Dagdhabiija : Burnt Seed

Is misery less even if one is bound up with chains made of gold?  The bondage of good actions is of gold and of bad action, iron. One has to avoid bad actions so that the chains of iron might not be forged. Good actions are to be done , but the chains of gold are to be offered at the feet of Paramapurusa. 

 No one can help acting. Respiration itself is an action. One may not desire do any action and so he sleeps - yet to sleep , too , is an action. Actions have to be performed , not bad actions but good ones which are to be offered to Him.

Even after of eons , the reactions of the actions are not exhausted.  When the reactions are undergone , then only are they exhausted. One has performed good actions, and so their fruits are to be enjoyed ; so it is with bad actions. Hence one must be causious while performing actions. After that repetance will reap no benefit. 

There are so many stages of sadhakas says " I am ready to bear the fruits of my own actions , and I am also ready to bear the fruits of others ' actions". There are varieties of feelings. Some want to carry the burden of others so that others might not be in trouble. Sadhakas are at different stages and their feelings are just according to their stages. While doing sadhana, a sadhaka reaches a stage where 100% devotion is aroused for Paramapurusa. Then the remains unassailed even if a cyclone of misery attacks him. He may feel maximum torture in his mind, but he cares little for it,taking it to be the benediction of Paramapurusa Himself. 

Biija means seed ; dagdha means burnt. Whenever a seed is sown it begets a plant. But when the seed is burnt , the plant is not produced. A sadhaka becomes dagdhabiija when he has no more pain and pleasure of his own. He who has surrendered completely and has not kept in his hand even a single penny of it, he alone is dagdhabiija.

  And those that want to carry the burdens of others do lessen the burden of Paramapurusa indirectly. This you should remember. Don't be concerned with your individual problem at all.  Then alone are you brave. Be dagdhabiija. Everybody has his own individual problems. On the contrary, bear the burdens of others. None is your enemy; be ready to bear the burdens of others. 

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Panchatantra Sadhana

Tantra sadhana involves development of all the aspects of human exiestence. Tantra sadhana is multi-faceted there are different nemely ( a) Shaeva Tantra (b) Shakta Tantra  (c) Vaesnava Tantra  (d) Ganapatya Tantra (e) Saura Tantra . Each tantras putting exclusive emphasis one one particular faculty or aspect. There are three distinct faculties in man , namely , the cognitive , conative and the affective. 

( a) Shaeva Tantra : Shaeva tantra gives prime importance to Knowledge, in attaining the highest state. The nature of the ultimate reality is of the nature of pure-consciousness and the ultimate goal is the unification of the Jiva with Shiva. Every Jiva is essentially Shiva. On account of the influence of Pasas , Ripus  and Vrittis the real nature of the ultimate is blurred and the illusion of multiplicity is created. This elemental ignorance leads to the bondage of individuation, whereby the individual develops the sense of I and Mine, the illusion of I and the other . The ego-sense generates the bondage of karma. As a result of sadhana , the illusion disappears. The sense of multiplicity is sublimate in the awareness of cosmic unity. Sadhaka realises that he is essentially Shiva. In Shaeva tantra there is no room for priestly meditation or ritualism. In spiritual progress  Shiva is addressed as Pasupati, Viresvara and Mahadeva. According to Shaeva tantra the purpose of sadhana is to help one distinguish between the eternal and non-eternal. In the social sphere Shaeva tantra propagates unity of all created beings and is opposed to artificial distinctions based on caste, colour, and creed. The practices in Shaeva tantra aim at enriching the cognitive faculty so that one has the capacity to discriminate ( nitya nitya viveka). This culminates in the cognition of the Shiva in every Jiva. 

