Bhakti

“ The devotion of Bhakti is indeed a necessary prelude to progress in the religious life, under the guidance of whichever special cult the neophyte may aspire, but it is as it were the outer court of the Temple, and the Holy of Holies cannot be reached by any save those who have attained knowledge. ”

“ Sincere humility springs from the clear realization of the Presence of God in everything, that the whole universe is formed of the many forms of the One Form and its Radiance. And with that never fading vision before the mind's eye, the devote forgets himself and stoops low at the feet of every one and at everything he sees, for he sees in them all his Deity.
Bhakti is of two kinds, Gnān-Bhakti and Prem-Bhakti. Gnān-Bhakti is devotion aided by culture of wisdom, its Deity is some incarnation of Vishnoo and its goal is the Abode of Vishnoo or the Essence of Vishnoo. ”

“ It is not Bhakti if we worship God with the desire for a son; it is not Bhakti if we worship with the desire to be rich; it is not Bhakti even if we have a desire for heaven; it is not Bhakti if a man worships with the desire of being saved from the tortures of hell. Bhakti is not the outcome of fear or greediness. ”

“ Bhakti differs from your Western idea of religion in that Bhakti admits no elements of fear, no Being to be appeased or propitiated. There are even Bhaktas who worship God as their own child, so that there may remain no feeling even of awe or reverence. There can be no fear in true love, and so long as there is the least fear, Bhakti cannot even begin. In Bhakti there is also no place for begging or bargaining with God. The idea of asking God for anything is sacrilege to a Bhakta. He will not pray for health or wealth or even to go to heaven. ”

“ Between singing the song and acting it while singing, the distance in India is little. The explanation of a recent Hindu devotee, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, is: "A true devotee, who has drunk deep of divine Love, is like a veritable drunkard, and as such cannot always observe the rules of propriety." [131] Manifestations of bhakti we would soon have in the Indian Christian Church were the cold moderating influence of Westerns lessened; and as the Church increases and becomes indigenous, we must welcome bhakti in measure. Every religious procession will lead to manifestations of bhakti. ”

“ One single moment of the madness of extreme love to God brings us eternal freedom. "Bhakti", says Nârada in his explanation of the Bhakti-aphorisms, "is intense love to God"; "When a man gets it, he loves all, hates none; he becomes satisfied for ever"; "This love cannot be reduced to any earthly benefit", because so long as worldly desires last, that kind of love does not come; "Bhakti is greater than karma, greater than Yoga, because these are intended for an object in view, while Bhakti is its own fruition, its own means and its own end." ”

“ The great quality of Bhakti is that it cleanses the mind, and the firmly established Bhakti for the Supreme Lord is alone sufficient to purify the mind. "O God, Thy names are innumerable, but in every name Thy power is manifest, and every name is pregnant with deep and mighty significance." We should think of God always and not consider time and place for doing so. ”

“ Lastly, it must be the aim of every man to gain Krishna’s love, and Bhakti is the way that leads to it. Chaitanya defined Bhakti as an uninterrupted tendency of the heart towards God, just like the flow of a river towards the sea.
It is difficult to understand how the followers of Mohammed could ever have been induced to use the name of Krishna for that of Allah, but we know that it was so, and the same religious amalgamation between Hinduism and Islam was attempted by Nânak, the contemporary of Chaitanya. The Sîkhs, though much changed in time, are the followers of that reformer. ”

“ If in going on a pilgrimage a man does not acquire Bhakti, then his pilgrimage is fruitless; for Bhakti is the end of all; it is the one thing needful. Do you know what the vulture and the kite are? They are those who talk on lofty subjects and say: "We have performed most of the works enjoined in the Holy Scriptures," but whose minds are immersed in worldliness and strongly attached to wealth, name, fame, and sense- pleasures. Pandit: Yes, Revered Sir, that is true. ”

