CHAPTER12 –BHAKTHI YOGA
YOGA OF DEVOTION
ARJUNA UVAACHA-ARJUNA SAID,
1.evam sathathayukthaaye bhakthaaH thvaam paryupaasathe
ye cha api aksharam avyaktham theshaam ke yogavitthamaaH
Of the two, those who are your devotees and worship you with unswerving devotion and those who meditate on the imperishable unmanifest Brahman, who are the best yogis?
After the elaboration of the nature of Brahman as the Absolute Reality, manifest and unmanifest in the chapters second to tenth, Krishna has shown the Cosmic Form in the eleventh chapter., thus showing the efficacy of contemplation on Brahman with and without Upadhis. Now Arjuna wants to know the relative importance of worship of both manifest and unmanifest Brahman.
This legitimate doubt has sprung from the proclamation of Krishna in the last chapter that `bhakthya thu ananyaya sakyah hi aham evamvidhah , jnaathum, drashtum chathathvena,' the Lord cannot be understood or perceived in His real state through any means except devotion. In the next verse Krishna gives a definition of such devotion by saying, `mathkarma krt mathparamo madbhakthassangavarjithah nirvairassarvabhootheshu.' The devotee should be nirvaira, without malice towards any being, sarvabhootheshu and sangavarjitha without attachment towards worldly affairs, and mathkarmakrth , all his actions are done as an offering to God
So which of the two, those who worship the Lord in the manner outlined above ,'evam sathatha yuktha yebhakthaah, devotees whose mind is integrated in the Lord always, and those who worship or meditate on aaksharam avyaktham, imperishable and unmanifest Brahman, are comparatively better yogis?
The Lord replies extolling the bhakthiyoga to be the best in the rest of the chapter.
SREE BHAGAVAAN UVAACHA-THE LORD SAID,
2. mayyaaveSya mano ye maam nithyayukthaa upaasathe
SradDhayaa parayaa upethaaH the me yukthathamaa mathaaH
Those who worship Me with their mind engrossed in Me constantly and with great faith they are the most integrated yogis.
The best yogis are those who worship the Lord constantly with full concentration and great faith The best example of the expression 'mayyaavesyamanaah' are the gopies who never had any other thought except that of Krishna. Without rigorous disciplines of yoga and meditation they were able to attain mukthi easily through their madhurabhakthi.
Prahladha illustrates the paraa sradhdha , With full faith in the power of the Lord he did not fear from the acts of his father to kill him. When in the end Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada "Will your Lord protect you if I cut your head with my sword?" Prahlada replied " No, because he would not allow you to bring your sword near me in the first place." That is the sradhdha paraa, great faith.
3. ye thu aksharam anirdhesyam avyaktham paryupaasathe
sarvathragam achinthyam cha kooTasTham achalam Dhruvam
Those who worship the imperishable, indefinable, unmanifest Brahman who is all-pervading, incomprehensible, immutable, immovable and unwavering.
At the same time Krishna hastens to add that those whose minds are integrated on the unmanifest Brahman are not inferior in any way because they also attain the Lord only, meaning that they are one with the Lord,' brahmavit brahmaiva bhavathi ` The reason the bhakthas were extolled is given in the subsequent verses while in this and the next Krishna defines the nirgunopaasana, the worship of Nirguna Brahman.
The Nirguna Brahman is aksharam, Imperishable, anirdesyam Indefinable, avyaktham, Unmanifest, sarvathragam Omnipresent, achinthyam, Imponderable, kutastham, Immutable, achalam, Immovable and dhruvam , unwavering. Brahman is indefinable and imponderable because it is beyond description and imagination , transcending word and thought. As the Upanishad declares that Yatho vaacho nivarthanthe apraapyamansaa saha, both speech and mind returned without seeing Him. It is unmanifest being atheendhriya , beyond the cognition of sense organs. Thus it cannot be established by any means of cognition It is also immutable, immovable and unwavering because it is all pervading.