(b) Shakta Tantra : In Shakta tantra , Shiva is considered to be passive and Shakti ( the operative principle) is the focal point of the intutional practice sadhana. Shakti is the creative matrix. Maya is the innate ability of Shakti to appear as many. The overpowering influence of Maya create different levels of consciousness. The purpose of Shakta is one of pause less fight against any thing that stands on the way of attaining the highest goal. In Shakta tantra , utmost emphasis is laid on the arousal of kundalinii. Shakta sadhana, essentially aims at perfecting the actional faculty of the individual. It takes the help of vidya in its struggle against avidya. On this path, the aspirant is sure to acquare occult powers and may be temped to misuse them. In fact the degenerated form of Shakta tantra is equated with the worship of female goddess such as Kali, Chandii, Durga, Chinnamasta and the crude practices of Panchamakara. The sole objective is the acquisition of occult power which is used for attaining worldly ends. Here the Shakta sadhaka seeks to wrest powers from Prakriti by force. 

(c) Vaesnava Tantra : Vaesnava tantra  lays emphasis on enrichng the affective faculty. The sentiment and emotion expressed towards a finite being is called passion. But when the affective propensities are collectively directed towards the cosmic Purusa, it becomes devotion. A follower of this cult is not attracted to the way of knowledge and introspection , nor does one like to launch vigorous fight against the powers of avidya like shakta but follows the way of surrender and sublimation. Vaesnava tantra does not favour suppression or annihilation of propensities, which is neither possible nor desirable, but instead seeks to sublimate them. Sadhaka remains absorbed in Parama Purusa i.e. the cosmic flow of bliss and beatitude. Vaesnava bhava may take the form of Lilla bhava and Nitya bhava.  

        (i) Lilla Bhava - In Lilla Bhava the aspirant sees the Lord in every expression of Him. One remians in Bhava samadhi. 

        (ii) Nitya bhava -  When engulfed in a flow of cosmic Bliss, one may singh, dance , cry or laugh. This may lead one to the state of Nitya Bhava where the aspirant enjoys the feeling of oneness with Him. In this state one remains relatively calm and composed. The experiences are beyond intellect and reasoning and fall within the domain of Mysticism. 

(d) Ganapatya Tantra : The Ganapatya cult of tantra emphasises the necessity of developing potentiality of leadership or initiative in the individual by accepting the Ganpati ( leader of the collective body) as the ideal. 

(e) Saura Tantra : In Sauro tantra , the sun is the focal point of sadhana. Su is the nucleus of the solar system and is the ultimate sourse of energy and sustenance.

 

  The Great philosopher Shri Ananda Maurti developed the science of tantra developed into Rajadhiraja Yoga,  by incorporating the essence of Panchatantra Sadhana. As in Shaeva tantra , the ultimate reality is construed to be of the nature of pure-consciousness. The ultimate goal of intuitional science is to realise that , every jiva is essentially the Shiva. This knowledge dawns, only when the Jiva ( unit-self) becomes Shiva ( cosmic-self ). Like a shakta , a sadhaka also has to wage non-compromising war against the forces of avidya until the goal is attained. Like a vaesnava, one must realise the limitations of intellect and the necessity of surrender. The sense of finite existence is transmuted into a sense of divinity by the practice of Madhu vidya and one remanins absorbed in Supra-aesthetic joy. The spirit of Saura tantra is retained as Parama Purusa is seen as the nucleus of the cosmic order, with finite beings revolving around Him, according to their own rhythm ( svarasa). The purpose of intuitional science is to shorten the distance between the macrocosmic and microcosmic nucleus. This is possible only when one tries to merge one's entitative rhythm ( svarasa) in the cosmic rhythm ( parama rasa). But the practice of intuitional science remains incomplete unless it benefits the collective body. Hence as suggested by Ganapatya tantra, a sadhaka is to harness the sadhana begotten powers to  pioneer the social movement as a Sadvipra. Such leaders are the one, who are physically strong, mentally developed and spiritually elevated. Thus the spiritual goal of Liberation of self ( Atma moksa) must go hand in hand with Service to humanity ( Jagat hita).

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Panchamakara Sadhana

 

Lord Shiva was introduced  Tantra Sadhana the  welfare of the entire humanity. After Lord Shiva the practice and propagation of Tantra fell into the hands of the unworthy. As a result , Tantra came to be identified with sorcery., black magic and of occult powers. Even today , certain deep rooted misconceptions persist with regard to Tantra. On the basis of the nature of practices and application, Tantra can be broasly clasified as (a) vidya and  (b) avidya. 

