Nature of Devotion

Embodiments of Love!

By devotion alone man is able to reach the supreme state. By devotion alone, man is able to cure the chronic disease of birth and death. By devotion alone can man try to understand divinity. By devotion alone man reaches the heights of spirituality. Bharatiyas from ancient times have adopted Devotion as the sacred path to attain the supreme goal and purpose of life.

Devotion has been interpreted in various ways. The word devotion (bhakti) is derived from the root Bhaj. Adi Sankara said that service is devotion. What type of service, and whom to serve?

There are various definitions for divinity. Service to divinity is devotion. Vivekachudamani interprets devotion in another way. It says that self-realization is devotion. Sage Narada describes the glory of devotion and refers to devotion as supreme love. He describes devotion as chanting the name of the Lord, filled with love, and directing the flow of love toward God with one-pointedness. Essentially devotion refers to love which makes one forget one's own body, removes the curtain of mind, thrills the heart with ecstasy and manifests and expresses one's innate divinity.

Ramanuja describes devotion as a single-minded flow of love, taking the name of Radha as the basis for describing true devotion. The word RADHA is a four-lettered word, consisting of R, A, Dh, A. This word Radha becomes adhar if you begin the word with A; it becomes dhara when the word starts with D; and it becomes aradh if it starts with the second A. That means the very support and sustenance (adhar) of Radha is a ceaseless flow (dhara) of worship (aradh). The basis for Radha's sustenance (adhar) is continuous and ceaseless (dhara) worship (aradh) of God.

Vallabhacharya interprets devotion by comparing it to continuous flow of water from a tap on a tank full of water. The water here refers to Love and the tank to the heart. Thus man chants the name of the Lord continuously when his heart is filled with Love for God. He describes devotion as chanting of Lord's name always, at all times and in all places.

Madhavacharya describes devotion as friendship with God. He calls God the only true friend. Worldly friends are friends one day and become enemies the next day; worldly friendships are not permanent. Devotion is making one's Love flow continuously toward God, considering Him as the supreme friend.

Vedas describe devotion as something transcendental. Veda uses two words very frequently, nitya (permanent) and swagata (all-pervasive). Nitya refers to that which does not change with time, past, present or future. That has been described as transcendental truth. That which is changeless is nitya. Swagata refers to the one which, being a single entity, spreads effulgence all around. Here is an example.

The sun is one. He is permanent and unchanging. Being one entity, he spreads light and radiance everywhere. The sun, which is permanent and unchanging in the course of time, refers to nitya. The sun as a single entity spreading radiance everywhere refers to swagata. Scriptures describe this aspect as swarupa (form) and swabhava (nature). The sun has two qualities. One is shedding light, the second is giving warmth. Likewise the Atma has two qualities. One is shining and the second is spreading the brilliance. Here is an example. There is a lamp in the room. It is in one place, but spreads light all over the room. There is only one `form', namely Atma. It is the eternal truth, and spreads light everywhere.

Scriptures say Brahma is Truth, Wisdom, Infinity. Nature of Atma is to spread the light of wisdom all around. Scriptures describe the form of Atma as atomic. There is no matter in the universe which is not made up of atoms. God, in the form of atoms, is thus all-pervasive. God, who is the smallest of the small, appears as the biggest of the big. The micro form is called dharmi. The micro form dharmi is present in all matter, but no matter is present in dharmi. Under no circumstance would dharmi allow any matter into it. dharmi is present in all forms of matter. This atomic form is called dharmi.

That which is spread in all forms of matter is called dharma. For this ephemeral and transient world, all forms of matter are needed. Forms appear different, but the divinity in all forms is one. It is this dharma which is the cause of unity. Dharma is the one undivided principle which resides in all the different forms.

This is a silver tumbler (glass). We can change its form into a cup, plate or a spoon. There is a wide scope to change its form. Though the forms may change, the silver remains the same. Dharma shows that the forms could be different. The unchanging substance in all forms is dharmi (silver). Veda teaches that dharma is the primal basis. This (moola dhara) primal basis is the very basis for all. Today we are forgetting such unity principle, dharmi, this principle of oneness i.e. dharmi is present in all; this is forgotten today. As the all pervasive divinity which is dharma is present in man and therefore he is called, the embodiment of dharma. (Dharma Swaroopa)

Why is man born? For what purpose is the body gifted to man? It is given for the purpose of practicing dharma. Today we have forgotten the purpose of our birth. We are not doing what we ought to. But, we are going in the wrong path because of wrong perception. Therefore we are not able to perceive our own form.