4. sanniyamya indhriyagraamam sarvathra samabudDhayaH
the praapnuvanthi maam eva sarvabhoothahithe rathaaH
They attain Me only by controlling their senses and maintaining equanimity throughout being intent of the welfare of all beings.
Then how could the jnanayogis become integrated in the Unmanifest Brahman? The answer is given in this sloka. They attain the infinite by controlling their sense organs through mind and when the mind is stilled there is no ragadvesha and hence they become samabuddhayah, equanimous in their attitude , and since they are devoid of likes and dislikes they become sarvabhootha hithe rathaah intent on the welfare of all beings.
5.kleSo aDhikatharaH theshaam avyakthaasakthachethasam
avyakthaa hi gathiH duhkham dhehavadhbhiH avaapyathe
But for those who contemplate on the unmanifest Brahman the path is painful because in the embodied state the path to attain the unmanifest is very hard.
Presentation of the picture of jnana yogis leads to the reason as to why Krishna extols the superiority of bhakthi yoga. The distinction between a jnani and a bhaktha lies not in their comparative merits as such but in the relative efficacy of the two methods. Krishna describes jnana yoga as being wrought with difficulties and therefore painful to follow.. The path of the unmanifest is harder, while being conscious of the body. This is because the self-realisation will happen only when one transcends the body, mind and intellect and the rigorous discipline involved in controlling senses and the mind is full of obstacles and it is easy to swerve from the path without constant vigil over oneself.
6. ye thu sarvaaNi karmaaNi mayi sannyasya mathparaaH
Ananyenaivayogena maam Dhyaayantha upaasthe
Those who offer all their actions to Me, engrossed in Me, contemplate on Me and worship Me,
7. theshaam aham samudDharthaa mrthyusamsaarasaagaraath
Bhavami na chiraath paarTha mayyaaveSithachethasaam
I become their uplifter, whose mind is fixed on Me, Arjuna, from the sea of death and transmigration
He says, `I become the redeemer of those, who offer all their actions to me, always think of Me with undivided attention on Me as their goal, and rescue them from the ocean of samsara, the cycle of transmigration.' He becomes the boat to cross the sea of samsara to those who surrender to Him all their thoughts words and deeds with the attitude `kaayena vaachaa manasendhriyairva budhdhyaathmanaa vaa prakrthersvabhaavaath karomi yatyat sakalm parasmai Narayanaayethi samarpayaami.' This is the meaning of mayyaavesitha chethasaam.
8. mayyevamana aadhathsva mayi budDhim nivesaya
Nivasishyasi mayyeva atha oorDhvam na samSayaH
Fix your mind on Me direct your intellect towards Me and then you will reaide in Me and there is no more doubt about this
Then Krishna advises Arjuna to follow the path of bhakthi. He says, `If you fix your mind on Me alone, with all your thoughts absorbed in Me you will dwell in Me . There is no doubt about this.' Whatever one does thinks or sees, there should be a persistent thought flow about the Lord like the trickle of oil, thailadharavat at the back of the mind. This is ananya bhakthi..
How is this possible. One has to discharge his duties towards his family and perform the work assigned to him in this world by society as a householder. Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful example to illustrate this. When a servant woman is looking after her ward she does her work sincerely and with involvement. But at the back of her mind is the thought of her child whom she has left behind and the moment her duties are over she hurries to her house to care for her child. This should be the attitude, when you are engrossed in your worldly affairs, towards God.
Whatever we do we have to do it with full concentration as all work is that of the Lord. But whenever there is a gap we must fill it with the thought of the Lord. To give a simple example when you wait for the milk to boil or stop the car at the traffic signal think about the Lord in the meantime instead of other thoughts. This will help you to avoid worries and fretting and fuming over things that do not materialize. This will come through practice and Krishna is giving the formula to do it in the next few slokas.
