"Your soul is yearning for such a love that could extend the peace and happiness of your mind to a non-ending limit and make your heart blissful forever."
"Drink the nectar of Divine love of Both, Radha and Krishna, as They are one."
"Fill up the pot of your heart with the nectar of Divine love of Radha Krishn and drink it all the time."
"Krishna loves the loving heart. He submits Himself to His selfless lover."
"The Divine nectar of Radha Krishn love is such that once the pot is filled it always remains full."
"‘Radha’ name is Radha Herself. If you just realize this truth, it is enough to explode your feelings of love for Her and to really feel Her presence in front of you…"
~Shree Maharajji
20071205
20071109
Bhakti Yoga - Devotional Yoga
A man’s actions may be compared to the flight of a bird, which needs three things –two wings and a tail– for its graceful movement. By means of the wings it balances itself in the air, and by the tail, like the rudder in a boat, it keeps its course. In a worker, love and knowledge are the two wings, and meditation the tail. When these function harmoniously, the action becomes graceful. Let us now discuss love as a spiritual discipline. This is called Bhakti Yoga or the yoga of divine love.
Love as a force of attraction operates at different levels: the material, the human, and the spiritual. On the material level it draws together the particles of an inanimate object; on the human level it joins friend and friend, parents and children, husband and wife; and on the spiritual level it unites a man with God. The real source of attraction is the spirit or God; a particle of matter cannot of itself attract another particle.
Because God as spirit pervades the whole universe and because He is the inmost self of all beings, one sees the force of attraction operating everywhere. There is no essential difference between a lower form of attraction, for instance the attraction of a mistress for her lover, and a higher form of attraction, such as the attraction of children for the mother. The apparent difference is due to the difference in the channels through which the love is expressed.
Love is a creative force, and through creation one seeks joy and immortality. Desiring this joy some that are virile in body beget offspring, and some that are virile in mind create art, compose poetry, write philosophy, organize states, or engage in similar pursuits. There are yet others, virile in spirit, who through love beget God-consciousness, the bestower of the highest good.
Through creation one hopes to become immortal. Parents expect immortality through their offspring, as the poet, the artist, the philosopher, the statesman, and the scientist through their respective work. The lover of God seeks everlasting life through union with him.
A lover finds joy in beauty and shrinks from ugliness. Birds and animals choose spring for their mating season; human lovers seek beautiful surroundings; and lovers of God always search for beauty, which for them is the good. Love based upon physical attraction, called worldly love, is short-lived, unsatisfactory, and inadequate, because the objects of such love are material forms, which are impermanent and limited. It is based upon such external factors as physical beauty, which are ephemeral, name and fame, wealth, power, and position, which too are transient. One is also afraid to offend one’s beloved for fear of losing her love. Neither spontaneous nor natural, it harbours an element of jealousy.
Furthermore, worldly love constantly changes. A baby is absorbed in his mother. When he grows up he becomes interested in his school fellows. Then he marries, and his wife fills up his heart. Next come children. Even the love of heaven, which is brightly painted by the popular religions, is a form of material love; the denizens of heaven, too, enjoy material objects. The difference between the enjoyments in heaven and on earth is not one of kind but merely one of degree; life in heaven is a continuation of earthly life. A worshipper of God is a materialist if he seeks physical enjoyment here and hereafter.
Love based upon intellectual attraction is more impersonal and enduring. Thus if friendship or conjugal love has for its support common philosophical, artistic, or other intellectual interests, it will last longer than love based upon physical factors, which contains the seeds of quick deterioration. It is a matter of common observation that the more intellectually developed the life of a person is, the less he takes pleasure in the objects of the senses. No man enjoys his food with as great satisfaction as a dog or a pig. The life of the animal lies entirely in its senses, which in many cases are keener than those of human beings. The primitive man obtains more happiness from physical objects than does an educated man; but he is denied the joy arising from the contemplation of music, philosophy, or science.
The offspring of intellectual love is more satisfying than that of physical love. What earthly offspring can compare with the intellectual offspring left behind by Homer, Kalidas, Beethoven, Asoka, or Leonardo da Vinci?
The same is true of immortality; the immortality conferred by intellectual offspring is infinitely more enduring than that conferred by physical offspring. But intellectual immortality, too, is a relative one. The most satisfying love is associated with God; divine love is immortal because God is immortal. In it there is no trace of ugliness, because God is the source of pure beauty, whose reflection one sees in the beauty of the physical and intellectual creation. When love of God fills the heart all other forms of love pale into insignificance. One star rises, then comes a bigger one, and next a still bigger. As the biggest star appears, the smaller ones become dim. At last the sun, the biggest star, appears, and all the others fade out.
God is the biggest star, and the lover of God is not interested in worldly love, physical or intellectual. Although he does not, like an agnostic or an atheist, deny heaven, he is not interested in it, because it is inadequate to satisfy the yearning of his soul. The unceasing craving of his immortal spirit finds no satisfaction in any finite, perishable material object.
The Katha Upanishad narrates the story of Nachiketa, who sought from his teacher the knowledge of the imperishable self. When tempted by the teacher with gold, cattle, children, grandchildren and a long life on earth and in heaven, the pupil said: ‘But these will endure only till tomorrow. Furthermore, their enjoyment exhausts the vigour of the sense organs. Even the longest life is short indeed. Keep your horses, dances, and songs for yourself.’
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad one reads the story of Maitreyi who was offered her share of property by Yajnavalkya, her husband and teacher, as he was about to embrace the monastic life. She said to him: ‘Venerable sir, if indeed the whole earth full of wealth belonged to me, would I be immortal through that or not?’
Yajnavalkya replied: ‘No, your life would be just like that of people who have plenty. Of immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth.’
Then Maitreyi said: ‘What should I do with that which would not make me immortal? Tell me, venerable sir, of that alone, which you know to be the means of attaining immortality.’
One cannot fully enjoy the love of God unless one rises above all worldly attractions.
In the teachings of Christ one sees the utter incompatibility between the Kingdom of Heaven which lies within a man’s heart, and the kingdom of the physical world. But worldly love is not futile, because it is also the love of the spirit; though clogged and distorted with mortal matter, it provides the love hungry soul with various steps by which love of God can finally be realized.
Through these successive steps the possessive attraction is gradually transformed into self-negating divine love. The experience gained through the enjoyment of worldly love teaches a man about its impermanence. Then he feels the irresistible attraction of God, who, like a huge magnet, is always drawing living creatures to Him. On account of the mental impurities produced by attachment to the world, a man does not feel the force of this attraction, as a needle coated with mud is not attracted by a magnet. But when his mind becomes pure through the practice of detachment, he feels the attraction of God and longs to be united with him.
Spiritual love, or bhakti, is directed only to God, whose effulgence puts to shame ‘a million suns, a million moons, and a million gods of beauty.’ He is the Personal God, or the spirit in the form of a person. One of the bhakti scriptures says: ‘The sages who are satisfied with the Supreme Self and who are free from all the tie of the world, show to the Personal God a love that knows no reason; such is the greatness of God.’ ‘He, the Lord, is of His own nature ineffable love.’
God, the object of the devotee’s love, is sometimes described as a projection of the human mind. Hinduism emphatically repudiates this view. According to non-dualism, it is Brahman which, through Maya, its own inscrutable creative power, appears as God. If the form of God is a projection of the mind, it is Brahman itself that projects this form for the purpose of creating the universe and helping the devotees. Therefore, from the non-dualistic viewpoint, the Personal God is as real as the universe and living beings. When the universe and living beings ultimately merge in Brahman (Supreme Reality), God too becomes one with it.
~Swami Nikhilananda
Sri Ramakrishna Math
Love as a force of attraction operates at different levels: the material, the human, and the spiritual. On the material level it draws together the particles of an inanimate object; on the human level it joins friend and friend, parents and children, husband and wife; and on the spiritual level it unites a man with God. The real source of attraction is the spirit or God; a particle of matter cannot of itself attract another particle.
Because God as spirit pervades the whole universe and because He is the inmost self of all beings, one sees the force of attraction operating everywhere. There is no essential difference between a lower form of attraction, for instance the attraction of a mistress for her lover, and a higher form of attraction, such as the attraction of children for the mother. The apparent difference is due to the difference in the channels through which the love is expressed.
Love is a creative force, and through creation one seeks joy and immortality. Desiring this joy some that are virile in body beget offspring, and some that are virile in mind create art, compose poetry, write philosophy, organize states, or engage in similar pursuits. There are yet others, virile in spirit, who through love beget God-consciousness, the bestower of the highest good.
Through creation one hopes to become immortal. Parents expect immortality through their offspring, as the poet, the artist, the philosopher, the statesman, and the scientist through their respective work. The lover of God seeks everlasting life through union with him.
A lover finds joy in beauty and shrinks from ugliness. Birds and animals choose spring for their mating season; human lovers seek beautiful surroundings; and lovers of God always search for beauty, which for them is the good. Love based upon physical attraction, called worldly love, is short-lived, unsatisfactory, and inadequate, because the objects of such love are material forms, which are impermanent and limited. It is based upon such external factors as physical beauty, which are ephemeral, name and fame, wealth, power, and position, which too are transient. One is also afraid to offend one’s beloved for fear of losing her love. Neither spontaneous nor natural, it harbours an element of jealousy.
Furthermore, worldly love constantly changes. A baby is absorbed in his mother. When he grows up he becomes interested in his school fellows. Then he marries, and his wife fills up his heart. Next come children. Even the love of heaven, which is brightly painted by the popular religions, is a form of material love; the denizens of heaven, too, enjoy material objects. The difference between the enjoyments in heaven and on earth is not one of kind but merely one of degree; life in heaven is a continuation of earthly life. A worshipper of God is a materialist if he seeks physical enjoyment here and hereafter.
Love based upon intellectual attraction is more impersonal and enduring. Thus if friendship or conjugal love has for its support common philosophical, artistic, or other intellectual interests, it will last longer than love based upon physical factors, which contains the seeds of quick deterioration. It is a matter of common observation that the more intellectually developed the life of a person is, the less he takes pleasure in the objects of the senses. No man enjoys his food with as great satisfaction as a dog or a pig. The life of the animal lies entirely in its senses, which in many cases are keener than those of human beings. The primitive man obtains more happiness from physical objects than does an educated man; but he is denied the joy arising from the contemplation of music, philosophy, or science.
The offspring of intellectual love is more satisfying than that of physical love. What earthly offspring can compare with the intellectual offspring left behind by Homer, Kalidas, Beethoven, Asoka, or Leonardo da Vinci?
The same is true of immortality; the immortality conferred by intellectual offspring is infinitely more enduring than that conferred by physical offspring. But intellectual immortality, too, is a relative one. The most satisfying love is associated with God; divine love is immortal because God is immortal. In it there is no trace of ugliness, because God is the source of pure beauty, whose reflection one sees in the beauty of the physical and intellectual creation. When love of God fills the heart all other forms of love pale into insignificance. One star rises, then comes a bigger one, and next a still bigger. As the biggest star appears, the smaller ones become dim. At last the sun, the biggest star, appears, and all the others fade out.