The festivals have originated in order to make us understand the nature of divinity. Today's festival is Vaikunta Ekadasi. What is meant by Vaikunta? People say the abode of the Lord is Vaikunta, Kailasa and heaven. All these are mere illusions. Where is the home of God? God resides in the heart of a devotee. If you want to send a letter to the Lord, send it directly to the head office address. God has declared that He is established wherever His glory is sung. i.e. His head office. All others are only branch offices.

If you address the Lord as the resident of Kailas the prayer may reach or may not. If on the other hand, the prayer is addressed to the Lord as the resident of the heart, the prayer would undoubtedly reach Him. Vaikunta really means the one who does not change. Heart is changeless - man may change, his mind may waver, but not the heart. That eternal attributeless place (heart) is God's residence namely Vaikunta.

What do you mean by Ekadasi? It is wrong to understand Ekadasi as referring to a sacred time or place. Ekadasi refers to eleven, which is made up of five cognitive senses, five connative senses and mind. Who are Rudras? It is the same eleven: senses and mind. Rudras reside in man. Everything is present in man. Man's body is the basis for everything. We have forgotten human life, which is so powerful. Man is not making use of such a sacred and powerful life. The heart, which is the residence of God, is forgotten today. Such a sweet and soft heart is becoming hard and cruel today.

Today everything is changing, but not man's mind. So many years have gone by. We have welcomed many new years. But what is the use of all this? What is the meaning of new year? God is known as Samvatsara (year). God is the form of time. He is present in every moment and throughout the year. Sixty seconds make a minute, 60 minutes make an hour, 24 hours make a day, 30 days make a month, 12 months make a year. Thus, in a year every second is new. When we are thus experiencing newness every moment, there is no need to wait for a new year. It is not a new year; it is old. You also are not new; you also are ancient. That is the reason why man is called manava, ma plus nava, meaning "not new." You are the ancient one and not new; the year is also old, not new. How many years have gone by, and how many years are yet to come? In a worldly sense, we take and give importance to new year and ekadasi, etc.

As long as we have such illusions, we cannot get Brahma (God). That day when we forget senses, mind and body, we can understand God. So long as you think that you are the body, the mind, the senses, you can never realize Brahma. You should think and meditate what you want to become. The intensity of your thought should transform you into that. You should think of God and become God. (Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati.) This is true sadhana.

Devotion does not mean doing bhajan, worshipping or going on pilgrimage. Try to understand your true nature. Direct the love in you toward God. Love is given to you only to love God. Your body is an instrument. That which is the instrument is not meant for its own sake. It should be offered for whom it is meant. We have to direct our pure, unwavering selfless love to God. This is the nature and form of devotion. The quality of dharmi should be understood clearly. Dharmi is in the form of atom. Dharmi has taken the form of body. Therefore body is the form of dharma. There are three faculties in the body; they are called instruments. They are mind, speech and hands. When these three instruments are purified, we will become sacred. Therefore, for every man, spirituality is essential, whether he is a theist, an atheist, theistic atheist or atheistic theist. He could be a bhogi (hedonist), ascetic, beggar or renunciate. Devotion is essential for all.

Without understanding the meaning, one may say that he does not need devotion. One is under illusion when one says that he does not need devotion. Spirituality is essential for all. It purifies one's heart. The second one is morality. Morality purifies speech. Morality is essential for purifying speech. The third one is righteousness. Using hands for performing charity purifies them. Thus for purification of three instruments (mind, speech and hand) spirituality, morality and righteousness are essential. Then only the three instruments get purified. Only such a person can attain divinity. Any small impurity in these instruments will not allow man to attain divinity. If you want to empty a vessel of water, it is not necessary to have ten holes; one hole is sufficient to drain the vessel of water. If a student gets good marks in all subjects, except one in which he obtains less than the required mark, he would be failed. Similarly, any small blemish in any one of the three instruments would spread to all.

Man should have spirituality, morality and righteousness for purity of the three instruments. Otherwise there is no difference between man and animal; one would have two legs and the other four. To be called a man and sanctify one's life, one should have spirituality, morality and righteousness.