These three slokas reflect the instruction slokas earlier namely ananyaaschithayantho maam and yathkaroshi yadhaSnaasi (Ch.9.22and27)
9. aTha chittham samaaDhaathum na Saknoshi mayi sThiram
abhyaasayogena thathaH maam icChaaapthum Dhananjaya
Oh Arjuna, if you are not able to fix your mind firmly on Me, try to reach Me by abhyasayoga, repeated thinking.
The possible doubt that may arise in the mind of an aspirant is that, is it possible to concentrate on God steadfastly and if it is not, what should one do. This is answered by Krishna next., ' If it is not possible to establish the mind in meditation on the Lord, try again and again.' This is termed as yoga by Krishna, abhyasayoga. Abhyasa or repeated effort in fixing the mind in one object becomes a yoga which results in concentration. `Maam iccha aapthum , `wish to reach out to Me' says Krishna
10.abhyaase api asamarTho asi mathkarma paramobhava
madharTham api karmaaNi kurvan sidDhim avaapsyasi
If you are not able to control your mind by practice then do all actions as though they are mine and do them for my sake.
But this is easier said than done as Krishna Himself accepted earlier, the mind is most fickle and impossible to control,'mano dhurnigraham chalam.' So what is the alternative? Krishna says, `Do not despair, if you are not able to practice control of the mind, do all your actions for My sake, . matkarmaparamobhava, devote yourself to do My work.' Renounce the agency of action to Him, casting of the attitude of ` I ` and ` ` `Mine.' This is the same as what was expressed in the sloka yathkaroshi yath aSnasi in chapter 9 sloka 27.
There is a beautiful sloka in Kulasekhara's Mukundamala, garland for Mukunda.
Jihve kirthaya kesavam muraripum chetho baja sridharam
paaNidhvandva tham archaya achyuthakaThaah srothra dhvaya tvam srnu
krishnam lokaya lochanadhvaya hareHgachchaanghriyugma aalayam
jighra ghraana mukundhapaadha tulaseem murDhan namaaDhkshajam.
Oh my tongue, sing the glory of Kesava ,the destroyer of the demon Mura, oh mind think about Sridhara, my two hands, worship Him, my two ears hear the stories of Achyutha, my two eyes, see Krishna, my two feet go to the temple of Hari ,oh nose smell the tulasi offered to His feet and oh head, bow down to Him.
If one can train his faculties this way it becomes easy to think of the Lord all the time. But caught in the samsara is this possible? What about catering to the needs of oneself and one's family. If a man in his prime of life spends all his time in this manner who will feed him and his family? It may be alright for one who has finished his duties and leads a retired life. This may be the thought that comes uppermost in our minds. Even for those like us Krishna provides a solution
11.aTha ethath api asaktho asi karthum madhyogam aaSrithaH
sarvakarmaphalathyaagam thathaH kuru yathaathmavaan
If you are not able to do even that give up the fruits of all actions with mind devoted to Me.
. Whatever one does it should be done as an offering to God and the result of the action should be renounced. This is possible only for a yathaathmavan, one who is endowed with self control. That is, one who has given up all idea of `I ` and `mine. What Krishna means here is that whatever you do according to your position on life, should be done as offering to God, `sarvam narayanaayethi samarpayaami.' The same attitude was stressed in the chapter of Karmayoga but here it is not mere Karmayoga but Karmayoga coupled with bhakthi which becomes easier.
12.Sreyo hi jnaanam abhyaasaath jnaanaath Dhyaanam viSishyathe
Dhyaanaath karmaphlathyaagaH thyaagaath SaanthiH anantharam
Knowledge is superior to mere practice. Meditation is superior to knowledge and giving up the fruits of action is even more commendable as it results in peace.