God is the biggest star, and the lover of God is not interested in worldly love, physical or intellectual. Although he does not, like an agnostic or an atheist, deny heaven, he is not interested in it, because it is inadequate to satisfy the yearning of his soul. The unceasing craving of his immortal spirit finds no satisfaction in any finite, perishable material object.
The Katha Upanishad narrates the story of Nachiketa, who sought from his teacher the knowledge of the imperishable self. When tempted by the teacher with gold, cattle, children, grandchildren and a long life on earth and in heaven, the pupil said: ‘But these will endure only till tomorrow. Furthermore, their enjoyment exhausts the vigour of the sense organs. Even the longest life is short indeed. Keep your horses, dances, and songs for yourself.’
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad one reads the story of Maitreyi who was offered her share of property by Yajnavalkya, her husband and teacher, as he was about to embrace the monastic life. She said to him: ‘Venerable sir, if indeed the whole earth full of wealth belonged to me, would I be immortal through that or not?’
Yajnavalkya replied: ‘No, your life would be just like that of people who have plenty. Of immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth.’
Then Maitreyi said: ‘What should I do with that which would not make me immortal? Tell me, venerable sir, of that alone, which you know to be the means of attaining immortality.’
One cannot fully enjoy the love of God unless one rises above all worldly attractions.
In the teachings of Christ one sees the utter incompatibility between the Kingdom of Heaven which lies within a man’s heart, and the kingdom of the physical world. But worldly love is not futile, because it is also the love of the spirit; though clogged and distorted with mortal matter, it provides the love hungry soul with various steps by which love of God can finally be realized.
Through these successive steps the possessive attraction is gradually transformed into self-negating divine love. The experience gained through the enjoyment of worldly love teaches a man about its impermanence. Then he feels the irresistible attraction of God, who, like a huge magnet, is always drawing living creatures to Him. On account of the mental impurities produced by attachment to the world, a man does not feel the force of this attraction, as a needle coated with mud is not attracted by a magnet. But when his mind becomes pure through the practice of detachment, he feels the attraction of God and longs to be united with him.
Spiritual love, or bhakti, is directed only to God, whose effulgence puts to shame ‘a million suns, a million moons, and a million gods of beauty.’ He is the Personal God, or the spirit in the form of a person. One of the bhakti scriptures says: ‘The sages who are satisfied with the Supreme Self and who are free from all the tie of the world, show to the Personal God a love that knows no reason; such is the greatness of God.’ ‘He, the Lord, is of His own nature ineffable love.’
God, the object of the devotee’s love, is sometimes described as a projection of the human mind. Hinduism emphatically repudiates this view. According to non-dualism, it is Brahman which, through Maya, its own inscrutable creative power, appears as God. If the form of God is a projection of the mind, it is Brahman itself that projects this form for the purpose of creating the universe and helping the devotees. Therefore, from the non-dualistic viewpoint, the Personal God is as real as the universe and living beings. When the universe and living beings ultimately merge in Brahman (Supreme Reality), God too becomes one with it.
~Swami Nikhilananda
Sri Ramakrishna Math
Nine Modes of Bhakti
Devotion to God is developed in nine different ways. It is supreme attacment to God through a Bhava predominant in the devotee. Intense love is the common factor in all the nine modes. Exclusive love for God is expressed through various methods. All Bhaktas of this type are above the formalities of the world. They are untouched by the laws of human Dharma and are out and out concerned with God.
Good conduct which is in accordance with perfect moral law is an auxiliary to pure Bhakti and it follows the true Bhakta wherever he goes. One cannot develop true devotion to God if he is crooked in his heart, if he has got objects of love in this world, if he is tempted by charming worldly things, if he wishes to take care of his wife, children and relatives, if he wishes to feed his body well, if he wishes to earn a great name in the world, if he wants to establish a permanent fame on earth, if he does not like to part with the alluring contents of the world.
Perfect detachment from all objects is a preliminary to real devotion. Vairagya is the product of real love for God. One who has love for the world cannot have love for God. Where there is Kama, there cannot be Rama and where there is Rama there cannot be Kama. Love for the world and love for God are diametrically opposite things. One has to be renounced for the attainment of the other. This renunciation can be acquired through the nine forms of Bhakti.
In the Srimad-Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine forms of Bhakti are
Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories),
Kirtana (singing of His glories),
Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence),
Padasevana (service of His feet),
Archana (worship of God),
Vandana (prostration to Lord),
Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God),
Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and
Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self).
A devotee can practice any method of Bhakti which suits him best. Through that he will attain Divine illumination.
Sravana is hearing of Lord's Lilas. Sravana includes hearing of God's virtues, glories, sports and stories connected with His divine Name and Form. The devotee gets absorbed in the hearing of Divine stories and his mind merges in the thought of divinity; it cannot think of undivine things. The mind loses, as it were, its charm for the world. The devotee remembers God only even in dream.
The devotee should sit before a learned teacher who is a great saint and hear Divine stories. He should hear them with a sincere heart devoid of the sense of criticism or fault-finding. The devotee should try his best to live in the ideals preached in the scriptures.
One cannot attain Sravana-Bhakti without the company of saints or wise men. Mere reading for oneself is not of much use. Doubts will crop up. They cannot be solved by oneself easily. An experienced man is necessary to instruct the devotee in the right path.
King Parikshit attained Liberation through Sravana. He heard the glories of God from Suka Maharishi. His heart was purified. He attained the Abode of Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha. He became liberated and enjoyed the Supreme Bliss.
Kirtana is singing of Lord's glories. The devotee is thrilled with Divine Emotion. He loses himself in the love of God. He gets horripilation in the body due to extreme love for God. He weeps in the middle when thinking of the glory of God.
His voice becomes choked, and he flies into a state of Divine Bhava. The devotee is ever engaged in Japa of the Lord's Name and in describing His glories to one and all. Wherever he goes he begins to sing and praise God. He requests all to join his Kirtana. He sings and dances in ecstasy. He makes others also dance.
Smarana is remembrance of the Lord at all times. This is unbroken memory of the Name and Form of the Lord. The mind does not think of any object of the world, but is ever engrossed in thinking of the glorious Lord alone. The mind meditates on what is heard about the glories of God and His virtues, Names, etc., and forgets even the body and contents itself in the remembrance of God, just as Dhruva or Prahlada did.
Even Japa is only remembrance of God and comes under this category of Bhakti. Remembrance also includes hearing of stories pertaining to God at all times, talking of God, teaching to others what pertains to God, meditation on the attributes of God, etc. Remembrance has no particular time. God is to be remembered at all times without break, so long as one has got his consciousness intact.
Padasevana is serving the Lord's Feet. Actually this can be done only by Lakshmi or Parvati. No mortal being has got the fortune to practice this method of Bhakti, for the Lord is not visible to the physical eyes. But it is possible to serve the image of God in idols and better still, taking the whole humanity as God. This is Padasevana. Padasevana is service of the sick. Padasevana is service of the whole humanity at large. The whole universe is only Virat-Swarupa. Service of the world is service of the Lord.
Archana is worship of the Lord. Worship can be done either through an image or a picture or even a mental form. The image should be one appealing to the mind of the worshipper.
Worship can be done either with external materials or merely through an internal Bhava or strong feeling. The latter one is an advanced form of worship which only men of purified intellect can do. The purpose of worship is to please the Lord, to purify the heart through surrender of the ego and love of God.
Vandana is prayer and prostration. Humble prostration touching the earth with the eight limbs of the body (Sashtanga-Namaskara), with faith and reverence, before a form of God, or prostration to all beings knowing them to be the forms of the One God, and getting absorbed in the Divine Love of the Lord is termed prostration to God or Vandana.
The ego or Ahamkara is effaced out completely through devout prayer and prostration to God. Divine grace descends upon the devotee and man becomes God.
Dasya Bhakti is the love of God through servant-sentiment. To serve God and carry out His wishes, realizing His virtues, nature, mystery and glory, considering oneself as a slave of God, the Supreme Master, is Dasya Bhakti.
Serving and worshipping the Murtis in temples, sweeping the temple premises, meditating on God and mentally serving Him like a slave, serving the saints and the sages, serving the devotees of God, serving poor and sick people who are forms of God, is also included in Dasya-Bhakti.
To follow the words of the scriptures, to act according to the injunctions of the Vedas, considering them to be direct words of God, is Dasya Bhakti. Association with and service of love-intoxicated devotees and service of those who have knowledge of God is Dasya Bhakti. The purpose behind Dasya Bhakti is to be ever with God in order to offer service to Him and win His Divine Grace and attain thereby immortality.
Sakhya-Bhava is the cultivation of the friend-sentiment with God. The inmates of the family of Nandagopa cultivated this Bhakti. Arjuna cultivated this kind of Bhakti towards Lord Krishna. To be always with the Lord, to treat Him as one's own dear relative or a friend belonging to one's own family, to be in His company at all times, to love Him as one's own self, is Sakhya-Bhava of Bhakti-Marga. How do friends, real friends, love in this world ? What an amount of love they possess between one another ? Such a love is developed towards God instead of towards man; physical love turned into spiritual love. There is a transformation of the mundane into the Eternal.
Atma-Nivedana is self-surrender. The devotee offers everything to God, including his body, mind and soul. He keeps nothing for himself. He loses even his own self. He has no personal and independent existence. He has given up his self for God. He has become part and parcel of God. God takes care of him and God treats him as Himself. Grief and sorrow, pleasure and pain, the devotee treats as gifts sent by God and does not attach himself to them. He considers himself as a puppet of God and an instrument in the hands of God.
This self-surrender is Absolute Love for God exclusively. There is nothing but God-consciousness in the devotee. Even against his own wishes, the devotee shall become one with God and lose his individuality. This is the law of being. The highest truth is Absoluteness and the soul rises above through different states of consciousness until it attains Absolute Perfection when it becomes identical with God. This is the culmination of all aspiration and love.
The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a devotee attains the Supreme Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of these paths and reach the highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest of all and is not very much against the nature of human inclinations. It slowly and gradually takes the individual to the Supreme without frustrating his human instincts. It is not direct assertion of God, but a progressive realization of Him
Good conduct which is in accordance with perfect moral law is an auxiliary to pure Bhakti and it follows the true Bhakta wherever he goes. One cannot develop true devotion to God if he is crooked in his heart, if he has got objects of love in this world, if he is tempted by charming worldly things, if he wishes to take care of his wife, children and relatives, if he wishes to feed his body well, if he wishes to earn a great name in the world, if he wants to establish a permanent fame on earth, if he does not like to part with the alluring contents of the world.
Perfect detachment from all objects is a preliminary to real devotion. Vairagya is the product of real love for God. One who has love for the world cannot have love for God. Where there is Kama, there cannot be Rama and where there is Rama there cannot be Kama. Love for the world and love for God are diametrically opposite things. One has to be renounced for the attainment of the other. This renunciation can be acquired through the nine forms of Bhakti.