(a) Vidya Tantra : The practices of vidya tantra are introversal and ideative in nature. Vidya tantra seeks to overcome the lower propensities by rising the serpentine power( kundalinii) from the lowermost plexus (chakra) to the higher and higher plexi. The upward movement of the kundalinii leads to progressive expansion of the psyche and the concomitant subjugation of the propensities. Vidya tantra aims at the sublimation of them through a process of internal contemplation. In vidya tantra the sole aim is the unification ( yoga) of the unit-consciousness ( Anu) with the cosmic-consciousness (Bhuma). 

(b) Avidya Tantra : Avidya Tantra consists of external practices in order to establish control over these propensities. For example, to overcome the propensity of hatred, avidya tantriks put themselves in extreme situations such as , eating from a skull, sharing food with jackles, dogs in the crematorium. Avidya practices consist in suppression or annihilation of the propensities. Acquisition of occult powers is the primary concern of avidya. 

In course of the spiritual journey , an aspirant is bound to experience mystic visions and occult powers. But sadhaka is urged not to be enamoured of them, as that is sure to distract one from the cherished goal. The practitioners of avidya fail to perceive the real significance of Panchamakara Sadhana namely. The Avidya tantra sadhaka follw the crude practice.

(a) Madya  - Liquor   (b) Mansa  - Meat   (c) Matsya -  Fish   (d) Mudra - grains    (e) Maethuna- copulation.

    According to Spiritual Idea -

(a) Madya  - Liquor :  In Vidya tantra the esoteric meaning of Panchamakara Sadhana is followed. The word madya is not to be interpreted as liquor or intoxicant but as the lunar ambrosia ( somarasa). The term lunar ambrosia refers to the hormone secreted from the Pineal gland ( Sahasrara chakra) which is partly controlled by the moon. The more the secretion of this hormane , the faster is the upward movement of the kundalinii, which pirces through the different plexi to taste the divine nectar. 

 (b) Mansa  - Meat  : Mansa sadhana does not mean eating fish , but proper control over speech. Ma means tongue , hence Mansa refers to words or speech. The tongue performos a vital function i.e. to express or communicate. The spiritual aspirant has to exercise restraint over speech. The state of absolute control over speech is called Vak siddhi. Mansa sadhana also means the practice of surrendering one's actions to the Supreme.  

(c) Matsya -  Fish : Matsya sadhana means the practice of breath control. Tantra stresses the importance of breath control in intuitional practice. Faster the breath , more unsteady is the mind and slower the breath, greater is the psychic composer. Idea and Pingala , which lead the breath through the left and right nostrils, are compared to fish. The maner of breathing has a direct effect on the mental state. Matsya sadhana is the art of breath control ( pranayama).

 (d) Mudra - grains : Mudra sadhana stresses the importance of righteous company and sublime thoughts. It advocates doing away with all that are prejudicial to spiritual nourishment. 

 (e) Maethuna- copulation : Maethuna does not mean sexual indulgence but the spiriyual process which culminates in the union of the Jiva ( kundalinii) , residing in the Muladhara chakra ( basal plexus) and Shiva ( cosmic consciousness), poised in the Sahasrara chakra ( multi-propensive plexus)

Avidya obviously leads to exhibitionism and vidya to sel-withdrawl. The power acquired through avidya sadhana is used to achieve worldly ends. According Shri Aanad Murtii intuitional science ( vidya) should have the two-fold ideal of liberation of the self ( Atma moksartham ) and service to humanity ( jagat hitayacha).

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Sadguru and His Role

 

     In the spiritual journey role of the Guru is of inestimable value to the disciple who gropes about, blinded by ignorance. It is the master who holds his hand and takes him along the unchartered path. The only asset of the disciple is his desire to attain Godhood. Guru not only comes to the disciple and initiates him directly or indirectly into spirituality but assumes complete responsibility for taking one to the supreme goal. Sometimes due to one's imperfections , the desciple does not obey the dictates of the master and tends to go astray. Then Guru immediately comes to one's rescue and prevents downfall. Guru carries with him the assurance of victory and the promised attainment of the Supreme. At the time of initiation ( diksa). one catches hold of the master, but while making offering to the Guru ( Guru dakshiina), it is the Guru who catches hold him. Sometimes due to limitations or ignorance the disciple might loosen his hold on the master, but the master never leaves the disciples. 