The last alternative outlined above, that is karmphlathyaga, is lauded to be the best by Krishna. He says, knowledge, jnana, is superior than repeated efforts without discrimination, abhyasa, meditation Dhyaana, guided by knowledge is even better,. But renunciation of the fruits of action, karmaphalathyaga, is the best as peace results from it..
The question that arises in the mind is that whether the renunciation of the fruit of action is so easy or so commendable than dhyana, abhayasa and jnana. It is definitely not that easy. But it is praised because even an ignorant man, provided he has faith and devotion, can be induced to give up the fruit of action as it is ingrained in the human mind that result of action is not entirely in his control, that is, there is a many a slip between the cup and the lip. So by giving up the fruit of action he places his trust in the Lord and slowly gives up his desires thinking that Lord knows best what is good for him and will give it unasked. This leads him to think about Lord more and more and realizes that whatever he does belongs to Lord. Then he tries to concentrate on the Lord more and more and this practice induces him to acquire knowledge and discrimination. So the renunciation of the fruit of action finally culminates in peace that is born out of jnana.
13.adhveshtaa sarvabhoothaanaam maithraH karuNa eva cha
Nirmamo nirahankaaraH samadhuhkha sukhaH kshamee
One who has no hatred and friendly and merciful towards all living beings, is devoid of attachment and ego and has equanimity at pleasure and pain and is tolerant,
14. santhushtaH sathatham yogee yathaathmaa dhrDaniSchayaH
mayyarpitha manobudDhiHyo madhbhakthaH sa me priyaH
Contented always and established in meditation, self controlled, with firm resolve and a devotee with mind and intellect engrossed in Me, he is very dear to Me.
Once the jnana has risen there is absolutely no difference between the saguna and nirguna upasanas. Even a devotee who starts worshipping God with form comes to realize that God is all pervading and not limited to a particular form and the form is only for convenience of concentration. So the description of a jnani that follows is applicable to both bhakthiyoga and jnanayoga and is similar to what has been outlined in the second chapter regarding the man of realization.
He has no hatred towards any living being, and friendly and kind to all. He is without the ego and possessiveness. He is patient and shows equanimity towards sukha and duhkha {This corresponds to the description of sThithaprajna given in chapter2. Duhkheshvanudvignamanaah sukeshu vigatha sprhah veetaragabhayakrodhah sthithadheermnuiruchyathe – Ch.2-56}
He is always contented. Because he has self control and of steadfast resolve (sthithaprajna.) Why he is so, is indicated by the word mayyarpitha manobuddhih. ` His mind and intellect is absorbed in Me,' says Krishna, and adds that such a devotee is dear to Me.
In this chapter the portrait of a devotee is drawn step by step in the concluding slokas and it is clear that the qualities enumerated are non-different from that of the jnani mentioned in chapter 7 sloka 17 as the one who is very dear to the Lord. Priyo hi jnaaninaH athyarThamaham sa cha mamapriyaH. The implication is that jnana resulting from bhakthi is the highest and closest to the Lord.
adhveshtaa sarvabhoothaanaam- no hatred towards any living being. A devotee feels the presence of the Lord everywhere and hence he has no hatred towards any one. Swami Rama, a great devotee and saint once was beaten by some evil minded people and left unconscious, His disciples finding him in that state nursed him back to consciousness. They asked him whether he recognized who they were. The swami replied "The same hands of Rama which beat me are attending on me now."
maithraH karunaH – friendship and mercy towards all. This is because he knows that the Lord is the inner self of all and to serve and help others is the true worship. In Srimadbhagavatham the Lord says that the one who does pooja but is unkind to the fellow creatures does not please the Lord and He refuses to accept the offerings made by such a person by way of worship,
nirmamo nirahankaraH- one who is sarva sanga parithyaagee, given up all attachments, and without ego because he feels that he belongs to the Lord and all his possessions are given to him by the Lord. King Janaka , on being told that the city was burning, was not at al perturbed as he thought that nothing belonged to him while the hermits who were with him rushed to retrieve their meager possessions.