It is difficult to get human birth. What a sacred life is human life. Today human life is transformed into demonic life. The animal life (life of a monkey) seems to be better than man's life. Even a monkey makes fun of man; it says, "Being a monkey I could still think of Rama and participate in Rama's mission. Every hair on my body is filled with the name of Rama. I am better than you." Today's man, after having acquired knowledge, intelligence and name, what has he achieved? He has achieved nothing. Life is full of tension and restlessness. At least birds and beasts enjoy peace. But man is far away from peace. What is the reason? Excessive desires. We should have only one desire, desire for God. If we have desire for God, all other desires will be fulfilled. If we have gold, we can make any kind of jewelry. But today we are forgetting gold and desiring jewelry. In form they are jewelry, but their content is gold. Similarly, divinity is all-pervasive. Divinity is in the form of an atom. Sacred texts declare that God is the smallest of the small and bigger than the big. Therefore it is not possible for anyone to comprehend God. One should understand the nature of an atom. Scientists also declare that there is no matter without atom. Atoms are everywhere. So the whole cosmos is full of atoms. If you know atom, you will certainly know God.

In this context, gopikas sang, "Oh Krishna, can we understand you? You are smaller than the atom, and bigger than the biggest. You remain unseparated from the 84 lakh species of living beings. You are an integral part of the smallest atom to the biggest mountain.

He resides in all the 84 lakh species as dharmi. There is no place where God doesn't dwell. There is no room for denying the existence of God. Such denial is only a type of illusion, but not truth. There is God everywhere, and nothing else exists. Today man should undertake all good work with full faith and have good thoughts and dedicate his life for noble action. One should have sacred thoughts and utter sacred words which are full of truth. One's actions should be sacred. For the throat, the true jewelry is speaking truth; for the hands it is charity; for the ears it is sacred hearing.

Only when we sanctify our senses are we true human beings. We should not entertain narrow feelings. Man is ruining his life by narrow feelings. You should develop pure love. There is nothing greater than Love. Love is God; Live in Love. There is no God greater than love. But we are wasting such sacred Love, allowing it to flow in different directions.

Human body is like a mud pot. It is filled with divine nectar. Nature is like a gold vessel, but it is full of poison. Do you give importance to gold or poison? Deluded by the attraction of gold, you are drinking poison. Body may be a mud pot, but it is full of nectar. It is filled with awareness. On account of illusions, we perceive truth as untruth and untruth as truth. God does not dwell in a foreign land; He is essentially in your own body. Sin does not exist in a distant land, but it is associated with the actions performed. Merit and sin are inherent in our actions. Both God and devil are in our own body. If you think of God, devil takes to his heels. Therefore, think of God; feel that you are God. Have that faith about truth. Then only is your life sanctified.

Always your mind wavers. This is not a true human quality. It is monkey mind. It is mad monkey. Body is like a water bubble; mind is like a mad monkey. Do not follow the body or mind. Follow the conscience. Conscience is your heart. Purify your heart. How can you achieve transcendental state if you constantly dwell in worldly thoughts? There are two types of knowledge, knowledge of dharma and knowledge of dharmi. Dharma bhuta gnana refers to knowledge of form. Dharmi bhuta gnana refers to knowledge of name. There is no difference whatsoever between name and form. You have to recognize today this basic truth.

Today is new year, and also Mukkoti Ekadasi (an Indian festival). What is the significance of three crores (Mukkoti) referred to? Why not four crores (40,000,000)? Sacred scriptures have made some declaration. "Sahasra sirsha purusha" - God has 1000 heads, 1000 eyes, 1000 feet... At the time of the Veda, the population was in the thousands. Every man was considered as God. When Mukkoti Ekadasi festival was celebrated, originally there were three crores of people in India. Today there are 100 crores of people. The population is more, but the hymn is not changed. Every human being is God. The hymns were sung in those days with the sacred feeling. But today we are observing the festival blindly without understanding its significance. We have to understand one fact, and that is that every human being is essentially divine. The same heart (hrdayam) is present in every man. Hrdaya means heart filled with compassion. In English the word for humanity is mankind. What do you mean by "mankind?" It means one who is filled with kindness alone is man. But today there is no kindness in man. Therefore you cannot say mankind. This was how mankind was motivated to rise to higher levels.

Every word has two meanings, the outer and the inner. We should take the inner meaning and not the outer. For the microphone here, table is the basis. For the table, earth is the basis. Thus for everything, there is a basis and support. But today the basis is forgotten and the dependent object is given importance.