   It is very often found that people who have been initiated behave in a way , contrary to the will of the Guru, They forsake the path of righteousness and follow a path which takes them away from the goal. It is noticed that at a certain stage of their life, cataclysmic events happen as a result of which they are awakened to the words of the preceptor and being their God ward journey. One cannot afford to go against the wishes of the Lord. That is because Prakriti who works at the behest of the Lord becomes hostile in order to get the disciple back on the righteous path.

SURRENDER 

   The words of the master are to be followed in letter and spirit. When one seeks the loving shelter of a Guru one should exercise one's rational faculty so that one does not fall into the hands of the unworthy. But after attaining the Sadguru, one must unconditionally surrender at his Lotus feet. There is no room for suspicion or analysis. Guru is verily Brahman. So He is beyond mind. His ways are beyond the realm of finite comprehension. It may so happen that his words are not palatable and his actions incompre-hensible, but the disciple should not question him. The finite intellect can only discern or assess things from a finite perspective in terms of foreseeable consequences. So it is but natural that when the disciple tries to judge the thoughts and actions of the Guru, one is likely to be misled. That is way the disciple should always wish and pray ' Let the time never come, Oh , Lord , when my limited mind hesitates to recognise you as my loving father'. In the Vaesnava scripture it is said Even if my Guru treads the path of evil he is verily my Guru. He is not only the goal (patheya) but also the way (patha) the only way.

   

  The descriptions of the supreme consciousness are also true of Sadgugu. Guru is verily , the creator , sustainer and destroyer. He is not like Brahma, but is Brahma himself. He is the ever pure ( nitya suddham) , ineffable ( niravasam) , without form ( nirakaram), the untainted ( niranjanam ) , the omniscient , or omni-telepathic ( nitya boddham) , of the nature of pure consciousness and bliss ( chidanandam) . He is of the nature of eternal bliss ( nityanandam); imparts the supreme happiness ( parama sukhadam) ; the embodiment of the highest knowledge ( gyanamurtim)beyond the pale of relativities ( vishvatitam), vast and infinite as the sky (gagana sadrisam), the entity indicated in Thou art that ( tattva masyadhilaksyam). He is the eternal ( ekam nityam) , the pure ( vimalam), the permanent ( achalam) , the all-witnessing ( sarvaddhi sakshibhutam), beyond thought ( bhavatitam), non-attributional beyond the bondage of Prakriti ( triguna rahitam) In tantra Guru is Taraka Brahma. As such He combines both Saguna and Nirguna in Him. Only He can be the link between the Finite and the Infinite. He is the subject to birth growth and death subject to the laws of Prakriti. That is likely to mislead lesser mortals , who often get confounded and fail to recognise him. 

DESCENT OF THE LORD & DIFFERENT REALISATIONS

   His birth on a planet is His exclusive will and He comes , when his appearance in human form remains the only way to restore Dharma (righteousness). His appearance, His thought and deeds cause polarisation of good and evil, with Sadguru on the side of the righteous forces. There are those who love the master with all their mind and heart and there are those who become the hardened critics and opponents of His followers and His mission. This obviously precipitates a social crisis but eventually the moralist forces come out victorious, testifying to the triumph of Dharma over Adharma. Wherever there is Ista (Sadguru) there is Dharma, where there is Dharma, victory is sure to be there. One has to observe non-compromising strictness towards Ista and Adarsha (Ideology).Ista is the Brahman, personified in action. He comes only at the most opportune moment and leaves his body as soon as His Samkalpa (mission) is fulfilled.  