Sama dhuhkha sukha kshamee- equanimity during joy and sorrow because neither affects Him, as his mind is engrossed with the Lord. He is always experiencing the inner joy which is different from the joy through the worldly objects. They take everything that comes as the prasada of the Lord.
Santhushtah sathatahm- hence he is contented always.
He is a yogee and yathaathmaa. Devotion itself is the yoga, bhakthi yoga, and he has self control as he has offered body, mind and intellect, mayyarpithamanobudDhiH to the Lord and functions as His instrument.
dhrDaniSchayaH- Firm of resolve that the Lord is everything for him, vaasudhevassarvam ithi.
Naturally he is very dear to the Lord.
15.yasmaath na udhvijathe lokaH lokaath na udhvijathe chayaH
harshaamarsha bhayodhvegaiH muktaH yaH sa cha me priyaH
By whom the world is not disturbed and who is not disturbed by the world and who is free from joy, anger, and fear, he is dear to Me.
The devotee described in the foregoing slokas is in perfect harmony with the world. With the view that everything is nothing but the Lord, he fits perfectly in the mosaic pattern of the world created by the Lord. Neither is he elated over any situation nor he gets anger nor fear because he sees everything that happens as the will of the Lord.
16. anapekshaH SuchirdhakshaH udhaaseeno gathavyaThaH
Sarvaarambhaparithyaageeyo madhbhakthaH sa me priyaH
One who is without dependence on anything , pure, efficient but unconcerned, free of pain and who renounces all actions , such a devotee is dear to Me.
The devotee depends on no one or nothing for his living or for his happiness.. apekshaa means expectation of something that will bring us joy. This creates dependence. We depend solely on getting the object of desire to experience happiness. Dependence on one's own kith and kin is included in this. The devotee feels that the Lord is there to look after him and never depends on people or things, having faith in the declaration earlier ananyaaH chinthayatho maam----yogakshemam vahaamyaham,(Ch.9.22) where the Lord says "I will take care of their yoga and kshema."
This does not mean that one should not do their duty in looking after their family and earn money by seeking a job which makes them dependant on it. But the devotee is not overmuch worried for two reasons. One is that he believes in the above sloka and puts his trust in the Lord for giving him ability to discharge his duty well. The other is that since he is a true devotee and acts as an instrument in the hands of God he naturally does his work well and hence need have no feeling of dependence on anyone except the Lord,
SuchiH dhakshaH , pure and efficient. This explains the above characteristic. He is pure at heart and body and executes his duty well because he is working as the instrument of the Lord.
udhaaseenaH- he is unconcerned about the out come of his efforts not because of indifference but because of his even mindedness in accepting whatever comes as the prasada of the Lord.
Hence he is gathavyaThaH , without suffering.
sarvaarambha parithyaagee , renounces all actions which does not mean that he desists from acting but he renounces the sense of agency, working as the servant of the Lord.
17. yo na hrshyathi na dhveshti na Sochathi na kaankshathi
SubhaaSubhaphalatyaagee bhakthimaan yaH sa me priyaH
One who does not get elated nor dislike , hence does not grieve nor desire anything and has given up both good and bad karma, is dear to Me.
This sloka is just an expansion of the previous one. The true devotee considers all he does as the offering to the Lord, and any result that comes is by the will of the Lord. Hence he neither rejoices nor grieves over anything that happens. Thus he has given up the desire for result whether pleasant or unpleasant.
18.samaH Sathrou cha mithre cha thaThaamaanaapamaanayoH
Seethoshna sukhaduhkheshu samaH sangavivarjithaH
One who is equal towards both friend and foe, towards honour and disgrace and towards heat and cold, joy and grief and detached, is dear to Me.
19.thulyanindhaasthuthir mounee santhushto yena kenachith
anikethaH sThiramathiH bhakthimaan me priyo naraH
One who treats insult and praise alike, is silent, contented with whatever he gets, has no fixed abode and has firm mind, he is dear to Me.