“ Applying the same test here, we must acknowledge the genuineness of feeling in bhakti. Theoretically, at least, as Sir Monier Williams says, "devotion to Vishnu supersedes all distinctions of caste"; and again, "Vishnavism [Vishnuism] , notwithstanding the gross polytheistic superstitions and hideous idolatry to which it gives rise, is the only Hindu system worthy of being called a religion." [130] In actual practice the repudiation of caste no doubt varies greatly. In some cases, caste is dropped only during the fit of fervour or bhakti. ”

“ A dead man never takes an insult, never retaliates; he is dead to everyone. The Bhakti-Yogi must reverence all good people, all saintly people, for the glory of the Lord shines always through His children.
The next lesson was on the Pratikas. In that it was taught that Bhakti is only when you worship God. Worshipping anyone else is not Bhakti. But we can worship anything we like if we think it is God. If we do not think it is God, that worship is not Bhakti. If you think it is God, it is all right. ”

“ This easy and smooth idea of Bhakti has been written and worked upon, and we have to embrace it in our everyday practical life, for we shall see as we go on how the idea has been worked out until Bhakti becomes the essence of love. So long as there shall be such a thing as personal and material love, one cannot go behind the teachings of the Puranas. So long as there shall be the human weakness of leaning upon somebody for support, these Puranas, in some form or other, must always exist. ”

“ Devotion causes Dispassion and makes easy the path of Yoga. By indifference to the Guna transformations of Prakriti, by wisdom fostered by Dispassion, by Yoga and by Bhakti (devotion) offered to Me, the Jiva attains Me even while in this body."
"When the Indriyas (the senses and the mind) , that manifest the objects of external and internal perception, become trained by the performance of Vedic Karma, their spontaneous Vritti (or function) in a man of concentrated mind is in Satva which is the same as Vishnu. This Vritti which is void of all selfishness is Bhakti in Bhagavân. ”

“ Image-worship on the whole, with all its elaborate temple ritual, was the almost inevitable concomitant of the bhakti-marga, a response to the human impulse which craves for the sight of the object of hero-worship, whether it be human or divine. Only the philosopher, or those who are under the compulsion of a stern hierarchical decree, can resist the craving. Vedic religion tried to satisfy it by using the sun and moon and nature elements as its symbols, but the Rishis who taught divine wisdom were worshipped as equal to or sometimes even greater than the gods. ”

“ To go and say, "Lord, take care of this thing and give me that; Lord, I give you my little prayer and you give me this thing of daily necessity; Lord, cure my headache", and all that — these are not Bhakti. They are the lowest states of religion. They are the lowest form of Karma. If a man uses all his mental energy in seeking to satisfy his body and its wants, show me the difference between him and an animal. Bhakti is a higher thing higher than even desiring heaven. The idea of heaven is of a place of intensified enjoyment. ”

“ The conception of the all-comprehending impersonal Brahma has, indeed, lost vitality; for the educated also the externals of the popular religion have lost their significance and become puerile. But for them also, the objects of popular bhakti, Ram and Krishna, are as much epical as religious heroes. Hinduism needs an object of bhakti for her educated people. The fact explains several of the novel religious features of the past half-century. The great jogi, Buddha, although not a brahman, was rediscovered as a religious hero for Hindus ”

“ However transitory the things of Trilokî may be, there are attractions enough for the frail sons of Manu, abounding in passions and desires. What can then bind a man to the higher planes and the highest Purûsha of those planes or Bhagavân? It is only a description of the grandeur and the glory of those planes and of Bhagavân. Such description begets Bhakti or holy attachment, and it is this Bhakti which sets up a real communion with Bhagavân. Frail as man is, the mere performance of duties makes him attached to them, unless he is bound to the higher planes by the tie of holy attachment. ”

“ In fact, Bhakti, when used as an instrument, really means a lower form of worship, and the higher form becomes inseparable from the lower form of realisation at a later stage. Each seems to lay a great stress upon his own peculiar method of worship, forgetting that with perfect love true knowledge is bound to come even unsought, and that from perfect knowledge true love is inseparable. ”

