Bhakti begets Auspiciousness

Bhakti Begets Auspiciousness

In the previous publication, we discussed how bhakti puts an end to misery. However, that is not all it can do. Bhakti also begets auspiciousness. There are four things which are considered auspicious.

शुभानिप्रीणनं सर्वजगतामनुरक्तता । सद्गुणाः सुख्मित्यादीन्याख्यातानि मनीषिभिः ।

भ.र.सि.

śubhāniprīṇanaṃ sarvajagatāmanuraktatā । sadguṇāḥ sukhmityādīnyākhyātāni manīṣibhiḥ ।

Bh.Ra.Si

“1. Satisfying everyone, 2. Attaining love from everyone 3. Becoming endowed with all divine virtues e.g. mercy, forbearance etc. virtues. 3. Attaining self-happiness. Bhakti grants all of them immensely”.

Satisfying everyone

What does “satisfying everyone” mean?

Shri Krishna is the cause of all causes. When He is satisfied with your devotion then, according to the divine law, it is understood that all living beings are also satisfied. This is exemplified in the story of Mahabharat where Shri Krishna ate a grain of rice from Draupadi’s pot and all rishis (sages) were satisfied! [1], On the contrary, worshiping every devi-devata (demi-gods) except Shri Krishna does not bear the same fruit as worshiping Shri Krishna.

Padma Puran asserts -

येनार्चितो हरिस्तेन तर्पितानि जगंत्यपि ।
रज्यंते जन्तवस्तत्र स्थावरा जंगमा आपि ।

yenārcito haristena tarpitāni jagaṃtyapi ।
rajyaṃte jantavastatra sthāvarā jaṃgamā āpi ।

“One who has accomplished devotion to Shri Krishna satisfies not only the demi-gods but He automatically pleases all living beings including immovable, movable beings”.

Attaining love from everyone

When one begins to practice devotion, everyone begins to like them. The ancestors in swarg of that jeev, dance in jubilation knowing that someone in my lineage is doing devotion to God. This is because God is an abode of all divine qualities including love. Being a part of God, jeev has a natural attraction for those qualities. Hence, everyone naturally loves God, even if they don’t know Him or acknowledge His existence [2]. When God becomes a prominent part of a devotee’s life, others are naturally attracted to the personality.

You might refute this statement saying so many saints have been called ill-names and even tortured. This statement is written in the Puranas and written by God-realized saints who could see the past-present and future. When they write such statements they are true, even though we might not agree; for our experience is contrary. In order to progress on the path of devotion, jeev needs to believe the words of Guru [3] and Scriptures then practice devotion under Guru’s divine guidance. When your spiritual power grows you will be able to see the truth of these statements for yourself.

Know that sometimes when some people are jealous (or perceive harm from Them) they might resist those saints. But those are exceptions and far and few in between.

Becoming endowed with all divine virtues

The Bhagwat depicts –

यस्यास्ति भक्तिर्भगवत्यकिञ्चना सर्वैर्गुणैस्तत्र समासते सुरा: ।
हरावभक्तस्य कुतो महद्गुणा मनोरथेनासति धावतो बहि: ॥ 5.18.12 ॥

yasyāsti bhaktirbhagavatyakiñcanā sarvairguṇaistatra samāsate surā: ।
harāvabhaktasya kuto mahadguṇā manorathenāsati dhāvato bahi: ॥ 5.18.12 ॥

“All the Gods and Goddesses dwell within the devotee whose devotion towards Shri Krishna is pure. However, those who do not worship Shri Krishna find their minds consumed by the trivial matters of the cosmos. How can one attain any great virtue in this manner?”

This topic has been visited in detail previously [4]. In brief, God is the abode of countless divine virtues in immeasurable quantity. As the mind gets cleansed, one experiences God’s presence more and more. Thus, God’s divine qualities automatically take root and start growing.

Attaining Self happiness

Now, let us look at the different kinds of happiness followed by some examples of a devotee’s happiness. There are mainly 3 Kinds of happiness.

सुख वैषयिकं ब्राह्ममैश्वरं चेति तत्त्रिधा ॥

तंत्र संहिता

sukha vaiṣayikaṃ brāhmamaiśvaraṃ ceti tattridhā ॥

Taṃtra Saṃhitā

1. Material happiness (सांसारिक सुख)
The first kind of happiness is bliss of sansar, which encompasses everything from the bhoo loka (earth) to the highest celestial abode called brahmlok. The luxury of these celestial abodes is the goal of those who follow the path of Karma.

Those who follow the path of Yog strive to attain physical siddhis, which they use to surprise the masses to gain popularity. Both of these together are termed as material bliss hence are transient.

Different types of material happiness, which is transient

2. Brahm (ब्राह्म)
The happiness of Nirakar Brahm (impersonal form of God) is Brahm sukh, which is attained by the Gyanis after attaining Mukti. Unlike aforementioned material bliss (swarg and siddhis), Brahm sukh is eternal. Yet, Brahm Sukh means experiencing the bliss of His existence.

In Nirakar Brahm, no other unfathomable divine virtues are manifested. Therefore, even though this state is also called as bliss, it is not the Supreme bliss.

Once, Jabali Muni was passing by a forest and He saw an extremely beautiful, radiant, and illustrious young lady sitting in samadhi. He was very curious to know who she was and what she was doing. So he stopped there and waited for 100 years for her to open her eyes. When she came out of her samadhi, Jabali Muni humbly asked her to introduce herself if she so chose. She replied -

Upon seeing beautiful Brahm Vidya in Samadhi in a forest, Jabali Muni was curious about what she was doing.