The true devotee is even minded towards enemies and friends and treats disgrace as well as honour equally because he is free from desire and attachment. When he lives as the sesha of the Lord, totally belonging to Him only he does not consider his body , mind and intellect as his own, being completely free from ego, which makes one feel bad when insulted and elated when honoured.
Jada bharatha episode is an example of this. When he was insulted by the king he asked whether the king was insulting his body and said that he was not the body and it does not therefore refer to him. Also when he is praised the devotee feels that all was through the will of the Lord and he had done nothing to deserve the praise and all the praise belongs to the Lord only.
Mounee means one who is silent . This does not merely denote silence of the tongue but of the mind. It is not like some one following mounavrata and does not talk but writes what he wants to say or having the thoughts in his mind but does not say it out. It means total silence of the mind which is engaged purely on the Lord and does not wander in the worldly activities.
santhushto yenakena chith- The true devotee is contented with what ever the Lord gives as Sankara says in Bajagovindham, yallabhathe nijakarmopaattham vittham thena vinodhaya chittham, be satisfied with whatever you get according to your karma.
anikethaH- one with no fixed abode. This does not mean that the devotee leads a nomadic existence but only that he does not have any attachment to a particular place or house, denoting absence of mamakara, the notion of `mine'.
We have a beautiful picture by Sankara in Baja govindam,
SuramandhiratharummoolanivaasaH
Sayyaa bhoothalam ajinam vaasaH
sarvaparigrahbhogathyaagaH
kasya sukham na karothi viraagaH
One who is sarvaparigrahathyagi, one who has given up all possessions and their enjoyment. Such a person lives under a tree outside a temple, suramandhiratharumoolanivasah, he sleeps on the ground and wears skin sayyaa bhoothalam ajinam vaasah, yet he is full of joy because he has no desires.
Shankara asks kasya sukham na karothi viragah, where is the unhappiness when one is detached?
Thiuvalluvar says,`vendaamai anna vizuchchelvam eendillai
aandum ahdhoppadhil, ` there is no greater wealth than contentment. Has there been any example for this? There were many. like the saints Ramakrishna and Ramana in all ages. Even in the west we read about people such as Diogenes who, when asked by Alexander the great to express his wish , said that he wished only that Alexander would move away as he was obstructing the Sun. Such was the inner joy experienced by the realized masters.
20. ye thu Dharmyaamrtham idham yaThoktham paryupaasathe
SraddhaDhaanaa mathparamaa bhakthaaH the atheeva mepriyaaH
Those who follow this way of life outlined above which is like nectar with full faith with their mind engrossed in Me, such devotees are extremely dear to Me.
The slokas 13 to 19 have portrayed a devotee who has attained the supreme state of Vasudevassarvam ithi which is similar to the sthithaprajna described in the second chapter. In this sloka Krishna declares that this is the way to immortality, amrtham dharmyam, and who follows this as outlined above with full faith and engaging their minds in the Lord they are the most loved by the Lord. Thus the discourse on Bhakthiyoga ends.
In the chapter7 sloka 17 the Lord has said priyo hi jnaanino athyarTham aham sa cha mama priyaH, meaning, "I am very dear to a jnani and he is very dear to Me. There also the jnani is the bhaktha who has got jnana through bhakthi. He is described as one having ekabhakthi and nithyayukthaH (ch7.17) He has devotion, single pointed and consistent. It is possible for any one who has devotion to have single pointedness at one time or other but consistency is very rare and found only in a devotion coupled with jnana. The ajanana being destroyed, the devotee has no other thought or desire except towards the Lord. This kind of devotee is described in the sloka 14 in the chapter 9 sathatham keerthayantho maam --- as one having no other interest except to sing the praise of the Lord and adoring Him.
Thus end the six chapters extolling Bhakthi yoga.