“ His services to the cause of Theism in Western India are unequalled. By his personal example, by his spotless character, by his sermons and lectures, by his writings and speeches, by his Kirtans, he has served the cause of the Samaj as no living man has done. Dr. Bhandarkar was one of the greatest exponents of the Bhakti School, but his Bhakti had the element of reason in it and was therefore free from the tinge of irrationality and morbidity. ”

“ Kapila replied, "By unselfish performance of duties, by purification of mind, by intense Bhakti in Bhagavân fostered by the recital of His glory, by wisdom based on the knowledge of the Tatvas, by strong dispassion, by austere yoga, by intense concentration on Âtmâ, Prakriti becomes daily subdued and it is finally consumed, even as the wood is consumed by its own fire, caused by constant friction. Given up as already enjoyed and constantly found fault with, Prakriti does no harm to the Purusha centred in Self. Dreams do harm in sleep. ”

“ Prakriti surrounds the whole circle.
WHAT MEN ARE TO DO AND WHAT THEY ARE NOT TO DO. SKANDHA II. CHAP. 3.
This was the second part of Parikshit's question, and to this general question, the answer is also general. Those that want divine glory worship Brahmâ. Those that want their Indriyas to be powerful worship Indra and so on. But those that are desirous of Moksha must practise Bhakti Yoga towards the supreme Purusha. Of all Upasakas, this is the only means of attaining supreme bliss, unswerving Bhakti or devotion to Bhagavân and the company of Bhâgavatas. ”

“ Bhakti is often associated with the doctrine of the playfulness of God. This idea—so strange to Europe [433] —may have its roots partly in the odd non-moral attributes of some early deities. Thus the Rudra of the Śatarudrîya hymn is a queer character and a trickster. But it soon takes a philosophical tinge and is used to explain the creation and working of the universe which is regarded not as an example of capricious, ironical, inscrutable action, but rather as manifesting easy, joyous movement and the exuberant rhythm of a dance executed for its own sake. ”

“ Bhakti or worship or love in some form or other is the easiest, pleasantest, and most natural way of man. The natural state of this universe is attraction; and that is surely followed by an ultimate disunion. Even so, love is the natural impetus of union in the human heart; and though itself a great cause of misery, properly directed towards the proper object, it brings deliverance. The object of Bhakti is God. Love cannot be without a subject and an object. The object of love again must be at first a being who can reciprocate our love. ”

“ So while they cross themselves, even without the boat, they leave that boat for others, for they have boundless compassion for other beings." (i.e. Thy votaries lay down the path of Bhakti. Śridhara.)
"There are others (followers of the Path of wisdom) who consider themselves liberated (Mukta) . But their intellect is impure as they have no Bhakti in Thee. By ascetic efforts they rise to (near about) the Supreme abode, but (being overpowered by obstacles) they fall down, by their disregard of Thy feet." ”

“ Upâsâna in the form of Bhakti is everywhere supreme, and Bhakti is more easily attained than Jnâna. The latter requires favourable circumstances and strenuous practice. Yoga cannot be properly practiced unless a man is physically very healthy and free from all worldly attachments. But Bhakti can be more easily practiced by persons in every condition of life. Shândilya Rishi, who wrote about Bhakti, says that extreme love for God is Bhakti. Prahlâda speaks to the same effect. If a man does not get food one day, he is troubled; if his son dies, how agonising it is to him! ”

“ In India, there is the existence, within and alongside the austere worship of the unconditioned Brahma, of the ardent personal Vaishnavite devotion to the heart's Lord, known as Bhakti Marga. In Islam, there is the impassioned longing of the Sūfis for the Beloved, who is "the Rose of all Reason and all Truth." ”

“ Some time must have elapsed after the death of Christ before Christianity could present itself in India as an influential doctrine. Also bhakti does not make its first appearance as something new and full grown. The seed, the young plant and the flower can all be found on Indian soil. So, too, the idea that God became man for the sake of mankind is a gradual Indian growth. In the Veda Vishnu takes three steps for the good of men. ”