अथाब्रवीच्छनैर्बाला तपसातीव कर्शिता ब्रह्मविद्याहमतुला योगींद्रैर्या विमृग्यते ॥
साहं हरिपदाम्भोजकाम्यया सुचिरं तपः चराम्यस्मिन्वने घोरे ध्यायंती पुरुषोत्तमम् ॥
ब्रह्मानंदेन पूर्णाहं तेनानंदेन तृप्तधीः । तथापि शून्यमात्मानं मन्ये कृष्णरतिं बिना ॥

पद्मपुराणम्। खण्डः ५ .०७२. ३० - ३२

athābravīcchanairbālā tapasātīva karśitā brahmavidyāhamatulā yogīṃdrairyā vimṛgyate ॥
sāhaṃ haripadāmbhojakāmyayā suciraṃ tapaḥ carāmyasminvane ghore dhyāyaṃtī puruṣottamam ॥
brahmānaṃdena pūrṇāhaṃ tenānaṃdena tṛptadhīḥ । tathāpi śūnyamātmānaṃ manye kṛṣṇaratiṃ binā ॥

Padmapurāṇam। Khaṇḍaḥ 5 .072. 30 - 32

“I am incomparable Brahm Vidya. Gyanis seeks me. I have been performing penance to get the grace of Shri Krishna. I am complacent and saturated with the bliss of brahm. Yet, without the love of Shri Krishna, I consider myself to be nothing but a void”.

उसी कृष्णप्रेम हित गोविंद राधे । जाबालि हौं तप करौं हौं बता दे।। 3546
यह सुनि जाबालि गोविंद राधे । बने ब्रह्मविद्या शिष्य बता दे।। 3547

"When Jabali Muni heard this he instantly became a disciple of Brahm Vidya".

Just imagine how exclusive and exotic the Love of Shri Krishna must be!

3. Majestic (ऐश्वर्य)
The ever new and ever increasing bliss of unlimited, divine powers, sweetness, beauty, and nectar of Shri Krishna, which is perpetually relished by the devotees. This is called bliss of bhagavan and Aishvarya-Sukh (ऐश्वर्य सुख) and is the eternal and sweetest form of bliss.

A devotee attains all these 3 kinds of happiness without asking for any of them, as God walks behind His devotees and provides all kinds of privileges to them. Lord Krishna says -

Shri Krishna with Braj Gopis

यत्कर्मभिर्यत्तपसा ज्ञानवैराग्यतश्च यत् योगेनदानधर्मेण श्रेयोभिरितरैरपि ॥
सर्वं मद्भिक्तियोगेन मद्भक्तो लभतेंजसा, स्वर्गापवर्गं मद्धाम कथंचिद् यदि वांछति ॥

भा. 11.20.32

yatkarmabhiryattapasā jñānavairāgyataśca yat yogenadānadharmeṇa śreyobhiritarairapi ॥
sarvaṁ madbhiktiyogena madbhakto labhateṁjasā, svargāpavargaṁ maddhāma kathaṁcid yadi vāṁchati ॥

bhā. 11.20.32

“Everything that can be achieved by Karma, penance, Gyan, detachment, Yog, charity, Varnashram dharm and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by My devotee through loving service unto Me. If somehow or other My devotee desires to attain heaven, mukti, or residence in My abode, he easily achieves such benedictions as well.”

Bhakti of The Supreme Lord can bestow the rewards of the paths of any and all expedients. It can also bestow Shri Krishna’s abode, Golok, wherein one gets the supreme fortune of serving Him. By the grace of Bhakti, one starts rejecting the rewards of other expedients from the stage of sadhana bhakti itself. Upon attaining bliss of bhagavan the devotee willingly forsakes all other attained fruits and remains submerged in serving Shri Radha Krishna.

You must have heard in ancient history that many opulent kings developed a dispassion for worldly duties. So, they crowned their successor to be the king and left for the jungle to do sadhana. For example, King Dasharath wanted to crown Ram before retiring to the jungle and Jad Bharat gave up his kingdom and built a small hut in a jungle to do sadhana. Likewise, there are many others. In the modern times, Shri Maharaj ji has been giving tattva gyan. Upon hearing those lectures, some devotees feel so disinclined to worldly attractions that they leave all that and move to Shri Maharaj Ji’s ashram to serve there. All this happens before God-realization. This is the effect of sadhana bhakti. One develops a natural distaste for worldly achievements, swarg and even mukti. As the devotee progresses towards bhav bhakti this dispassion increases. Finally, after God-realization, the devotee remains thoroughly absorbed in the ecstasy of the Ocean of the nectar of love.

Thus, in addition to continually diminishing the miseries, Bhakti also begets auspiciousness. This process starts from the state of sadhana bhakti. As one’s bhakti matures, auspiciousness increases, and finally, it gets perfected upon attaining God-realization.

प्रत्यक्ष अनुमान गोविंद राधे । दोनों प्रमाण गति जग में बता दे।।
ईश्वरीय क्षेत्र में तो गोविंद राधे । शब्द प्रमाण ही प्रमाण है बता दे।।
शब्द प्रमाण अर्थ गोविंद राधे । नित्य अनादि वेदवाक्य है बता दे।।

राधा गोविन्द गीत (ज्ञान) 3548-3550

Translation

- Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Maharaj
Radha Govind Geet (Gyan)