In the Srimad-Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine forms of Bhakti are
Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories),
Kirtana (singing of His glories),
Smarana (remembrance of His name and presence),
Padasevana (service of His feet),
Archana (worship of God),
Vandana (prostration to Lord),
Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God),
Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and
Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self).
A devotee can practice any method of Bhakti which suits him best. Through that he will attain Divine illumination.
Sravana is hearing of Lord's Lilas. Sravana includes hearing of God's virtues, glories, sports and stories connected with His divine Name and Form. The devotee gets absorbed in the hearing of Divine stories and his mind merges in the thought of divinity; it cannot think of undivine things. The mind loses, as it were, its charm for the world. The devotee remembers God only even in dream.
The devotee should sit before a learned teacher who is a great saint and hear Divine stories. He should hear them with a sincere heart devoid of the sense of criticism or fault-finding. The devotee should try his best to live in the ideals preached in the scriptures.
One cannot attain Sravana-Bhakti without the company of saints or wise men. Mere reading for oneself is not of much use. Doubts will crop up. They cannot be solved by oneself easily. An experienced man is necessary to instruct the devotee in the right path.
King Parikshit attained Liberation through Sravana. He heard the glories of God from Suka Maharishi. His heart was purified. He attained the Abode of Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha. He became liberated and enjoyed the Supreme Bliss.
Kirtana is singing of Lord's glories. The devotee is thrilled with Divine Emotion. He loses himself in the love of God. He gets horripilation in the body due to extreme love for God. He weeps in the middle when thinking of the glory of God.
His voice becomes choked, and he flies into a state of Divine Bhava. The devotee is ever engaged in Japa of the Lord's Name and in describing His glories to one and all. Wherever he goes he begins to sing and praise God. He requests all to join his Kirtana. He sings and dances in ecstasy. He makes others also dance.
Smarana is remembrance of the Lord at all times. This is unbroken memory of the Name and Form of the Lord. The mind does not think of any object of the world, but is ever engrossed in thinking of the glorious Lord alone. The mind meditates on what is heard about the glories of God and His virtues, Names, etc., and forgets even the body and contents itself in the remembrance of God, just as Dhruva or Prahlada did.
Even Japa is only remembrance of God and comes under this category of Bhakti. Remembrance also includes hearing of stories pertaining to God at all times, talking of God, teaching to others what pertains to God, meditation on the attributes of God, etc. Remembrance has no particular time. God is to be remembered at all times without break, so long as one has got his consciousness intact.
Padasevana is serving the Lord's Feet. Actually this can be done only by Lakshmi or Parvati. No mortal being has got the fortune to practice this method of Bhakti, for the Lord is not visible to the physical eyes. But it is possible to serve the image of God in idols and better still, taking the whole humanity as God. This is Padasevana. Padasevana is service of the sick. Padasevana is service of the whole humanity at large. The whole universe is only Virat-Swarupa. Service of the world is service of the Lord.
Archana is worship of the Lord. Worship can be done either through an image or a picture or even a mental form. The image should be one appealing to the mind of the worshipper.
Worship can be done either with external materials or merely through an internal Bhava or strong feeling. The latter one is an advanced form of worship which only men of purified intellect can do. The purpose of worship is to please the Lord, to purify the heart through surrender of the ego and love of God.
Vandana is prayer and prostration. Humble prostration touching the earth with the eight limbs of the body (Sashtanga-Namaskara), with faith and reverence, before a form of God, or prostration to all beings knowing them to be the forms of the One God, and getting absorbed in the Divine Love of the Lord is termed prostration to God or Vandana.
The ego or Ahamkara is effaced out completely through devout prayer and prostration to God. Divine grace descends upon the devotee and man becomes God.
Dasya Bhakti is the love of God through servant-sentiment. To serve God and carry out His wishes, realizing His virtues, nature, mystery and glory, considering oneself as a slave of God, the Supreme Master, is Dasya Bhakti.
Serving and worshipping the Murtis in temples, sweeping the temple premises, meditating on God and mentally serving Him like a slave, serving the saints and the sages, serving the devotees of God, serving poor and sick people who are forms of God, is also included in Dasya-Bhakti.
To follow the words of the scriptures, to act according to the injunctions of the Vedas, considering them to be direct words of God, is Dasya Bhakti. Association with and service of love-intoxicated devotees and service of those who have knowledge of God is Dasya Bhakti. The purpose behind Dasya Bhakti is to be ever with God in order to offer service to Him and win His Divine Grace and attain thereby immortality.
Sakhya-Bhava is the cultivation of the friend-sentiment with God. The inmates of the family of Nandagopa cultivated this Bhakti. Arjuna cultivated this kind of Bhakti towards Lord Krishna. To be always with the Lord, to treat Him as one's own dear relative or a friend belonging to one's own family, to be in His company at all times, to love Him as one's own self, is Sakhya-Bhava of Bhakti-Marga. How do friends, real friends, love in this world ? What an amount of love they possess between one another ? Such a love is developed towards God instead of towards man; physical love turned into spiritual love. There is a transformation of the mundane into the Eternal.
Atma-Nivedana is self-surrender. The devotee offers everything to God, including his body, mind and soul. He keeps nothing for himself. He loses even his own self. He has no personal and independent existence. He has given up his self for God. He has become part and parcel of God. God takes care of him and God treats him as Himself. Grief and sorrow, pleasure and pain, the devotee treats as gifts sent by God and does not attach himself to them. He considers himself as a puppet of God and an instrument in the hands of God.
This self-surrender is Absolute Love for God exclusively. There is nothing but God-consciousness in the devotee. Even against his own wishes, the devotee shall become one with God and lose his individuality. This is the law of being. The highest truth is Absoluteness and the soul rises above through different states of consciousness until it attains Absolute Perfection when it becomes identical with God. This is the culmination of all aspiration and love.
The nine modes of Bhakti are the ways in which a devotee attains the Supreme Ideal of life. A devotee can take up any of these paths and reach the highest state. The path of Bhakti is the easiest of all and is not very much against the nature of human inclinations. It slowly and gradually takes the individual to the Supreme without frustrating his human instincts. It is not direct assertion of God, but a progressive realization of Him
How To Cultivate Bhakti
It would be a gross mistake if you consider Bhakti as merely a stage of emotionalism, while it is actually a thorough discipline and training of one's will and the mind, a sure means to intuitive realization of God Almighty through intense love and affection for Him. It is a means to thorough apprehension of the true knowledge of Reality, beginning from the ordinary form of idol worship right upto the highest form of cosmic realisation of your oneness with Him.
You can achieve this by following the eleven fundamental factors which Sri Ramanuja had prescribed. They are Abhyasa or practice of continuous thinking of God; Viveka or discrimination; Vimoka or freedom from everything else and longing for God; Satyam or truthfulness; Arjavam or straightforwardness; Kriya or doing good to others; Kalyana or wishing well-being to all; Daya or compassion; Ahimsa or non-injury; Dana or charity; and Anavasada or cheerfulness and optimism.
People put a question: "How can we love God whom we have not seen ?"
Live in the company of saints. Hear the Lilas of God. Study the sacred scriptures. Worship Him first in His several forms as manifested in the world. Worship any image or picture of the Lord or the Guru. Recite His Name. Sing His glories. Stay for one year in Ayodhya or Brindavan, Chirakut or Pandhapur, Benares or Ananda Kutir. You will develop love for God.
Every act must be done that awakens the emotion of Bhakti. Keep the Puja(worship) room clean. Decorate the room. Burn incense. Light a lamp. Keep a clean seat. Bathe. Wear clean clothes. Apply Vibhuti (sacred ash) or Bhasma, and Kumkum on the forehead. Wear Rudraksha or Tulasi Mala. All these produce a benign influence on the mind and elevate the mind. They generate piety. They help to create the necessary Bhava or feeling to invoke the Deity that you want to worship. The mind will be easily concentrated.
Practice of right conduct, Satsanga, Japa, Smarana, Kirtan, prayer, worship, service of saints, residence in places of pilgrimage, service of the poor and the sick with divine Bhava, observance of Varnashrama duties, offering of all actions and their fruits to the Lord, feeling the presence of the Lord in all beings, prostrations before the image and saints, renunciation of earthly enjoyments and wealth, charity, austerities and vows, practice of Ahimsa, Satyam and Brahmacharya - all these will help you to develop Bhakti.
You can achieve this by following the eleven fundamental factors which Sri Ramanuja had prescribed. They are Abhyasa or practice of continuous thinking of God; Viveka or discrimination; Vimoka or freedom from everything else and longing for God; Satyam or truthfulness; Arjavam or straightforwardness; Kriya or doing good to others; Kalyana or wishing well-being to all; Daya or compassion; Ahimsa or non-injury; Dana or charity; and Anavasada or cheerfulness and optimism.
People put a question: "How can we love God whom we have not seen ?"
Live in the company of saints. Hear the Lilas of God. Study the sacred scriptures. Worship Him first in His several forms as manifested in the world. Worship any image or picture of the Lord or the Guru. Recite His Name. Sing His glories. Stay for one year in Ayodhya or Brindavan, Chirakut or Pandhapur, Benares or Ananda Kutir. You will develop love for God.
Every act must be done that awakens the emotion of Bhakti. Keep the Puja(worship) room clean. Decorate the room. Burn incense. Light a lamp. Keep a clean seat. Bathe. Wear clean clothes. Apply Vibhuti (sacred ash) or Bhasma, and Kumkum on the forehead. Wear Rudraksha or Tulasi Mala. All these produce a benign influence on the mind and elevate the mind. They generate piety. They help to create the necessary Bhava or feeling to invoke the Deity that you want to worship. The mind will be easily concentrated.
Practice of right conduct, Satsanga, Japa, Smarana, Kirtan, prayer, worship, service of saints, residence in places of pilgrimage, service of the poor and the sick with divine Bhava, observance of Varnashrama duties, offering of all actions and their fruits to the Lord, feeling the presence of the Lord in all beings, prostrations before the image and saints, renunciation of earthly enjoyments and wealth, charity, austerities and vows, practice of Ahimsa, Satyam and Brahmacharya - all these will help you to develop Bhakti.
Types Of Bhakti !
Bhakti is of various kinds. One classification is Sakamya and Nishkamya Bhakti. Sakamya Bhakti is devotion with desire for material gains. A man wants wealth with this motive practices Bhakti. Another man wants freedom from diseases and therefore does Japa and offers prayers. A third one wants to become a Minister and does Upasana with this aim. This is Sakamya Bhakti. Whatever you want the Lord will certainly give you, if your Bhakti is intense and if your prayers are sincerely offered from the bottom of your heart. But you will not get supreme satisfaction, immortality and Moksha through Sakamya Bhakti.
Your Bhakti should always be Nishkamya Bhakti. God has already given you a good position, a good job, wife and children and enough wealth. Be contented with these. Aspire for Nishkamya Bhakti. Your heart will be purified and the Divine Grace will descend upon you. Be in communion with the Lord, you will become one with the Lord and you will enjoy all the Divine Aisvaryas (Divine attributes like wisdom, renunciation, power, etc.). All the Vibhutis (Special forms in which the Lord manifests) of the Lord He will give you. He will give you Darsan. He will help you to dwell in Him. At the same time He will give you all the Divine Aisvaryas also.