EXHAUSTING THE REACTIVE MOMENTA ( SAMSKARA)

 It is only one's action that one can call one's own. Human life consists in living the reactions of the past actions and performing actions which determine the type of life one shall live in the future. Once the action is performed, one cannot escape the consequences of the action (karmaphala). Only the Sadguru can, if He wishes , lessen or destroy the reactive mementa (samskara) of the individual by absorbing them by himself. He can take them through a mere look or touch or through mudras. He used to point out the omissions and commissions of individual devotees, and punish them by way of making atonement for the past karma, thereby turning the Samskaras into Dagdhaviija (burnt seeds that have lost the capacity to germinate). This is an eloquent testimony, how the Sadguru, not only guides but shares the suffering of the devotees. His mere look cleanses the chakras. When He is happy with a devotee, good samskara get exhausted and when he gets angry and scolds one for omissions and commissions, bad samskaras get burnt. Thus Guru , the Lord , creates a variety of situations to exhaust the samskaras ( reactive momenta) faster so that one need not be born again in order to attain final emancipation(moksa)salvation.  

GRACE

Since human vision is finite and limited, one does not know the past. One knows not how far one one has already travelled towards the ultimate and what lies ahead on the spiritual path. One does not , therefore know why , how and when, the divine grace descends upon the individual. It remains a great mystery to the relative mind. One can only seek to invoke his grace in order to be on the path. Grace is non-casual. One cannot get it as one's rigorous intuitional practice or penance. Indeed, to attain His grace, one has to be worthy. But it is not possible to know for certain , when exactly does it come and what merits or degree of elevation, entitle one to be the recipient of His grace. Sometimes inspite of years of sustained intuitional practice and mastery over scriptural knowledge, one does not get Him, but a person , with no learning and little sadhana and even with a sinful background has the grace to find Him. Of course, it is the Prarabdha the nature and quantum of samskaras and above all, the will of the Lord that determine the way, how and when , one is to be blessed with His Grace. Therefore , Grace is an aspect of the divine play ( liila): It is different from the human play (krida) which is guided by rules, comprehensible to the human mind. Since he is beyond mind, His ways elude the comprehension of the finite intellect. All that sadhaka can do is to keep the mind and heart open, so that Guru does not return finding the door closed. Even to keep the mind and heart open , requires  a state of mind which one gets, only when He wishes. That is way one has to keep on invoking His grace so that one becomes worthy to be graced by Him. The grace of Sadguru is the alpha and omega of Spiritual quest.

 

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Types of Devotion

 

RASA SADHANA

Human beings represent a definite stage in the ladder of evolution in the process of Prati Sanchara. But there is great chasm between the attainment of human form and the attainment of final union with Parama Purusa. Seen in this perspective devotion can be defined as the accelerated rhythmic flow. The flow is nothing but the movement of the unit towards the cosmic. Each entity is unique on account of the characteristic flow. Everything has its own Rasa ( svarasa) the native flow.

Bhakti introduces thythm ( chhanda) into the flow ( gati). In order to thythmize the flow of the unit mind, it is to be attuned to the cosmic flow(parama rasa) in other words devotion facilitates the Rasa Sadhana. The thythmic speed of the unit-self is accelerated either because of the attraction of the macro-cosmic nucleus or because of the intuitional practice. When Parama Purusa becomes the focal point of one's concern, the radius betwen the microcosmic and the macrocosmic nucleus, decreases very fast. Bhakti Sadhana is otherwise termed as Rasa Sadhana, as it enables one to convert the aesthetic attraction to supra-aesthestic attraction. In aesthetic attraction one falls in love with the physical objects as they are felt as different inferential expressions of the cosmic, but in supra-aesthetic attraction, the macrocosm draws the miicrocosms through His ectoplasm. in the case of the former it is the objects that attract and in the latter, it is the God beneath the object that becomes the source of attraction. It is the Krisna.

The march of the unit mind can be sustained and accelerated only when the rhythm in the objective world is in consonance with the rhythm of the subjective world. Bhakti Sadhana calls for the phycho-spiritual orientation of the individual. This is facilitated only when the circumstances around, are congenial. Devotion is the life-force of the devotee. To be without it is to cease to be human. This has to be protected against the onslaughts of materialism, dogmatism and has to be carefully nourished by creating a favorable socio-economic condition. Subjective evolution is possible only when there is a balanced and harmonious growth in the physico-psycho-spiritual realm. This necessitates the establishment of Neo-humanism in the socio-economic plain.   

