STREAMS OF BHAKTHI OR DEVOTION

STREAMS OF BHAKTHI OR DEVOTION

There is no hard and fast rule that devotion to God should be expressed in a particular way! There are various methods and types of bhakthi which are followed by different devotees according to their emotions or feelings for the Supreme Being. Adi Sankara says that the best way of worshipping God is through one’s own heart! He offers in his ‘Siva Manasa puja

stotram’ all the sixteen upacharas-- ‘Shodasopacharas’ through his heart or manas! He tells Lord Siva that every action of his -thought, word, deed, sleep, and movement is the worship that he offers to the Lord! “Yadyat karma karomi tat dakhilam Sambho tava radhanam” For ordinary mortals like us it is impossible to get such realization! Everyone is familiar with the nine paths of bhakthi like Sravanam,Keerthanam, Smaranam, Padasevanam, Vandanam, Archanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, and Atmanivedanam. The stream of devotion or bhakti flows towards God in several  branches of which six kinds are considered very important!

Santa bhakti is the first and is noted for the equanimity developed by the devotee! To him whatever happens is the gift and grace of the Supreme Being! He is unruffled by the  vicissitudes in life.This devotion is characterized by a serenity, sweetness and calm mind! Bhishmapitamaha, in the Mahabharata, is a brilliant example of Santa bhakti as he rested calmly with devotion on the bed of arrows for 56 days! In the second, Sakhya bhakti the devotee becomes the bosom companion of the Lord! To him God is the friend, philosopher and guide! He is familiar with God and is on talking terms! He realizes the constant presence of God before him! Arjuna-Krishna relationship is an example of Sakhya bhakti. Krishna was Arjuna’s brother-in-law and the Bhagavad-Gita discourse was given to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra!  Arjuna raises innumerable doubts and Krishna patiently answers all of them! As a friend Krishna saved him on many occasions! But this devotion as a friend may prevent the bhakta from realizing God as he is too familiar with the Divine!

The third stream of bhakthi is Dasya bhakthi bringing in the master servant relationship between God and his devotee! There is implicit obedience on the part of bhakta! He considers himself as an instrument in the hands of God and revels at the rare opportunity granted to him. He does not question or hesitate to carry out the orders of his master! Service without self is the motto of the bhakta! Hanuman is the classical illustration of this Dasya bhakthi in the Ramayana. In spite of being a scholar, poet, and “Nava vyakarana panditha” and almost invincible, Hanuman was the humble servant of Sri Rama and was at his beck and call! He is aptly called “ Rama pada Seva durandhara ”When Rama asked Hanuman how he loved him, Hanuman replied, “Spiritually, you are I and I am You. I am experiencing you in these ways. As long as I have body consciousness, you are the Lord and I am your servant.(SSS 26.1.82)

In the next, Vatsalya bhakthi, the devotee transforms himself into a mother doting on her child, God! All the sterling qualities the mother- tenderness, anxiety, compassion and caution  for the child are personified in the devotee for his God! Vatsalya bhava is so overpowering that the bhakta fails to recognize the divinity in the child and his 'leelas’! Yashoda is the embodiment of Vatsalya bhakthi! She never considered her Krishna as God! He was her son, son only! Not more! She never believed in the tales carried by the Gopikas about Krishna’s mischief. When Putana and other demons were destroyed by child Krishna, she carried out ritual to remove the evil eye! Even when Krishna showed her the fourteen worlds in his small mouth, she thought it was her own imagination! Krishna was just her dear child! She told Uddhava, “.I do not know the Krishna who lives in Mathura or in the hearts of Gopikas. I am asking you about my child ‘Gopala’.

The fifth stream of devotion is Anuraga bhakthi! Anuraga means extreme love. The bhakta is never detached from God and lives always in His thoughts. He eats with God, sleeps with God and lives in God! There is not a single moment when the bhakta does not think of God! There is a never ending yearning for God in the bhaktha! This perennial longing for the Divine turns into bhakthi for intense undiluted love is nothing else but bhakthi! The Gopikas illustrate this Anuraga bhakthi! They never worried themselves about the trials and impediments from their husbands and mothers in law! Krishna had totally filled their hearts! The best among the six streams is Madhura bhakti the crown of all devotion! It is the final stage like the ghee or clarified butter after curdling and churning! It is the end of the journey for the bhaktha when he stops and there is no need to go further! He merges into  the Supreme being! That is the fulfilment of his janma or birth! Radha’s is the essence of Madhura bhakthi. Radha and Madhava were inseparable! The union of Radha and Krishna is spoken of as the merger of Prakriti and Paramatma or that of Jivatma and Paramatma! Radha could achieve this final consummation,bliss and beatitude through her unblemished Love which Krishna recognized as Madhura bhakti!