Bhakti-Yoga
Bhakti-Yoga
Yoga of Devotion
Arjuna said:
“Thank you so much Lord, Please tell me who is fully acquainted with yoga? Is it the one who is striving for attaining the unmanifest?”
Krishna replied then:
“One who is thinking of me with melting heart, with thrills of love & homage is the one who is the greatest yogi. One who is meditating to realize the formless, absolute Bramha finally attain me too, but during their practice they suffer so much difficulty… Because, as long as body identification remains, establishment in Bramha is far, far away… Whereas those who overwhelmed with love offer their actions to me and make me the doer of their everything and like non-stop flow of oil continuously think of me, I redeem them from the sea of death very soon. Now Arjuna, please listen closely, I am going to give you the easiest method to know me, to love me, because to know me is to love me, so here we go…
“Nicely fold up your mind and place it in me. Tuck it into the blanket of my lilas and lay it down to peace. Then introduce your intellect in me; dream, sing, eat & play, through all of your duty-filled days, remembering me always, feeling me constantly, singing my holy names, never be away from my loving memories, and do so easily through any of the five relations, bhavas. And keep making sure through all this that intellect isn’t growing indifferent from me. It should keep trying & trying to understand me. Then you will dwell in me, and reside in me.
“If perchance it’s just not happening, seems little difficult then practice. Don’t worry. Make your feelings long lasting and intense. Each day’s realization should be deeper than the formers and growing into the nexts.
“If that is just too tricky, then be diligent in performing all actions for me. While doing anything, anytime, anywhere, most frequently keep saying, ‘Lord, this is yours, I offer it at your lotus feet.’ Then you will attain sure success.
“If you cannot do even this, then just at the end of the action’s performance, after it’s all finished, picking up the best of all auspicious actions of the entire day, week, year and decade, –offer their fruits to me. Before enjoying, before tasting, before taking all the credit away to your ego-bank, offer all to me. That will create a transcendental pleasure, which I cannot escape.
“Gathering and practicing Knowledge from scriptures, literatures, and authoritative discourses is superior to absent-minded, mechanical yoga; Great is to be well informed. Deep meditation is still greater than intellectual perception of knowledge in theories. However, relinquishing the fruit of action is greater than meditation. And as soon as the fruits are transcended, all the peace of existence descends like an immortalizing nectar shower, or holy dove.
“Anyone who earnestly wants to please God should try to cultivate the following qualities. These qualities naturally flow once peace is attained through any of the above means…
advesta sarva bhutanam
maitrah karuna eva ca
nirmamo nirahankarah
samadukha sukhah ksami
santustah satatam yogi
yatatmad drdhaniscayah
mayyarpita mano buddhir
yo madbhaktah sa me priyah
“Never harboring grudges in the heart, as that’s God’s abode now, it needs to be clean, keep it clean please; be friendly & compassionate to all. One who loves me remains unruffled by pain and pleasure. Devoid of I-ness what to speak of hostility his expertise lies in forgive, forget & let go even to the offenders, bitterness he does not hold.
“Ever contented, with the bliss of Mystica Transcensia reflecting through his eyes and countenance, always bubbling with energy & enthusiasm to understand finer wisdom; like lion determined, his heart & intellect ever dedicated to me and my causes, he or she, yes that one, is very very dear to me. Just like a billionaire is not excited to receive a gift of a dime, so also the possessor of my spiritual wealth does not feel elated by trivial joys of senses. Running after them proves you’ve not yet tasted my love divine…
yasman nodvijate loko
lokan nodvijate ca yah
harsamarsa bhayodvegair
mukto yah sa ca me priyah
“Trust in me has made he or she very tranquil & unaffected by outer events; & his or her relation with me is clearly evidenced by lasting affection for all. One who by nature is unindulged in feverish excitements and frivolous pleasures; who doesn’t allow jealousies caused by extreme selfishness to enter the heart’s dwelling; who is free from worries, anxieties & all apprehensions, is a billion dollar rich devotee of mine, is very dear to me, no doubt about it…
anapeksah sucir daksa
udasino gatavyathah
sarvarambha parityagi
yo madbhaktah sa me priyah
“One who docs not expect anything from anybody; Who has no bad breath, no foul smell in the body; whose face too shines with light of energy, and who’s not a pretender or moody; who’s not a day-dreamer, or big judgcr of others, who is clean in body, mind & speech; always ready to do the work; One who is udasin… unafflicted by circumstances; to whom troubles of mind and body cannot disturb, or even reach; who has no desire for material trinkets that like to invade his power of peace; who has no need to start any undertaking with motives rooted in egoism; I take that gentleman or lady as my dear devotee.
yo na hrsyati na dvesti
na socati na kanksati
subhasubha parityagi
bhaktiman yah sa me priyah
“To whom no sad, nor glad, imbalances; To whom no grieving, no craving makes shaky; To whom no future calamity makes berserk; such an uplifted transcender of auspicious & inauspicious is very dear to me.
samah satrau ca mitre ca
tatha manapamanayoh
sitosna sukhaduhkhesu
samah sanga vivarjitah
“To whom sights of enemies do not lead to nausea & disgust; To whom sights of friends do not invoke brag & gossip; To whom grand receptions & utter humiliation too do not make distinction; To whom warmth & chill, pain & joy, domesticity & lonesomeness, do not kidnap his calm disposition, and love for me still keeps on rising in waves taller & tallest; largest in life-size; that devotee without reservation is certainly very dear to me!
tulyaninda stutir mauni
santusto yena kenacit
aniketah sthira matir
bhaktiman me priyo narah
“To whom notoriety & fame praise & blame, fail to agitate again & again; To whom insult & adulation, loss & gain do not irritate; Who is quiet & easily contented, equal in home & wilderness; that one of steady intellect, tranquil in speech, thought & gesture, who’s always cheerful, smiling, drinking the nectar’ of love of mine from his heart’s reservoir, he or she, know for sure-is very dear to Me!
ye tu dharmamrtam idam
yathoktam paryupasate
sraddadhana matparama
bhaktas te tiva me priyah
“Tying a golden rope with me and himself or herself, of the string of bhava in sweet relationships, saturated with the above all superb qualities, adoring me by all the depths of their heart, pursuing this undying message of mine, such a fascinating person is very very very dear to Me.
“It is on this background that we become each others. Then I make you my gopi. Then I call your name on my flute and wait for you under Kadamba tree in Vrindaban. I am still waiting there for you. Yes, gopi bhava that’s the supreme peak of devotion. Each year my birthday comes, only for one purpose: to inaugurate your entrance day into the brilliance of delight of love. And it’ll come every year, year after year, until the end of creation as a clarion call, as a knock at your door. -Oh daughters of life, oh sons of nectar, are you ready? Come dear, I am waiting. I brought a golden chariot for you, for us, would you come please….”
Bhakti-Yoga, Song Of Enlightenment
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