TYPES OF BHAKTI ( DEVOTION )

Devotion is of three principal categories:  (a) Samanya Bhakti  (b) Gauna Bhakti  (c) Mukhya Bhakti

(a) Samanya Bhakti  : Samanya Bhakti denotes the natural tendency of the human mind to be attracted to anything great and noble.The sense of awe wonder, feeling of exhilaration at the sight of things grandiose , is the result of Samanya Bhakti. One yields before a person of greater height. Such tendencies are spontaneous. Even animals do possess it.    

(b) Gauna Bhakti : Gauna Bhakti refers to the aesthetic attraction or emanational attraction. Gauna Sadhakas practice devotion according to their Samskaras.  Depending on the preponderance of a guna. Gauna-Bhakti appears in three forms. 

     (i) Tamasik Bhakti ( Static devotion)  Here the devotion is actuated by tamasik propensities like jealously, vanity, hatred, violence, etc. Such a devotee does not seek to attain God but invoke Him, only to gratify one's selfish ends.

   (ii) Rajasik Bhakti ( Mutative devotion) Finite pleasures , finite possessions are the object of Rajasik devotee. Here the sadhakas pursue their goal only to promote mundane welfare. They are oblivious of the truth that to secure Bliss is one's Dharma and it can hardly be had from finite objects. Goal is lost sight of when the aspirant gets enamoured by the lures of physicality. 

   (iii) Sattvik Bhakti ( Sentient devotion ) The sentient devotees are the real seekers after salvation. They engage themselves in righteous deeds and pray God to be liberated from the shackles of Karma cycle of birth and rebirth. They seek salvation from God but not Godhood forgetting that salvation can be attained only by attaining Godhood.

(c) Mukhya Bhakti : Mukhya Bhakti is the highest grade of devotion. Here the aspirant is not under the influence of the Gunas. Hence it is termed as non-attributional devotion ( Nirguna Bhakti). The devotee is imbued with the love for the Lord. One is consumed as it were by the longing for the Supreme. There are two distinguishable stages of non-attributional devotion. 

     (i) Raganuga Bhakti : The devotee loves God because in thinking of Him and doing His work he derives unalloyed pleasure which cannot be had otherwise. This is not the highest kind of devotion as the duality between Lord and the devotee still persists. 

  (ii) Ragatmika Bhakti : Here one thinks and lives for the Lord. To please the Lord, becomes the sole concern, howsoever painful it might be. Such devotees breathe , live and die for the Lord. When this ideation gets intensified, one loses sense of identity.What remains is only the Lord. This is Kevala Bhakti. Such state of devotional stance is non-casual(ahetuki). One gets this only by the grace of Lord. One can never deserve it by virtue of one's Yogic ecercises and austerities.  

STAGES OF REALISATION

The Supreme divine is the ultimate goal of human life  . It is impersonal because personality smacks of finitude and inperfection. But in the moments of extreme decadence the Supreme-subjectivity appears in physical body as Taraka Brahma. Thought the advent of Taraka Brahma becomes imperative because of the social exigency, it is the wish and samkalpa of the Lord that makes His advent, a reality. Only the people with awakened spirituality, are able to know the advent of the Great. in the realm of spirituality they experience different states of realisation. There are six distinct stages namely : (a) Salokya (b)  Samipya  (c) Sayujya  (d)  Sarupya  (e)  Sarsthi  (f)  Kaevalya

(a) Salokya : Salokya state consists in the realisation that one has come to this Earth in a time when Parama Purusa appears, embodied. The spiritual aspirant deems it a grace of the Lord that He has brought him to the earth exactly in a time when He chose to appear in physical frame.

(b) Samipya  : In Samipya the aspirants , by virtue of their developed samskaras and devotions come in proximity with the Lord and are blessed to have intimate exchanges with Him. 

(c) Sayujya : In the state of Sayujya , one is graced to have the closest contact with the Lord, even touching His body and interacting with Him as one would do with one's near and dear ones.