Another classification of Bhakti is Apara-Bhakti and Para-Bhakti. Apara-Bhakti is for beginners in Yoga. The beginner decorates an image with flowers and garlands, rings the bell, offers Naivedya (food-offerings), wave lights; he observes rituals and ceremonies. The Bhakta here regards the Lord as a Supreme Person, who is immanent in that image and who can be propitiated through that form only. He has no expanded heart. He is a sectarian. He dislikes other kinds of Bhaktas who worship other Devatas. Gradually, from Apara-Bhakti, the devotee goes to Para-Bhakti, the highest form of Bhakti. He sees the Lord and Lord alone everywhere and feels His Power manifest as the entire universe.
"Thou art all-pervading; on what Simhasana shall I seat Thee ? Thou art the Supreme Light, in whose borrowed light the sun, the moon, the stars and the fire shine; shall I wave this little Deepa or light before You ?" - thus the devotee recognizes the transcendental nature of God. Para-Bhakti and Jnana are one.
But every Bhakta will have to start from Apara-Bhakti. Before you take your food, offer it to God mentally; and the food will be purified. When you pass through a garden of flowers, mentally offer all the flowers to the Lord in Archana (offering flowers in worship).
When you pass through the bazaar and see a sweetmeat shop, offer all the sweetmeats as Naivedya to the Lord. Such practices will lead to Para-Bhakti.
Bhakti is also classified into Gauna-Bhakti and Mukhya-Bhakti. Gauna-Bhakti is the lower Bhakti and Mukhya-Bhakti is the higher type of Bhakti.
Go from stage to stage. Just as a flower grows in the garden, so also gradually develop love or Prem in the garden of your heart.
The enemy of devotion is egoism and desire. Where there is no Kama or desire, there alone will Rama (the Lord) manifest Himself. The enemies of peace and devotion are lust, anger and greed. Anger destroys your peace and your health also. When a man abuses you, keep peaceful. When blood begins to boil, it is impoverished. You lose vitality if you become a prey to fits of temper.
~Sri Swami Sivananda
Your Bhakti should always be Nishkamya Bhakti. God has already given you a good position, a good job, wife and children and enough wealth. Be contented with these. Aspire for Nishkamya Bhakti. Your heart will be purified and the Divine Grace will descend upon you. Be in communion with the Lord, you will become one with the Lord and you will enjoy all the Divine Aisvaryas (Divine attributes like wisdom, renunciation, power, etc.). All the Vibhutis (Special forms in which the Lord manifests) of the Lord He will give you. He will give you Darsan. He will help you to dwell in Him. At the same time He will give you all the Divine Aisvaryas also.
Another classification of Bhakti is Apara-Bhakti and Para-Bhakti. Apara-Bhakti is for beginners in Yoga. The beginner decorates an image with flowers and garlands, rings the bell, offers Naivedya (food-offerings), wave lights; he observes rituals and ceremonies. The Bhakta here regards the Lord as a Supreme Person, who is immanent in that image and who can be propitiated through that form only. He has no expanded heart. He is a sectarian. He dislikes other kinds of Bhaktas who worship other Devatas. Gradually, from Apara-Bhakti, the devotee goes to Para-Bhakti, the highest form of Bhakti. He sees the Lord and Lord alone everywhere and feels His Power manifest as the entire universe.
"Thou art all-pervading; on what Simhasana shall I seat Thee ? Thou art the Supreme Light, in whose borrowed light the sun, the moon, the stars and the fire shine; shall I wave this little Deepa or light before You ?" - thus the devotee recognizes the transcendental nature of God. Para-Bhakti and Jnana are one.
But every Bhakta will have to start from Apara-Bhakti. Before you take your food, offer it to God mentally; and the food will be purified. When you pass through a garden of flowers, mentally offer all the flowers to the Lord in Archana (offering flowers in worship).
When you pass through the bazaar and see a sweetmeat shop, offer all the sweetmeats as Naivedya to the Lord. Such practices will lead to Para-Bhakti.
Bhakti is also classified into Gauna-Bhakti and Mukhya-Bhakti. Gauna-Bhakti is the lower Bhakti and Mukhya-Bhakti is the higher type of Bhakti.
Go from stage to stage. Just as a flower grows in the garden, so also gradually develop love or Prem in the garden of your heart.
The enemy of devotion is egoism and desire. Where there is no Kama or desire, there alone will Rama (the Lord) manifest Himself. The enemies of peace and devotion are lust, anger and greed. Anger destroys your peace and your health also. When a man abuses you, keep peaceful. When blood begins to boil, it is impoverished. You lose vitality if you become a prey to fits of temper.
~Sri Swami Sivananda
What Is Bhakti ?
The term Bhakti comes from the root 'Bhaj', which means 'to be attached to God'. Bhajan, worship, Bhakti, Anurag, Prem, Priti are synonymous terms. Bhakti is love for love's sake. The devotee wants God and God alone. There is no selfish expectation here. There is no fear also. Therefore it is called 'Parama Prem Rupa'. The devotee feels, believes, conceives and imagines that his Ishtam (tutelary deity) is an Ocean of Love or Prem.
Bhakti is the slender thread of Prem or love that binds the heart of a devotee with the lotus feet of the Lord. Bhakti is intense devotion and supreme attachment to God. Bhakti is supreme love for God. It is the spontaneous out-pouring of Prem towards the Beloved. It is pure, unselfish, divine love or Suddha Prem. There is not a bit of bargaining or expectation of anything here. This higher feeling is indescribable in words. It has to be sincerely experienced by the devotee. Bhakti is a sacred, higher emotion with sublime sentiments that unites the devotees with the Lord.
Mark how love develops. First arises faith. Then follows attraction and after that adoration. Adoration leads to suppression of mundane desires. The result is single-mindedness and satisfaction. Then grow attachment and supreme love towards God.
In this type of highest Bhakti all attraction and attachment which one has for objects of enjoyment are transferred to the only dearest object, viz., God. This leads the devotee to an eternal union with his Beloved and culminates in oneness.
Bhakti is the slender thread of Prem or love that binds the heart of a devotee with the lotus feet of the Lord. Bhakti is intense devotion and supreme attachment to God. Bhakti is supreme love for God. It is the spontaneous out-pouring of Prem towards the Beloved. It is pure, unselfish, divine love or Suddha Prem. There is not a bit of bargaining or expectation of anything here. This higher feeling is indescribable in words. It has to be sincerely experienced by the devotee. Bhakti is a sacred, higher emotion with sublime sentiments that unites the devotees with the Lord.
Mark how love develops. First arises faith. Then follows attraction and after that adoration. Adoration leads to suppression of mundane desires. The result is single-mindedness and satisfaction. Then grow attachment and supreme love towards God.
In this type of highest Bhakti all attraction and attachment which one has for objects of enjoyment are transferred to the only dearest object, viz., God. This leads the devotee to an eternal union with his Beloved and culminates in oneness.
Divine Mother Bhakti Poem
Hear me child, and know Me for who I am.
I have been with you since you were born, and I will stay with you until you return to Me at the final dusk.
I am the passionate and seductive lover who inspires the poet to dream.
I am the One who calls to you at the end of your journey. After the day is done, My children find their blessed rest in my embrace.
I am the womb from which all things are born.
I am the shadowy, still tomb; all things must come to Me and bare their breasts to die and be reborn to the Whole.
I am the Sorceress that will not be ruled, the Weaver of Time, the Teacher of Mysteries. I snip the threads that bring my children home to me. I slit the throats of the cruel and drink the blood of the heartless.
Swallow your fear and come to me, and you will discover true beauty, strength, and courage.
I am the fury which rips the flesh from injustice.
I am the glowing forge that transforms your inner demons into tools of power. Open yourself to my embrace and overcome.
I am the glinting sword that protects you from harm.
I am the crucible in which all the aspects of yourself merge together in a rainbow of union.
I am the velvet depths of the night sky, the swirling mists of midnight, shrouded in mystery.
I am the chrysalis in which you will face that which terrifies you and from which you will blossom forth, vibrant and renewed. Seek me at the crossroads, and you shall be transformed, for once you look upon my face, there is no return.
I am the fire that kisses the shackles away. I am the cauldron in which all opposites grow to know each other in Truth. I am the web which connects all things.
I am the Healer of all wounds, the Warrior who rights all wrongs in their Time.
I make the weak strong. I make the arrogant humble. I raise up the oppressed and empower the disenfranchised. I am Justice tempered with Mercy.
Most importantly, child, I am you. I am part of you, and I am within you. Seek me within and without, and you will be strong. Know me. Venture into the dark so that you may awaken to Balance, Illumination, and Wholeness. Take my Love with you everywhere and find the Power within to be who you wish.
I have been with you since you were born, and I will stay with you until you return to Me at the final dusk.
I am the passionate and seductive lover who inspires the poet to dream.
I am the One who calls to you at the end of your journey. After the day is done, My children find their blessed rest in my embrace.
I am the womb from which all things are born.
I am the shadowy, still tomb; all things must come to Me and bare their breasts to die and be reborn to the Whole.
I am the Sorceress that will not be ruled, the Weaver of Time, the Teacher of Mysteries. I snip the threads that bring my children home to me. I slit the throats of the cruel and drink the blood of the heartless.
Swallow your fear and come to me, and you will discover true beauty, strength, and courage.
I am the fury which rips the flesh from injustice.
I am the glowing forge that transforms your inner demons into tools of power. Open yourself to my embrace and overcome.
I am the glinting sword that protects you from harm.
I am the crucible in which all the aspects of yourself merge together in a rainbow of union.
I am the velvet depths of the night sky, the swirling mists of midnight, shrouded in mystery.
I am the chrysalis in which you will face that which terrifies you and from which you will blossom forth, vibrant and renewed. Seek me at the crossroads, and you shall be transformed, for once you look upon my face, there is no return.
I am the fire that kisses the shackles away. I am the cauldron in which all opposites grow to know each other in Truth. I am the web which connects all things.
I am the Healer of all wounds, the Warrior who rights all wrongs in their Time.
I make the weak strong. I make the arrogant humble. I raise up the oppressed and empower the disenfranchised. I am Justice tempered with Mercy.
Most importantly, child, I am you. I am part of you, and I am within you. Seek me within and without, and you will be strong. Know me. Venture into the dark so that you may awaken to Balance, Illumination, and Wholeness. Take my Love with you everywhere and find the Power within to be who you wish.
Kali Bhakti Poems
O Mother, who really
Knows Your magic?
You’re a crazy girl
Driving us all crazy with these tricks.
No one knows anyone else
In a world of Your illusions.
Kali’s tricks are so deft,
We act on what we see.
And what suffering-
All because of a crazy girl!
Who knows
What She truly is?
~Ramprasad
Knows Your magic?
You’re a crazy girl
Driving us all crazy with these tricks.
