bugging a tree, or a needle flying toand getting attached with a magnet. If, for any reason, the jeeva isforcibly detached from Isvara, it becomes restless, struggles and eventuallygets back to Isvara.
When ourdevotion to God is motivated by a desire to secure some earthly benefit, itceases to be real bhakti; it becomes a barter. But when our bhakti isfor our spiritual elevation, we attain the saanti of the river when it is nearits Lord, the Ocean. The devotee begins his quest for bliss with devotion toOne, who, he thinks is outside him. When the devotion is selfless, that is,when the quest is a quest of his own real self, the dvaita bhaava (theduality of God and himself) changes into advaita bhaava, the oneness ofhimself and God. He surrenders himself absolutely and unreservedly to theParamaatma, and becomes one with that Only paadaaravinda dvayamChetovrithirupetya tishthati. We must all strive to develop the kind ofdevotion to Isvara indicated in the verse from Sivaananda Lahari I have quotedin the beginning.
February 8, 1958