(d) Sarupya : In the state of Sarupya realisation one perceives Him in all forms and expressions. One may attain this state by becoming His closest and the most intimate companion. The scriptures delinete different modes of devotional stance. 

     (i) In Vatsalya Bhava - one thinks of the Lord as one's offspring, like Yosad.

     (ii) In Sakha Bhava - one thinks of Lord as one's inalienable companion, typified by Arjun's  relation with Lord Krsna. 

    (iii) In Dasya Bhava - One considers oneself to be the humble servant of the Lord, expressed in the devotion of Hanuman for Sri Ram

    (iv) In Radha Bhava - the devotee sees the Lord as one's consort taking oneself as an integral part of the being of kind of the devotional relationship where one experiences the consuming love for the Lord,  the very life-breath; permeating every part of one's being, so lucidly exemplified in the life of Meerabai. One may also realise Him even if one becomes a hopeless sinner. Such people take Parama Purusa as their inveterate enemy and get obsessed with Him , eventually courting either insanity or death. For instance Kansa looked upon Krsna as a formidable foe. Consequently , just one before hs death he saw Krsna everywhere. 

 (e)  Sarsthi : In Sarsthi the devotee feels one with the Lord. Nonetheless a duality persists between the devotee and the Lord and the devotee enjoys the ecstasy of being one with Him, feeling Him in every breath thinking of Him in every thought living for Him in every action. 

 (f) Kaevalya : In Kaevalya refers to the highest state of devotional realisation wherein one loses one's identity and feels the existence of Lord only, Only thou exists ' O' Lord. This marks the consummation of the lives of penance and devotion. 

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Devotion ( Bhakti )

In orthodox indian scriptures Knowledge( Gyana) Action( Karma) and Devotion ( Bhakti) have been conceived as three distinct ways of attaining Godhood. These prima facie correspond to the cognitive, conative and affective faculties in human beings. But in some quarters devotion is treated not as a way, but as very goal of spiritual pursuit.

PASSION AND DEVOTION

Things , animate or inanimate bear attraction for each other. The native affinity between any two things is due to the fact that the whole creation is the manifestation of the supreme-consciousness. In course of mundane transactions human beings feel attracted to certain objects and repelled by some. They tend to love those that generate agreeable feelings ( anukula vedana) and seek to hold unto them. This love for the finite is Passion(kama) or attachment (asakti). Unlike passion , devotion signifies love for the Infinite. Passion and Devotion are mutually antithetical. Bratification of passion yields pleasure(sukham) that are finite, discontinuous and punctuated with pain. Pleasure ensures when mind is extroverted and gets attached to the object sought for. In devotion the object of ideation being infinite, the agreeable feeling obtained therefrom is infinite and uninterrupted. One attain Bliss (ananda) when the propensities of mind are introverted and made to flow in the direction of the infinite or God. Rakti means attachment Anurakti means attachment to an object, having understood its meaning. It is of two types Aparanurakti and Paranurakti. The former denotes attachment for the finite and latter, attachment for the infinite.

PUSTI MARGA AND RAURAVA MARGA

The process by which passion(aparanurakti) is transformed to devotion ( paranurakti) is the path of excellence (pusti marga). That is the Yogic way , the way of the Intuitional practice (sadhana). It is the fundamental wont ( dharma) of human beings to seek infinite pleasure(bliss). This has to be distinguished from the path of hell ( raurava marga). Hell is symbolic of the state degenetrate that hinders and retards the progress to the destined goal.

WHAT IS DEVOTION ?

Devotion is ideation on God , neither eulogy nor worship. The devotees see Lord in everything and treat everything as manifestation of the cosmic. For the devotee, the diversities do not exist. Devotional sentiment, goads one to love everything as the veritable expression of the Absolute. Devotion as a cult , teaches the art of sublimating the love for the finite into love for the infinite. When this becomes spontaneous and a part of ones nature, devotion becomes the very mission (brata) of ones life. This results in constant remembrance of the Lord and an exclusive preoccupation with Him.