No one knows anyone else
In a world of Your illusions.
Kali’s tricks are so deft,
We act on what we see.
And what suffering-
All because of a crazy girl!
Who knows
What She truly is?
~Ramprasad
Siva Bhakti Songs
Come on, Mind, let’s go steal-
You and I together-
All Shiva owns- Mother’s feet,
If we can carry them off.
But if they catch us
In that watchful house,
That would be the end of the body.
They’d tie us up in Kailasa.
Don’t forget your guru’s advice
If we get in; we’ll wound Shiva
With an arrow of devotion,
Then grab those feet and run.
~Ramprasad
You and I together-
All Shiva owns- Mother’s feet,
If we can carry them off.
But if they catch us
In that watchful house,
That would be the end of the body.
They’d tie us up in Kailasa.
Don’t forget your guru’s advice
If we get in; we’ll wound Shiva
With an arrow of devotion,
Then grab those feet and run.
~Ramprasad
Hari Bhakti Songs
I spent my days in fun,
Now, Time’s up and I’m out of a job.
I used to go here and there making money,
Had brothers, friends, wife, and children
Who listened when I spoke.
Now they scream at me
Just because I’m poor. Death’s
Field man is going to sit by my pillow
Waiting to grab my hair, and my friends
And relations will stack up the bier,
Fill the pitcher, ready my shroud and say
So long to the old boy
In his holy man’s get-up.
They’ll shout Hari a few times,
Dump me on the pile and walk off.
That’s it for old Ramprasad.
They’ll wipe off the tears
And dig in to their supper.
~Ramprasad
Now, Time’s up and I’m out of a job.
I used to go here and there making money,
Had brothers, friends, wife, and children
Who listened when I spoke.
Now they scream at me
Just because I’m poor. Death’s
Field man is going to sit by my pillow
Waiting to grab my hair, and my friends
And relations will stack up the bier,
Fill the pitcher, ready my shroud and say
So long to the old boy
In his holy man’s get-up.
They’ll shout Hari a few times,
Dump me on the pile and walk off.
That’s it for old Ramprasad.
They’ll wipe off the tears
And dig in to their supper.
~Ramprasad
Kali Bhakti Songs
She’s playing in my heart.
Whatever I think, I think Her name.
I close my eyes and She’s in there
Garlanded with human heads.
Common sense, know-how-gone,
So they say I’m crazy. Let them.
All I ask, my crazy Mother,
Is that You stay put.
Ramprasad cries out: Mother, don’t
Reject this lotus heart You live in
Don’t despise this human offering
At Your feet.
~ Ramprasad Sen
Whatever I think, I think Her name.
I close my eyes and She’s in there
Garlanded with human heads.
Common sense, know-how-gone,
So they say I’m crazy. Let them.
All I ask, my crazy Mother,
Is that You stay put.
Ramprasad cries out: Mother, don’t
Reject this lotus heart You live in
Don’t despise this human offering
At Your feet.
~ Ramprasad Sen
Who in this World
Who in this world
can understand what
Mother Kali really is?
The six systems of philosophy
remain powerless to describe Her.
She is the inmost awareness
of the sage who realizes
that Consciousness alone exists.
She is the life blossoming within
the creatures of the universe.
Both macrocosm and microcosm
are lost within Mother’s Womb.
Now can you sense
how indescribable She is?
The yogi meditates upon Her
in the six subtle nerve centres
as She sports with delight
through the lotus wilderness
of the pristine human body,
playing with Her Consort,
Shiva, the Great Swan.
When anyone attempts to know Her,
the singer of this song laughs.
Can you swim across
a shore less ocean?
Yet the child in me still
reaches out to touch the moon.
~Ramprasad
can understand what
Mother Kali really is?
The six systems of philosophy
remain powerless to describe Her.
She is the inmost awareness
of the sage who realizes
that Consciousness alone exists.
She is the life blossoming within
the creatures of the universe.
Both macrocosm and microcosm
are lost within Mother’s Womb.
Now can you sense
how indescribable She is?
The yogi meditates upon Her
in the six subtle nerve centres
as She sports with delight
through the lotus wilderness
of the pristine human body,
playing with Her Consort,
Shiva, the Great Swan.
When anyone attempts to know Her,
the singer of this song laughs.
Can you swim across
a shore less ocean?
Yet the child in me still
reaches out to touch the moon.
~Ramprasad
O Lord, are you in the maya
O Lord, are you in the maya,
Or, the maya is in you.?
Are you in the body,
Or is the body in you?
Is the view in space,
Or the space is in the seen?
Or do both be in the eye?
Is the eye in buddhi,
Or the buddhi in the eye?
O! Hari! Do both exist in thee?
Is the sweetness in sugar,
Or sugar in sweetness?
Or are they together in the tongue?
Is the tongue in buddhi,
Or the buddhi in the tongue?
O Hari! Do both exist in thee?
Is the flower in fragrance,
Or the fragrance in the flower?
Together are they in the smell?
O Aadikeshava of Kaginele
Of incomparable prowess!
These are beyond my grasp!
Isn't all in thee?
That's a composition of Mystic bard Kanakadaasa, who lived in Karnataka, south India, in the 16 th century. (Translated from kannada lanuage.)
~Kanakadasa
Or, the maya is in you.?
Are you in the body,
Or is the body in you?
Is the view in space,
Or the space is in the seen?
Or do both be in the eye?
Is the eye in buddhi,
Or the buddhi in the eye?
O! Hari! Do both exist in thee?
Is the sweetness in sugar,
Or sugar in sweetness?
Or are they together in the tongue?
Is the tongue in buddhi,
Or the buddhi in the tongue?
O Hari! Do both exist in thee?
Is the flower in fragrance,
Or the fragrance in the flower?
Together are they in the smell?
O Aadikeshava of Kaginele
Of incomparable prowess!
These are beyond my grasp!
Isn't all in thee?
That's a composition of Mystic bard Kanakadaasa, who lived in Karnataka, south India, in the 16 th century. (Translated from kannada lanuage.)
~Kanakadasa
Kanakadasa
Saint-Poet Kanakadasa (c 1509-1609 A.D.) belongs to the tradition of Haridasa literary movement which ushered in an era of devotional literature in Karnataka. Scores and scores of Haridasa have composed songs in praise of Krishna (incarnation of Vishnu). 'Haridasa' stands for 'servant of Hari', is another epithet of god Krishna. Right from 14th century to 19th, we find several Haridasas who wrote devotional compositions which could be set to music with simple instruments like Tanpura, and Tala (cymbals). They wrote kirtans, bhajans, prayers, lullabies, festival songs, and house-hold-chore songs. Written in simple and spoken Kannada, they had universal appeal.
Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa are the foremost among Haridasas. Besides conveying dvaita (dualism) tenets, they preached kindness and equanimity in a world full of sorrows. They condemned superstitions, hollow rituals and upheld virtues of a pious life.
No biographical details of Kanakadasa are available. Tradition makes him a member of shepherd (Kuruba) community who as chief (nayaka) of security forces under a local king. His family deity or the deity he worshipped was Adikeshava of Kaginele, presently in Haveri district. Kaginele, now a village, was a prosperous place and trading center in middle ages.
If Purandaradasa gave up trader's job and balance (takadi) for tanpura and cymbals, Kanakadasa threw away his sword when the "inner call" came. Purandaradasa is supreme or 'king' among composers. Kanakadasa is a poet among composers. He wrote about two hundred songs (kirtans, padas and mundiges or philosophical songs) besides five major works.
Kanakana Kindi (window of Kanaka) enjoys a special place at the Shri Krishna temple of Udupi. There is a legend that Kanakadasa, who was a non-Brahmin, wanted to have a 'darshan (encounter) of the idol. He was not allowed into the shrine by orthodox Madhwas, as Kanakadasa was not a Brahmin by birth. Kanakadasa then started singing praise of Shri Krishna and was lost to outside world in a corner outside the temple. Suddenly there was a breach in the wall, where Kanaka stood, and Lord Krishna offered full darshan bending towards poet. A small window was constructed at the breach later. The idol has still a bend!
Today that window stands as a tribute to the unique saint of Karnataka. Almost all devotees who visit Udupi Krishna temple try to have a peep at the idol, through the petty window wishing to relive the ecstasy, Kanaka had at the divine 'darshan'. It is also a memorial to Kanakadasa and eclectic Hindu belief that devotion, poetry and sainthood are above caste and creed and certainty above orthodoxy.
Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa are the foremost among Haridasas. Besides conveying dvaita (dualism) tenets, they preached kindness and equanimity in a world full of sorrows. They condemned superstitions, hollow rituals and upheld virtues of a pious life.
No biographical details of Kanakadasa are available. Tradition makes him a member of shepherd (Kuruba) community who as chief (nayaka) of security forces under a local king. His family deity or the deity he worshipped was Adikeshava of Kaginele, presently in Haveri district. Kaginele, now a village, was a prosperous place and trading center in middle ages.
If Purandaradasa gave up trader's job and balance (takadi) for tanpura and cymbals, Kanakadasa threw away his sword when the "inner call" came. Purandaradasa is supreme or 'king' among composers. Kanakadasa is a poet among composers. He wrote about two hundred songs (kirtans, padas and mundiges or philosophical songs) besides five major works.
Kanakana Kindi (window of Kanaka) enjoys a special place at the Shri Krishna temple of Udupi. There is a legend that Kanakadasa, who was a non-Brahmin, wanted to have a 'darshan (encounter) of the idol. He was not allowed into the shrine by orthodox Madhwas, as Kanakadasa was not a Brahmin by birth. Kanakadasa then started singing praise of Shri Krishna and was lost to outside world in a corner outside the temple. Suddenly there was a breach in the wall, where Kanaka stood, and Lord Krishna offered full darshan bending towards poet. A small window was constructed at the breach later. The idol has still a bend!
Today that window stands as a tribute to the unique saint of Karnataka. Almost all devotees who visit Udupi Krishna temple try to have a peep at the idol, through the petty window wishing to relive the ecstasy, Kanaka had at the divine 'darshan'. It is also a memorial to Kanakadasa and eclectic Hindu belief that devotion, poetry and sainthood are above caste and creed and certainty above orthodoxy.
Tulsidas
Tulsidas was one of the best poets ever to have graced Bharat. His verses were written in Hindi and accessible to everyone. He is well known for the work, which was referred to as the greatest book ever written by Gandhiji, 'Ramacharita manasa'
Tulasidas was born in the year 1532 to a brahmin family in the town of Rajapur. He suffered separation from his parents at a very young age and was not taken care of by his relatives. He came into contact with some saints who advised him to surrender to Lord Rama. Thus, he got associated with a Hanuman temple and ate whatever was given to him. Not much is known about Tulasi's guru, but he met him in Sukarkheta. Since tulasidas was not mentally equipped at that time for complex philosophies, his guru advised him to take up the path of devotion to Rama. As time grew on, Tulasi's love for Rama grew deeper and deeper.
