Gita for the Beginners

In XII chapter of the Gita (on Bhakti Yoga) in the first verse, Arjuna inquires of Sri Krishna:

'O Lord, the devotees,
i) who, with their minds constantly fixed in You, adore you as possessed of form and attributes,
ii) and those who adore only the imperishable, formless Brahman,
of these who are the best knowers of Yoga?'

And Sri Krishna answers: Both of them reach Me; but the path of those who have their mind attached to the Unmanifest is more rugged and full of struggle, for self-identification with the Unmanifest is attained with difficulty by those who are centered in the body. (Gita, XII, Verse 5.)

In the next verse the Lord maintains, "On the other hand, those who being solely devoted to Me, and surrendering all actions to Me, worship Me - the manifest divine - constantly meditating on Me with single minded devotion; these O Arjuna I speedily rescue from the ocean of birth and death." (Gita, XII, Verse 6, 7.)

In subsequent verses, Sri Krishna tells which devotee is most dear to Him:

1. The devotee who is free from malice, who is friendly and compassionate, who is free from egoism and idea of doership, who has firm resolve, who has surrendered his mind and intellect to the Lord, whose senses are under his control, 'that devotee of Mine is dear to Me'.

2. One who is not the source of annoyance to the world, one who never feels offended with the world, one who is free from both delight and anger, perturbation and fear, 'that devotee is dear to Me'.

3. One who craves for nothing, one whose mind and intellect are pure, one who is clever and impartial, who neither rejoices nor grieves, nor desires, one who has renounced both good and evil, 'such a devotee is dear to Me'.

4. One who is alike to friend and foe, honour and ignominy, pleasure and pain and is free from attachment; one who takes praise and reproach alike and is content with whatever comes to him unasked for, whose mind is full of devotion and engrossed in the Lord, 'such a devotee is very dear to Me'.

Bhakti (Devotion) and Jnana (Knowledge) not different

Thus, we see that path of devotion Bhakti Yoga as described in the Gita is, in fact, total surrender to the Lord. This somewhat dualistic approach suits the common mass psyche. It is difficult for majority of us to understand and accept that surrender to external Deity, Ideal, or Power is in essence surrendering to our own higher self! It is transcending our petty ego and getting established into Universal Ego. It is merging the idea of one body-mind complex into the reality of Cosmic Oneness.

Normally in our ordinary consciousness, we are aware of multitude of forms. The cosmic mind is divided into various forms: the sun, moon, stars, plants, animals, human beings; this whole universe. Bhakti Yoga a stage is reached when all multiple forms merge into one cosmic form which is none other than sadhaka's Chosen Ideal.

Such conceptualization is not utopia nor faculty of imagination. This can be actualized. It is in fact experienced by many saints, sages, rishis, (Seers as we call them) in every religion. During all such experiences the aspirant has knowledge of only two existences: one, of himself, and the other of his Chosen Ideal. This chosen ideal may be a Form or an Idea. For instance, Arjuna and Sri Krishna. The mind of the spiritual aspirant is totally concentrated. The sadhaka has no knowledge of anything else other than these two. Still further by way of Advaita Jnana the sadhaka can consider and actualize his or her oneness with Universal Principle by transcending himself and the chosen ideal!

Christians have realized this Oneness with Jesus, Mary, Cross; Sufis experienced Universal Brotherhood on their path in Islam; Hindus have had visions of Shiva, Shakti, Vishnu, and their incarnations; Buddhists, though deny the existence of Atman and God, still believe in Nirvana -a state of transcendental Reality of stoical changelessness.

In the Gita, it is the Seer aspect of Sri Krishna which is giving us the approximate description of visions of realities of Arjuna as he progresses from lower truth to higher truth. Thus, as Sri Krishna is describing all the Yogas, Arjuna's mind is concentrated to actually experience those states or truths. Thus in eleventh chapter, Arjuna can actually visualize his Chosen Ideal - Sri Krishna - as the only Universal or Cosmic Reality. He is able to see Sri Krishna in everything, and everything in Sri Krishna!

This vivid visualization becomes non-effacing life time experience of the spiritual aspirant. Then, when the sadhaka returns to normal human consciousness, his experience still remains with him. Therefore, he understands that whatever he sees, feels, or thinks is all in the cosmic Consciousness. He is not the doer. He is not anything! Thus comes the idea of total surrender from an experienced soul to inexperienced masses.

Depending upon the preparedness of the aspirant, different advice and method of practice can be advocated for various sadhakas. This is the basis of idol or image worship. The Westerners, deeply influenced by scientific temper, are free from restrictive ignorance of faith, and as such are most benefited by the sadhana of Jnana Yoga. But to force others, who are not fully exposed to science, to follow the same path of objective rationality, reason, and discrimination would be like putting a student of first standard to the higher standard of, say, physics! How can he understand science when he is not yet introduced to its basics?

Bhakti is defined as unconditional love for personal God. It may appear lower form of sadhana and may lead to religious fanaticism; all the same Bhakti remains the best option for most of us, bound as we are to the body-mind complex.
*
Continued Next Part 14 ...

Previous Part 12 | Gita Home Page
*
C S Shah