The latter part of the verse tells us what devotion, is not. Devotion is not extolling the virtues of God in the form of analogies and hyperboles. The reason is that God has infinite virtues and each virtue is infinite, in its semanti import. All descriptions are made in terms of predicates or categories and have finite connotation. Hence any attempt to describe the Indescribable becomes an exercise in futulity. As far as the Infinite is made amenable to verble description, it is finitised. The institution of worship is not to be encouraged. The practice of worship involves physical offerings like flower foliage and oblations to God. This amounts to offering things to God, who rightfully owns everything, nay who virtually, is everything. It should be always remembered that God, being formless and non-physical , does hardly need propitiation in terms of physical offerings. The disply of devotion in form of ostentatious rituals, are very often , divested of sincerity. This is termed as Vaedhi Bhakti. It is devotion of an inferior kind.

 

CULT OF DEVOTION

Devotional ideation has its unmistakable expression in the behaviour and conduct of the devotee. Love for God manifests in form of love for the creation. Nothing or nobody is an alien. Everything and everybody becomes one's kindred. The devotee gets imbued with surging love for the animate and inanimate. To serve the Universe tantamount to serving the Lord. To love becomes ones nature, to serve becomes ones mission. The exclusive attachment for the Lord results in the detachment ( vaeragya) for the rest. Raga means colour. To be a Vaeragi, is to be devoid of Raga to be decoloured. Every object when ideated upon leaves its characteristic colour or impression on human mind. To be decoloured is to be immune to the attractive spell or sway of the object. In fact the love for everyone and everything amounts to attachment for no one and nothing in particular. This results in real detachment. In fact infinite love and infinite deatchment are one and the same.

SURRENDER ( PRAPATTI)

The cult of devotion is based on the doctrine of Prapatti. prapatti is derived from Pra + Pat + Ktin which means to surrender. Whatever happens is ordained by the Lord. He is the real agent of all actions. Human endeavours are set at naught, when they are at variance with the Cosmic-will but they attain fruition, when they are in consonance with it. One should consider oneself as an instrument fulfilling the design of Providence. The so called attainments become worth nothing, if they are not backed by devotion love for the supreme. A zero by itself has no value but its value is increased ten times, when preceded by a number. An electric bulb gives illumination so long as it is in contact with electricity. The moment the contact is lost, the bulb remains no better than an ordinary piece of glass. Similarly the so called achievements of life , otherwise insignificant assume profound significance, when imbued with the devotional sentiment.

DEVOTION- THE QUINTESSENCE

The ways or Action and Knowledge are inadequate by themselves. Action (karma) without devotion , degenerates into mere movement. Bereft of devotion the individual , while performing action might be led to imbibe the sense of ' doer ship' for oneself and thereby remain bound to the reactions of the action. But when the sense of agency is suspended and attributed to the supreme subject, one remains liberated from karmic bondage. Action without devotion generates bondage, whereas action with devotion proves to be liberatives.  The movement of human mind is systaltic. It moves through periods of speed and pause , at alternative intervals. In the moment of pause , unless supplied with a loftier ideation , it tends to degenerate. Ideation on the goal imparts a sense of direction to human endeavour. Similarly knowledge without devotion amounts to mere information devoid of sense and significance. Knowledge pursued for the sake of knowledge neigher benifits the knower nor the society. Moreover one is likely to have a sense of supriority complex and vanity , thereof. That is why in the Upanishads , knowledge has been categories into Para and Apara. The latter takes us to darkness and the former to the kingdom of light and bliss. Through devotion has been extolled as the most potent way to the destined goal, it is not incompatible with the way of action and the acquisition of knowledge. Rathher devotion backed by right knowledge facilates the march to the goal. Penance without devotion is sheer straining of the physical and psychic body leading one nowhere. Yoga without devotion is a mechanical artifice yielding no tangible dividend. Yoga leads to the suspension of propensities but in the suspended state , the mind must be directed to flow with the devotional rhythm with Parama Purusa as the goal. Mind is inherently dynamic. After complete withdrawl of mind, it has to be provided with a goal and thereby , a direction. The goal is the Supreme. Without it the mind tends to relapse to the world of physicality.  

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