However, in his youth, he got married to a woman named Ratnavali. Once his wife went to stay with her parents for a while. Tulasi, not being able to bear the separation, went to meet her. Ratnavali is said to admonished Tulasi by saying 'I am just a bag of flesh and bones. Why are you so attracted to it ? Why don't you love Lord Rama with the same fervor?' This type of retort is not typical of Indian wives (at least during that time). One wonders whether Ratnavali was itself spiritually inclined or whether God determined it was the appropriate time for Tulasi to leave the family life. Anyway, Tulasi contemplated on this remark and left all connections with the family life.
After bidding goodbye to family life, he lived in Chitrakuta for some time before 1564. He used to go around houses for alms. One day, he came to the house where his wife and father-in-law lived, but he did not recognize them. Though the wife recognized him, she just gave him alms and food. When she insisted that he partake spices like pepper, salt etc, he replied that he had his own supply of spices in his possession. Early next morning, when Tulasidas was preparing to leave the house, his wife requested him to take her with him. But, he refused saying that he has renounced family life. Ratnavali was angered and remarked, 'You have spices in your possession, but not wife. What kind of renunciate are you ?.' Tulasidas recognized the folliness of being attached to food, and thanked his wife for the lesson and threw away all his remaining possessions. He, then, migrated to Kashi. Scholars have rightly pointed out that Rama charita manasa would never have been written if not for Ratnavali's remarks. Though he made several pilgrimages throughout the country, his permanent residence was in Kashi. He commenced writing rama charita manasa in Ayodhya but came back to Kashi.
Nabhaji, the author of Bhaktamala (1600), writes that Tulasidas was an incarnation of Valmiki itself born again to explain Ramayana in the vernacular langauge. This raise in his fame naturally created many enemies, who attacked his caste, his asceticism etc, but Tulasi does not seem to have been bothered by this.
Tulasi was a personification of humility. He declares in the Manasa that he is no poet and he is imperfect and only sings the excellence of Rama according to his poor wit and understanding. This is the case in his other works Gitavali (1571), Kavitavali (1612), Barvairamayana (1612) and one of the best works, Vinaya Patrika (request to Rama). Tulasi, should not, however, be considered partial to Rama in exclusion to others. He appreciated the diverse tenets of Saiva, advaita and samkhya philosophies. He authored 22 different works. He never became attracted to miracles or money. Once the powerful king Jahangir offered him money in return for the performance of some miracles. Tulasi retorted 'Who needs money when one has the love of (and for) Rama ? What use is miracles before his glory ?'
In Kashi, he became the head of the monastery in lolarka kunda and was designated 'Gosain.' Around 1612, he started to suffer from acute arm pain, boils causing uprooting of his hair and also seems to have suffered from the epidemic in the local area. Having dedicated his life to Lord Rama, these were considered to mere trifles and Tulasi passed away on the third day of the dark fortnight in the month of Shravana in 1623.
Tulasidas was born in the year 1532 to a brahmin family in the town of Rajapur. He suffered separation from his parents at a very young age and was not taken care of by his relatives. He came into contact with some saints who advised him to surrender to Lord Rama. Thus, he got associated with a Hanuman temple and ate whatever was given to him. Not much is known about Tulasi's guru, but he met him in Sukarkheta. Since tulasidas was not mentally equipped at that time for complex philosophies, his guru advised him to take up the path of devotion to Rama. As time grew on, Tulasi's love for Rama grew deeper and deeper.
However, in his youth, he got married to a woman named Ratnavali. Once his wife went to stay with her parents for a while. Tulasi, not being able to bear the separation, went to meet her. Ratnavali is said to admonished Tulasi by saying 'I am just a bag of flesh and bones. Why are you so attracted to it ? Why don't you love Lord Rama with the same fervor?' This type of retort is not typical of Indian wives (at least during that time). One wonders whether Ratnavali was itself spiritually inclined or whether God determined it was the appropriate time for Tulasi to leave the family life. Anyway, Tulasi contemplated on this remark and left all connections with the family life.
After bidding goodbye to family life, he lived in Chitrakuta for some time before 1564. He used to go around houses for alms. One day, he came to the house where his wife and father-in-law lived, but he did not recognize them. Though the wife recognized him, she just gave him alms and food. When she insisted that he partake spices like pepper, salt etc, he replied that he had his own supply of spices in his possession. Early next morning, when Tulasidas was preparing to leave the house, his wife requested him to take her with him. But, he refused saying that he has renounced family life. Ratnavali was angered and remarked, 'You have spices in your possession, but not wife. What kind of renunciate are you ?.' Tulasidas recognized the folliness of being attached to food, and thanked his wife for the lesson and threw away all his remaining possessions. He, then, migrated to Kashi. Scholars have rightly pointed out that Rama charita manasa would never have been written if not for Ratnavali's remarks. Though he made several pilgrimages throughout the country, his permanent residence was in Kashi. He commenced writing rama charita manasa in Ayodhya but came back to Kashi.
Nabhaji, the author of Bhaktamala (1600), writes that Tulasidas was an incarnation of Valmiki itself born again to explain Ramayana in the vernacular langauge. This raise in his fame naturally created many enemies, who attacked his caste, his asceticism etc, but Tulasi does not seem to have been bothered by this.
Tulasi was a personification of humility. He declares in the Manasa that he is no poet and he is imperfect and only sings the excellence of Rama according to his poor wit and understanding. This is the case in his other works Gitavali (1571), Kavitavali (1612), Barvairamayana (1612) and one of the best works, Vinaya Patrika (request to Rama). Tulasi, should not, however, be considered partial to Rama in exclusion to others. He appreciated the diverse tenets of Saiva, advaita and samkhya philosophies. He authored 22 different works. He never became attracted to miracles or money. Once the powerful king Jahangir offered him money in return for the performance of some miracles. Tulasi retorted 'Who needs money when one has the love of (and for) Rama ? What use is miracles before his glory ?'
In Kashi, he became the head of the monastery in lolarka kunda and was designated 'Gosain.' Around 1612, he started to suffer from acute arm pain, boils causing uprooting of his hair and also seems to have suffered from the epidemic in the local area. Having dedicated his life to Lord Rama, these were considered to mere trifles and Tulasi passed away on the third day of the dark fortnight in the month of Shravana in 1623.
Govinda Bhakti Songs!
Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda. Oh fool! Rules of Grammar will not save you at the time of your death.
Uncertain is the life of man as rain drops on a lotus leaf. Know that the whole world remains a prey to disease, ego and grief.
So long as a man is fit and able to support his family, see the affection all those around him show. But no one at home cares to even have a word with him when his body totters due to old age.
When one is alive, his family members enquire kindly about his welfare. But when the soul departs from the body, even his wife runs away in fear of the corpse.
Who is your wife? Who is your son? Strange is this samsara. Of whom are you? Where have you come from? Brother, ponder over these truths.
Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these are destroyed within a minute. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of Maya and attain the timeless Truth.
Oh mad man! Why this engrossment in thoughts of wealth? Is there no one to guide you? There is only one thing in three worlds that can save you from the ocean from samsara. Get into that boat of satsangha quickly.
here are many who go with matted locks, many who have clean shaven heads, many whose hairs have been plucked out; some are clothed in saffron, yet others in various colors --- all just for a livelihood. Seeing truth revealed before them, still the foolish ones see it not.
Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Other than chanting the Lord's names, there is no other way to cross the life's ocean.
~Shankaracharya
Uncertain is the life of man as rain drops on a lotus leaf. Know that the whole world remains a prey to disease, ego and grief.
So long as a man is fit and able to support his family, see the affection all those around him show. But no one at home cares to even have a word with him when his body totters due to old age.
When one is alive, his family members enquire kindly about his welfare. But when the soul departs from the body, even his wife runs away in fear of the corpse.
Who is your wife? Who is your son? Strange is this samsara. Of whom are you? Where have you come from? Brother, ponder over these truths.
Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these are destroyed within a minute. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of Maya and attain the timeless Truth.
Oh mad man! Why this engrossment in thoughts of wealth? Is there no one to guide you? There is only one thing in three worlds that can save you from the ocean from samsara. Get into that boat of satsangha quickly.
here are many who go with matted locks, many who have clean shaven heads, many whose hairs have been plucked out; some are clothed in saffron, yet others in various colors --- all just for a livelihood. Seeing truth revealed before them, still the foolish ones see it not.
Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Other than chanting the Lord's names, there is no other way to cross the life's ocean.
~Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya Poems (Body)
Thy body may be beautiful and glow with flawless health,
Thy fame colossal and thou mayest have won to fabulous wealth,
But if to the Guru's feet thy heart untethered still remain.
Then all thou hast achieved on earth is vain, is vain, is vain.
Thou mayest be deep-versed in all that scripture have to tell
A beacon of light, a master of prose and verse delectable,
But if to the Guru's feet thy heart untethered still remain.
Then all thou hast achieved on earth is vain, is vain, is vain.
Thy fame colossal and thou mayest have won to fabulous wealth,
But if to the Guru's feet thy heart untethered still remain.
Then all thou hast achieved on earth is vain, is vain, is vain.
Thou mayest be deep-versed in all that scripture have to tell
A beacon of light, a master of prose and verse delectable,
But if to the Guru's feet thy heart untethered still remain.
Then all thou hast achieved on earth is vain, is vain, is vain.
Shankracharya Poems
Mind, nor intellect, nor ego, feeling;
Sky nor earth nor metals am I.
I am He, I am He, Blessed spirit, I am He!
~ Shankracharya
Sky nor earth nor metals am I.
I am He, I am He, Blessed spirit, I am He!
~ Shankracharya
Biography of Shankracharya
Shankracharya was one of India’s foremost philosophers, his exact birth date is uncertain but was thought to have lived during the 8th Century AD.
Shankara interpreted Vedanta philosophy in a strictly Advaita (non dual, monistic) spirit. In essence this philosophy involves attaining the Supreme Transcendental Consciousness (Brahman) by detaching oneself from the material plane (also know as Maya or illusion.)
Despite teaching about the essential unreality of the world Shankara lived a life of great energy and action. In his short life span of 32 years he travelled to every corner of India spreading his advaita philosophy. Shankaracharya left a profound legacy on the spirituality of India. By the end of his life the Vedas were looked upon in a new light helping to unify the spiritual beliefs of India. He also reorganised the ancient monastic Swami order, which still continues to this day.
Shankaracharya engaged in many epic discussions with renowned scholars about the Veda's. Shankaracharya would invariably win these debates. It is said that many of his adversaries later became his followers because they were so impressed with his wisdom. Shankaracharya also had many disciples and he selected the best of these to be bestowed with the title "Acharya" These disciples were sent to different parts of India to propagate the teachings of Advaita and Shankaracharya.
After only a life of 32 years Shankaracharya embarked on his last journey to the Himalaya's. His last resting place was Kedarnath where Shankaracharya is said to have merged into Mahasamadhi. Many consider Shankaracharya to be a reincarnation of Lord Shiva.
Shankara interpreted Vedanta philosophy in a strictly Advaita (non dual, monistic) spirit. In essence this philosophy involves attaining the Supreme Transcendental Consciousness (Brahman) by detaching oneself from the material plane (also know as Maya or illusion.)
