Practice in Vogue
As we find in the world and practiced by most people, Devotion essentially involves ritualistic practices for self-appeasement. Something like visiting temples, shrines or mosques, worshipping Gods and Goddesses, offering prayers/namaz, formal worship with lit wicks soaked in clarified butter, chanting hymns, donating money, and going on pilgrimage. The question is, why do we do these and what for? By and large, it is for gaining material benefits or getting good husbands or wives for our daughters or sons or health and wealth. We also do these acts to attain peace, health and wealth.
What Do We Do?
People, often in the name of worship or Devotion, indulge in acts of bartering, like getting desires fulfilled in return for acts of worship or chanting of hymns. Sometimes it is like an act of bribery offering sweets and other offerings in exchange for meeting one’s needs. Some bribery acts are offering money, gold etc., to the deity expecting worldly favours from the deity in return. Some indulge in a sort of blackmailing like fasting and torturing oneself to get material and worldly benefits or to fulfil desires.
In the present iron era (Kaliyuga), Devotion has become limited to flattering Gods, decorating places of worship, offering beautiful clothes and ornaments to the deity etc. If we look at it dispassionately, we will realize that it is a bargain. When we offer money, metals and other items, it is a kind of bribery. Some even observe fasting of kinds. All of these are with expectations or changing bad tidings with good ones. Fasting, in my view, is a kind of blackmail. In this iron age (Kaliyuga), most forms of worship reek of some form of flattery of the deities or gods and goddesses. Isn’t it a joke that we donate money and make other offerings to one from whom we seek the same? You are offering food to one who feeds you.
The Nine form of Devotion as Practiced in the World
Truly, bhakti or Devotion has to be the bedrock of spiritual practice. So we need to understand the path of correct Devotion. Looking around the world or reading scriptures, we find nine forms of Devotion spoken of or mentioned respectively.
Let us look at the word bhakti. It is a Sanskrit word derived from the root ‘bhaj’. What does it mean? It means ‘divide’, ‘participate’, or ‘to belong to’. I want to take the more appropriate meaning such as ‘attachment’, ‘devotion to’, ‘faith or love to something as a spiritual/religious principle’ or ‘means of salvation’.
As in vogue in the world, there are nine forms of Devotion called ‘navdha bhakti’. These can be found mentioned in the epics of Ramayana and Bhagavatam. This is the knowledge given by Shri Rama to Sabari when she sought knowledge from Him. Prahlada again recounts these forms of Devotion to Hiranyakashapu in Bhagavatam.
The following verse (Bahagawat Puran 7/5/23-24), as said by Prahlada to Hiranyakashapu, means:
‘shrvanam kiirtabam vishou smaranam paadasevanam Ι
Bahagawat Puran 7/5/23-24
archanam vandanam daasyam sakhymaatmanivedanam ΙΙ
There are nine forms of Devotion to Lord Viṣhṇu—
- Hearing the names and glories of the Lord
- Chanting His glories
- Remembering the Lord
- Serving the Lord’s feet
- Worshiping the Lord
- Offering obeisance unto the Lord
- Serving the Lord as His servant
- Developing friendship with the Lord
- Total surrender of oneself to the Lord
I regard it as the highest type of learning if one offers himself completely to the Lord and performs this nine-fold Devotion (regards complete dedication as the condition precedent of real Devotion).
As against all these nine forms of Devotion is the tenth one, known as ‘Ananya Prem-lakshana Bhakti’ (Non-dual love-filled unique devotion). A mention of this type of Devotion finds mention Bhagawat Gita 11/54 as ‘ananya bhakti’.
bhaktyaa tvananyayaa shakya ahamevamvidhorjuna |
Bhagawat Gita 11/54
jnyaatum drishtum cha tattvena praveshtum cha parantapa||
Only single minded Devotion can I be known and seen in this form and also enterd into O’ scorcher of foes.
Real Devotion – Love-Filled One
True Devotion or worship should not be by flattery, bribery or blackmail or even out of fear but by absolute divine love. We should love God and not fear Him. Instead of offering true love, we waste time expecting or demanding things without realizing that no god, goddess, or deity can give you anything outside your karmic entitlement. Human life is essentially for burning away past karmic misdeeds. So, avoid committing new misdeeds by indulging in love-filled Devotion and meditation of the one and only one Supreme Lord, the Almighty and experiencing a sense of love towards all His creation. Love for the Supreme Lord and service to fellow beings is the sure path to Devotion and progress towards salvation.
Missing the Forest for the Trees
We perform all these as acts of true Devotion. However, we forget that we have missed the forest for the trees somewhere along the way. What gets overlooked is the bigger picture of Pure Love as the act of True Devotion. Instead of wasting time on infructuous ritualistic Devotion, we should indulge in Pure Love for the Supreme, the fountainhead of Absolute Sublime Love. Meditate on that Supreme Lord with pure love. In that process, one merges with the Lord, merging the microcosmic consciousness with the macrocosmic consciousness. Indulge in pure love with the Lord and exhibit love for all His creation. One can feel the vibrations and sway with ecstasy and bliss when indulging in pure love for the Lord.
Classic Examples of Devotion
Many souls got lost in the sublime love of the Lord, may it be any of their avowed forms. Who doesn’t know the Devotion of Meera bhai and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? Both indulged in the love-filled Devotion towards Shri Krishna, an incarnation of one of the Creator God’s volitional divine creations, Vishnu. Both Guru Nanak and Saint Ramdassjihad a devotion to the one supreme, known as ‘wahe guru’ in Sikhism. Think of Kabir, an ardent love-filled devotee of the Supreme Lord, who shunned all ritualistic or Shariat worship and often chided Hindus and Muslims for their misplaced acts of worship. All his ‘dohas’ were pregnant with deep meaning, usually indicative of a higher realm beyond this mundane world. They all believed in selfless service to humanity and all the creations of the Lord. Regarding reverence to the Supreme and service to humankind, who can overlook Shri Aurobindo, who gave knowledge and wisdom through his writing and Mahatma Gandhi, working for the welfare of the backward community?
The True Path To Take
Anaya Prem lakshana bhakti or Non-dual love-filled unique devotion is more related to the Supreme Lord or Paar Brahm. In this type of devotion, the Supreme Soul/Aatma and even the soul worshops the Supreme Lord as a chaste wife with unconditional and undivided unique love-filled devotion. Our love and devotion are only for the Supreme Lord and none else. This is the only form of devotion by which we can attain the Almighty Supreme. A true devotee of this type usually meditates on the Suprme with blissful love and devotion.
It is time for all of us to come awake and follow the path of Unique, Love-Filled Devotion, leaving aside all ritualistic modes of worship and Devotion. And that is the true path to attain that Supreme Lord.
May the Lord throw the beacon of light, and may we all tread on that path of love.
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