Embodiments of Love! Every time we find the new year coming in and the old year going by. But we are not developing sacred ideas. The old and rotten ideas are not given up. Let farewell be said to old and rotten ideas. We should welcome sacred, noble, lofty, divine and good ideas. We are not developing sacredness. What is the use of any number of new years emerging? Time waste is life waste. Time is God. Do no waste time! Never pollute sacred time by unsacred ideas. Do not indulge in idle gossip. Do not dirty your talk by using bad words. Do not make your ears unsacred by hearing bad words. Do not indulge in bad deeds. In this context it is said, See no evil; see what is good. Talk no evil; talk what is good. Hear no evil; hear what is good. Think no evil; think what is good. Do no evil; do what is good. This amounts to purification of our senses. But today, whatever education is acquired by man, he has not been able to free himself from these evil qualities. Give up all bad qualities. The moment we give up all bad qualities, good qualities will grow. Do not forget that we are human beings. We should not waste human life, which is sacred, valuable.

Develop human values such as truth, love, kindness, compassion, forbearance, etc. We should give up bad qualities emerging in us. Boys in this age would be getting bad thoughts. It leads to confusion. Narrow feelings also grow. At such times sit in one place and tell yourself, "I am not monkey; I am man." Repeat it ten times. Monkey thoughts will disappear automatically. If you spend ten minutes this way, all your monkey thoughts will disappear. Be ready for self-punishment. Punish yourself when necessary. There is no need for others to point out your mistake; do not give room for that. If you are corrected by others, you would be a slave and not a master. When you are angry or agitated, sit in one place and tell yourself, "I am a man, not a dog." Repeat this and your anger and agitation will disappear. This is a very easy path leading to lofty heights. No need to perform great sacrifice and penance. With these small steps we can reach lofty heights.

You must have seen a elephant. It is so mighty, but can be controlled with a small iron rod (ankush). Similarly, if you have God's Grace, there is no need for any other worldly might and strength. Develop divine strength.

With all the physical prowess and intellectual strength, what happened to Karna ultimately? He had matchless physical strength and worldly power. But without divine strength, he became a slave. God's strength alone is real strength. All other strengths are useless without God's strength. Ravana had ten heads, twenty hands and many other faculties and powers. But with all that, what happened to him finally? He developed the physical and worldly strength, but did not develop divine strength. And at the end he was destroyed. What tremendous strength Duryodhana and Durvasanaa had! But they did not develop divine strength. Pandavas were only five. But they were united and hence had extraordinary strength. Even if they were 100 without unity, they would be weak.

There are five fingers in the palm, each separate from the others. But when they come together, they can accomplish great tasks. As Pandavas were united, they were victorious. There was no unity among Kauravas, nor between Vali and Sugriva. We should develop unity.

All are children of God. Being children of God, we should not hate one another. It is a common experience that all those families who have unity have prospered. But where there is no unity, families are fragmented and destroyed. We have won independence, but not achieved unity. Unity is important. We should achieve unity. This can be achieved only with godly feeling. With divine feeling, unity can be easily achieved.

In this hall there are people drawn from various countries, castes and colors. All of them are united with the feeling of Swami. Divine feeling can be developed; unity can be easily achieved. Without divine feeling, each is unto himself and we are divided.

Embodiments of Love, you are all embodiments of Divinity, embodiments of Love, embodiments of Peace. But you have taken the human form. You are all divinity in human form. As the saying goes, God comes in human form. Saturate your lives with love of God. Do not direct His love to any other thing. All the love that emanates from you should be directed toward God. If you have such Divine Love, you can love all people. When you develop such love, you can understand the significance and true meaning of festivals. You have desire for money, for property and for family and children. You should have such desire only to some extent. But should you not have at least that much love toward God? How angry you would become when someone hates your father or your brother? So, when the God you adore is accused, how can you tolerate it? Are you demon or man? If you are a man, how could you bear such accusations? Direct all your love toward God, who is present in everyone. Ekatma bhavana, the feeling of the oneness of God, refers to the same God dwelling in all. Only this can bring about unity. With unity we can achieve divinity.

Today man is filled with selfishness. He concentrates on looking after his own. He is not bothered about others. He thinks always, "I and my people." What about society? Only when you are concerned about society's welfare will you and your people be happy. Are you not a part of society? Without society, you cannot live for a moment. So we should undertake service to society. Your welfare depends on society's welfare. Develop such Love and consider everyone as yours. Today we should expand our Love and extend it to all. You should consider the whole world as a single family. Narrowness of feeling isolates. Therefore broaden your feeling. We are all one, belonging to one family. All are children of God and therefore brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God. We should develop the feeling that we cannot live without God even for a moment.

[Swami concluded his discourse with the bhajan, `Prema mudhitha manasa kaho: Rama, Rama, Ram!']