Despite teaching about the essential unreality of the world Shankara lived a life of great energy and action. In his short life span of 32 years he travelled to every corner of India spreading his advaita philosophy. Shankaracharya left a profound legacy on the spirituality of India. By the end of his life the Vedas were looked upon in a new light helping to unify the spiritual beliefs of India. He also reorganised the ancient monastic Swami order, which still continues to this day.
Shankaracharya engaged in many epic discussions with renowned scholars about the Veda's. Shankaracharya would invariably win these debates. It is said that many of his adversaries later became his followers because they were so impressed with his wisdom. Shankaracharya also had many disciples and he selected the best of these to be bestowed with the title "Acharya" These disciples were sent to different parts of India to propagate the teachings of Advaita and Shankaracharya.
After only a life of 32 years Shankaracharya embarked on his last journey to the Himalaya's. His last resting place was Kedarnath where Shankaracharya is said to have merged into Mahasamadhi. Many consider Shankaracharya to be a reincarnation of Lord Shiva.
Ramprasad Songs !
Taking the name of Kali,
Dive deep, O mind,
Into the heart’s fathomless depths,
Where many a gem lies hid…
Dive deep and make your way
To Mother Kali’s realm.
Dive deep, O mind,
Into the heart’s fathomless depths,
Where many a gem lies hid…
Dive deep and make your way
To Mother Kali’s realm.
Ramprasad
Ramprasad is one of the most inspired poets in Bengali literature. Born at Kumarhati in West Bengal in 1718, he was well educated in medicine and languages. However, he had no interest in material life. It is said that, after marriage, he obtained a job as a book-keeper for an accountant. However, he wrote Divine Mother's name all over the ledgers. The employer saw this and recognized a saint in making. He sent him home with a promise to support him and his family.
Ramprasad used to wade into the river Ganges up to his neck and sing the songs in honor of the Divine Mother. Boats cruising the Ganges would stop to listen to his songs, people dying on the banks of the river would ask Ramprasad to sing to them. Ramprasad became a favorite of the local king but he was never attached to riches till he passed away in 1775.
Ramprasad's songs are still sung to his day by everyone, even school children. His songs became very famous in the west because Sri Ramakrishna used to quote from it.
Ramprasad used to wade into the river Ganges up to his neck and sing the songs in honor of the Divine Mother. Boats cruising the Ganges would stop to listen to his songs, people dying on the banks of the river would ask Ramprasad to sing to them. Ramprasad became a favorite of the local king but he was never attached to riches till he passed away in 1775.
Ramprasad's songs are still sung to his day by everyone, even school children. His songs became very famous in the west because Sri Ramakrishna used to quote from it.
kalidasa Songs Autumn
THE autumn comes, a maiden fair
In slenderness and grace,
With nodding rice-stems in her hair
And lilies in her face.
In flowers of grasses she is clad;
And as she moves along,
Birds greet her with their cooing glad
Like bracelets' tinkling song.
A diadem adorns the night
Of multitudinous stars;
Her silken robe is white moonlight,
Set free from cloudy bars;
And on her face (the radiant moon)
Bewitching smiles are shown:
She seems a slender maid, who soon
Will be a woman grown.
Over the rice-fields, laden plants
Are shivering to the breeze;
While in his brisk caresses dance
The blossomed-burdened trees;
He ruffles every lily-pond
Where blossoms kiss and part,
And stirs with lover's fancies fond
The young man's eager heart.
This English translation of "Autumn" was composed by Arthur W. Ryder (1877-1938)
In slenderness and grace,
With nodding rice-stems in her hair
And lilies in her face.
In flowers of grasses she is clad;
And as she moves along,
Birds greet her with their cooing glad
Like bracelets' tinkling song.
A diadem adorns the night
Of multitudinous stars;
Her silken robe is white moonlight,
Set free from cloudy bars;
And on her face (the radiant moon)
Bewitching smiles are shown:
She seems a slender maid, who soon
Will be a woman grown.
Over the rice-fields, laden plants
Are shivering to the breeze;
While in his brisk caresses dance
The blossomed-burdened trees;
He ruffles every lily-pond
Where blossoms kiss and part,
And stirs with lover's fancies fond
The young man's eager heart.
This English translation of "Autumn" was composed by Arthur W. Ryder (1877-1938)
kalidasa Songs
Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement
Are but experiences of time.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement
Are but experiences of time.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!
Kalidasa
An Indian poet and dramatist, Kalidasa lived sometime between the reign of Agnimitra, the second Shunga king (c. 170 BC) who was the hero of one of his dramas, and the Aihole inscription of AD 634 which praises Kalidasa's poetic skills. Most scholars now associate him with the reign of Candra Gupta II (reigned c. 380-c. 415).
Little is known about Kalidasa's life. According to legend, the poet was known for his beauty which brought him to the attention of a princess who married him. However, as legend has it, Kalidasa had grown up without much education, and the princess was ashamed of his ignorance and coarseness. A devoted worshipper of the goddess Kali (his name means literally Kali's slave), Kalidasa is said to have called upon his goddess for help and was rewarded with a sudden and extraordinary gift of wit. He is then said to have become the most brilliant of the "nine gems" at the court of the fabulous king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Legend also has it that he was murdered by a courtesan in Sri Lanka during the reign of Kumaradasa.
Kalidasa's second play, generally considered his masterpiece, is the Shakuntala which tells the story of another king, Dushyanta, who falls in love with another girl of lowly birth, the lovely Shakuntala. This time, the couple is happily married and things seem to be going smoothly until Fate intervenes. When the king is called back to court by some pressing business, his new bride unintentionally offends a saint who puts a curse on her, erasing the young girl entirely from the king's memory. Softening, however, the saint concedes that the king's memory will return when Shakuntala returns to him the ring he gave her. This seems easy enough--that is, until the girl loses the ring while bathing. And to make matters worse, she soon discovers that she is pregnant with the king's child. But true love is destined to win the day, and when a fisherman finds the ring, the king's memory returns and all is well. Shakuntala is remarkable not only for it's beautiful love poetry, but also for its abundant humor which marks the play from beginning to end.
The last of Kalidasa's surviving plays, Vikramorvashe or Urvashi Conquered by Valor, is more mystical than the earlier plays. This time, the king (Pururavas) falls in love with a celestial nymph named Urvashi. After writing her mortal suitor a love letter on a birch leaf, Urvashi returns to the heavens to perform in a celestial play. However, she is so smitten that she misses her cue and pronounces her lover's name during the performance. As a punishment for ruining the play, Urvashi is banished from heaven, but cursed to return the moment her human lover lays eyes on the child that she will bear him. After a series of mishaps, including Urvashi's temporary transformation into a vine, the curse is eventually lifted, and the lovers are allowed to remain together on Earth. Vikramorvashe is filled poetic beauty and a fanciful humor that is reminiscent of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In addition to his plays, Kalidasa wrote two surviving epic poems Raghuvamsha ("Dynasty of Raghu") and Kumarasambhava ("Birth of the War God"), as well as the lyric "Meghaduta" ("Cloud Messenger"). He is generally considered to be the greatest Indian writer of any epoch.
Little is known about Kalidasa's life. According to legend, the poet was known for his beauty which brought him to the attention of a princess who married him. However, as legend has it, Kalidasa had grown up without much education, and the princess was ashamed of his ignorance and coarseness. A devoted worshipper of the goddess Kali (his name means literally Kali's slave), Kalidasa is said to have called upon his goddess for help and was rewarded with a sudden and extraordinary gift of wit. He is then said to have become the most brilliant of the "nine gems" at the court of the fabulous king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Legend also has it that he was murdered by a courtesan in Sri Lanka during the reign of Kumaradasa.
Kalidasa's second play, generally considered his masterpiece, is the Shakuntala which tells the story of another king, Dushyanta, who falls in love with another girl of lowly birth, the lovely Shakuntala. This time, the couple is happily married and things seem to be going smoothly until Fate intervenes. When the king is called back to court by some pressing business, his new bride unintentionally offends a saint who puts a curse on her, erasing the young girl entirely from the king's memory. Softening, however, the saint concedes that the king's memory will return when Shakuntala returns to him the ring he gave her. This seems easy enough--that is, until the girl loses the ring while bathing. And to make matters worse, she soon discovers that she is pregnant with the king's child. But true love is destined to win the day, and when a fisherman finds the ring, the king's memory returns and all is well. Shakuntala is remarkable not only for it's beautiful love poetry, but also for its abundant humor which marks the play from beginning to end.
The last of Kalidasa's surviving plays, Vikramorvashe or Urvashi Conquered by Valor, is more mystical than the earlier plays. This time, the king (Pururavas) falls in love with a celestial nymph named Urvashi. After writing her mortal suitor a love letter on a birch leaf, Urvashi returns to the heavens to perform in a celestial play. However, she is so smitten that she misses her cue and pronounces her lover's name during the performance. As a punishment for ruining the play, Urvashi is banished from heaven, but cursed to return the moment her human lover lays eyes on the child that she will bear him. After a series of mishaps, including Urvashi's temporary transformation into a vine, the curse is eventually lifted, and the lovers are allowed to remain together on Earth. Vikramorvashe is filled poetic beauty and a fanciful humor that is reminiscent of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In addition to his plays, Kalidasa wrote two surviving epic poems Raghuvamsha ("Dynasty of Raghu") and Kumarasambhava ("Birth of the War God"), as well as the lyric "Meghaduta" ("Cloud Messenger"). He is generally considered to be the greatest Indian writer of any epoch.
Songs of Sri Chaitanya (My soul)
"In the kadamba grove what man is (that) standing?
What sort of word coming is this:
the plough of whose meaning has penetrated startlingly the path of hearing?
With a hint of union, with its manner of penetrating
making one well-nigh mad:
My mind is agitated,
it cannot be still,
streams flow from my eyes:
I know not what manner of man
it is who utters such words:
I see him not, my heart is perturbed,
I cannot stay in the house:
My soul rests not,
it flutters to and fro in hope of seeing him:
When she sees him,
she will find her soul, quoth Urdbab Dâs."
What sort of word coming is this:
the plough of whose meaning has penetrated startlingly the path of hearing?
With a hint of union, with its manner of penetrating
making one well-nigh mad:
My mind is agitated,
it cannot be still,
streams flow from my eyes:
I know not what manner of man
it is who utters such words:
I see him not, my heart is perturbed,
I cannot stay in the house:
My soul rests not,
it flutters to and fro in hope of seeing him:
When she sees him,
she will find her soul, quoth Urdbab Dâs."
Sri Chaitanya Bhakti Songs (Chanting his Name) !
Chant the Name of the Lord and his glory unceasingly,
That the mirror of the heart may be wiped clean
And quenched that mighty forest fire,
Worldly lust, raging furiously within.
O Name, stream down in moonlight on the lotus heart,
Opening its cup to knowledge of thyself.
O self, drown deep in the waves of his bliss,
Chanting his Name continually,
Tasting his nectar at every step,
Bathing in his Name, that bath for weary souls.
In each and every Name thy power resides.
No times are set, no rites are needful,
For chanting of thy Name,
So vast is thy mercy.
~Sri Chaitanya
That the mirror of the heart may be wiped clean
And quenched that mighty forest fire,
Worldly lust, raging furiously within.
O Name, stream down in moonlight on the lotus heart,
Opening its cup to knowledge of thyself.
O self, drown deep in the waves of his bliss,
Chanting his Name continually,
Tasting his nectar at every step,
Bathing in his Name, that bath for weary souls.
In each and every Name thy power resides.
No times are set, no rites are needful,
For chanting of thy Name,
So vast is thy mercy.
~Sri Chaitanya
Sri Chaitanya
Sri Chaitanya was born in Bengal about 1486. He was a great scholar and pundit however in his early twenties he became absorbed with devotion for Lord Krishna. He forsook his worldly career and spent his time as an ascetic, a wandering monk. He spent his time in Kirtan (devotional singing) and meditation.
Sri Chaitanya spent many years travelling through India attracting many followers and disciples. He spent the last 24 years of his life in Jagannath, Puri where he enjoyed the patronage of Maharaja Prataparudra the King of Orissa,
Sri Chaitanya left a profound legacy on the spiritual and cultural outlook of India, especially Bengal. He did not adhere to the rigid caste system and accepted Muslim disciples as well as Hindu disciples.
Sri Chaitanya gave a resurgence to the Vaishnava tradition of bhakti yoga "devotional yoga". This tradition was followed by saints such as Mirabai and Sri Ramakrishna in the 19th Century. In the 20th Century A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, popularised this form of Hinduism in the West.
"Chaitanya" means consciousness
Sri Chaitanya spent many years travelling through India attracting many followers and disciples. He spent the last 24 years of his life in Jagannath, Puri where he enjoyed the patronage of Maharaja Prataparudra the King of Orissa,
Sri Chaitanya left a profound legacy on the spiritual and cultural outlook of India, especially Bengal. He did not adhere to the rigid caste system and accepted Muslim disciples as well as Hindu disciples.
Sri Chaitanya gave a resurgence to the Vaishnava tradition of bhakti yoga "devotional yoga". This tradition was followed by saints such as Mirabai and Sri Ramakrishna in the 19th Century. In the 20th Century A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, popularised this form of Hinduism in the West.
"Chaitanya" means consciousness
20071107
Prema Bhakti !
...Love for Krishna which is extremely concentrated, which completely melts the heart, and which gives rise to a deep sense of mamata or possessiveness in relation to the Lord (this is the general definition of prema given in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.4.1).
....When rati becomes firmly rooted and unchecked by any obstacle it is known as prema. When some cause arises that could conceivably ruin the relationship between the lover and beloved and yet their bond remains completely unaffected, such an intimate loving relationship is known as prema. When prema is augmented, it is gradually transformed into sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga, and bhava. (Ujjvala-nilamani, 14. 59, 63)...
....When rati becomes firmly rooted and unchecked by any obstacle it is known as prema. When some cause arises that could conceivably ruin the relationship between the lover and beloved and yet their bond remains completely unaffected, such an intimate loving relationship is known as prema. When prema is augmented, it is gradually transformed into sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga, and bhava. (Ujjvala-nilamani, 14. 59, 63)...
20071103
Sayings of Mahatma Gandhi about Prayer.
'GOD is not a person...God is the force. He is the essence of life. He is pure and undefiled consciousness. He is eternal. And yet, strangely enough,
all are not able to derive either benefit from or shelter in the all-pervading living presence.'
'PRAYER is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.'
'FAITH becomes lame, when it venture in to matters pertaining to reason.'
'PRAYER is the only means of bringing about orderliness, peace and repose in our daily acts.'
'I Hope there is no pride in me. I feel I recognize fully my weakness. But my FAITH in God and His strength and love is unshakable. I am like clay in the Potter's hands. I shall continue to confess blunders each time the people commit them. The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of a minority of one, I humbly believe I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority. I believe in the supreme power of God. I believe in Truth and, therefore, I have no doubt in the future of this country or the future of humanity.'
~Mahatma Gandhi
all are not able to derive either benefit from or shelter in the all-pervading living presence.'
'PRAYER is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.'
'FAITH becomes lame, when it venture in to matters pertaining to reason.'
'PRAYER is the only means of bringing about orderliness, peace and repose in our daily acts.'
'I Hope there is no pride in me. I feel I recognize fully my weakness. But my FAITH in God and His strength and love is unshakable. I am like clay in the Potter's hands. I shall continue to confess blunders each time the people commit them. The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me. And even though I have to face the prospect of a minority of one, I humbly believe I have the courage to be in such a hopeless minority. I believe in the supreme power of God. I believe in Truth and, therefore, I have no doubt in the future of this country or the future of humanity.'
~Mahatma Gandhi
20071102
Sri Chaitanya Bhakti songs
Chant the Name of the Lord and his glory unceasingly,
That the mirror of the heart may be wiped clean
And quenched that mighty forest fire,
Worldly lust, raging furiously within.
O Name, stream down in moonlight on the lotus heart,
Opening its cup to knowledge of thyself.
O self, drown deep in the waves of his bliss,
Chanting his Name continually,
Tasting his nectar at every step,
Bathing in his Name, that bath for weary souls.
In each and every Name thy power resides.
No times are set, no rites are needful,
For chanting of thy Name,
So vast is thy mercy.
~Sri Chaitanya
20071030
What is Bhakti? -Bhagavan Shankara
There is a little difference in opinion between the teachers of knowledge and those of love, though both admit the power of Bhakti. The Jnanis hold Bhakti to be an instrument of liberation; the Bhaktas (devotees) look upon it both as the instrument and the thing to be attained.
To my mind this is a distinction without much difference. 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 realization 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.
Bearing this in mind, let us try to understand what the great Vedantic commentators have to say on the subject.,Bhagavan Shankara says, “Thus people say, ‘He is devoted to the king, he is devoted to the Guru’; they say this of him who follows his Guru, and does so, having that following as the one end in view. Similarly they say, ‘The loving wife meditates on her loving husband’; here also a kind of eager and, continuous remembrance is meant.” This is devotion according to Shankara
To my mind this is a distinction without much difference. 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 realization 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.
Bearing this in mind, let us try to understand what the great Vedantic commentators have to say on the subject.,Bhagavan Shankara says, “Thus people say, ‘He is devoted to the king, he is devoted to the Guru’; they say this of him who follows his Guru, and does so, having that following as the one end in view. Similarly they say, ‘The loving wife meditates on her loving husband’; here also a kind of eager and, continuous remembrance is meant.” This is devotion according to Shankara
Balance between yoga’s!
We know that that character is of the noblest type in which all these three—
Knowledge and love and Yoga—are harmoniously fused. Three things are necessary for a bird to fly—the two wings and the tail as a rudder for steering. Jnana (knowledge) is the one wing, Bhakti (love) is to the other, and Yoga is the tail that keeps up the balance.
For those who cannot pursue all these three forms of worship together in harmony, and take up, therefore, Bhakti alone as their way, it is necessary always to remember that forms and ceremonials, though absolutely necessary for the progressive soul, have no other value than taking us on to that state in which we feel the most intense love to God.
Knowledge and love and Yoga—are harmoniously fused. Three things are necessary for a bird to fly—the two wings and the tail as a rudder for steering. Jnana (knowledge) is the one wing, Bhakti (love) is to the other, and Yoga is the tail that keeps up the balance.
For those who cannot pursue all these three forms of worship together in harmony, and take up, therefore, Bhakti alone as their way, it is necessary always to remember that forms and ceremonials, though absolutely necessary for the progressive soul, have no other value than taking us on to that state in which we feel the most intense love to God.
Great advantage of Bhakti Yoga!
The one great advantage of Bhakti is that it is the easiest, and the most natural way to reach the great divine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its lower forms it often times degenerates into hideous fanaticism. The fanatical crew in Hinduism, or Mohammedanism, or Christianity, has always been almost exclusively recruited from these worshippers on the lower planes of Bhakti.
That Singleness of attachment (Nishtha) to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else. All the weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or country have only one way of loving their own ideal, i.e. by hating every other ideal.
Herein is the explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal. This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct of guarding the master’s property from intrusion; only, the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an enemy in whatever dress he may come before it.
Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgment. Personal considerations are in his case of such absorbing interest that to him it is no right or wrong; but the one thing he is always particularly careful to know is, who says it. The same man who is kind, good, honest, and loving to people of his own opinion, will not hesitate to do the vilest deeds, when they are directed against persons beyond the pale of his own religious brotherhood.
That Singleness of attachment (Nishtha) to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else. All the weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or country have only one way of loving their own ideal, i.e. by hating every other ideal.
Herein is the explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal. This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct of guarding the master’s property from intrusion; only, the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an enemy in whatever dress he may come before it.
Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgment. Personal considerations are in his case of such absorbing interest that to him it is no right or wrong; but the one thing he is always particularly careful to know is, who says it. The same man who is kind, good, honest, and loving to people of his own opinion, will not hesitate to do the vilest deeds, when they are directed against persons beyond the pale of his own religious brotherhood.
Difference between Knowledge (Jnana) and Love (Bhakti)!
Bhakti has been the one constant theme of most of the sages.
Apart from the special writers on Bhakti, such as Shandilya
Or Narada, the great commentators on the Vyasa-Sutras, evidently advocates of Knowledge (Jnana), have also something very suggestive to say about Love.
Even when the commentator is anxious to explain many, if not all, of the texts so as to make them import a sort of dry knowledge, the Sutras, in the chapter on worship especially, do not lend themselves to be easily manipulated in that fashion.
There is not really so much difference between Knowledge (Jnana) and Love (Bhakti) as people sometimes imagine. So also is it with Raja-Yoga, which, when pursued as a means to attain liberation, and not (as unfortunately it frequently becomes in the hands of charlatans and mystery-mongers) as an instrument to hoodwink the unwary, leads us also to the same goal.
Apart from the special writers on Bhakti, such as Shandilya
Or Narada, the great commentators on the Vyasa-Sutras, evidently advocates of Knowledge (Jnana), have also something very suggestive to say about Love.
Even when the commentator is anxious to explain many, if not all, of the texts so as to make them import a sort of dry knowledge, the Sutras, in the chapter on worship especially, do not lend themselves to be easily manipulated in that fashion.
There is not really so much difference between Knowledge (Jnana) and Love (Bhakti) as people sometimes imagine. So also is it with Raja-Yoga, which, when pursued as a means to attain liberation, and not (as unfortunately it frequently becomes in the hands of charlatans and mystery-mongers) as an instrument to hoodwink the unwary, leads us also to the same goal.
20071029
Prayer
BHAKTI-YOGA is a real, genuine search after the Lord, a search beginning, continuing, and ending in Love. One single moment of the madness of extreme love to God brings us eternal freedom. “Bhakti,” says Narada in his explanation of the Bhakti “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.”
“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.”
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