मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ।
श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥१२-२॥
Transliteration:
When Arjuna sought guidance from Lord Krishna to understand difference between worshipping God in Sakaar form (having a form) or Nirakaar form of God (having no form)… Lord Krishna said: O Arjuna, one who while concentrating ones mind on me indulges in Bhajan Kirtans and worships me in Sakaar form (having a form)… such seekers of God is a Yogi most acceptable to me.
Lord Krishna further says to Arjuna that total submission to God Almighty in such cases were essential, necessitated. Unless one had absolute faith in God Almighty (termed Shraddha in Hinduism) one could never come near to God. Bhajans Kirtans carried no meaning if one indulged in them merely as rituals.
Total submission to God Almighty demanded indulgence in karma that was all the time directed towards God Almighty. Furthermore, one should always be free of all attachments, bondages of material world. One should always see God in all living beings. Only then a human being was competent to travel spiritual path… indulge in bhakti yoga, karma yoga as was meant to be.
The Explanation:
Arjuna who confused between two modes of worshipping God: the Sakaar (having a form) and Nirakaar form of God (having no form) was told by Lord Krishna that for reaching God in present life one must enhance mental powers to infinity. In simple words… one must develop absolute power of concentration of mind. In spiritual parlance this simply means… we have to stop inflow of all thoughts to our brain (positive or negative) in totality. When free flow of incessant thoughts to our brain stopped in totality, one finally reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness). One finally had communion with God Almighty on one-to-one basis. For establishing absolute control over mind, total control over five senses was necessitated. In the present material world this seemed a truly daunting task.
Apart from full concentration of mind, one had to have absolute faith in God Almighty all the time. In absence of shraddha (absolute faith in God Almighty) nothing much can be achieved on spiritual path. Most human beings on mother earth lacked total faith in God Almighty, prime reason why people preferred travelling religious path (path of rituals)… than path of spirituality. Total faith in God Almighty was that ingredient of spirituality that removed most barriers on path of reaching god, realizing God! Path of bhakti yoga carried meaning when one worshipped Sakaar form of God (having a form) with total faith in God Almighty. On path of bhakti yoga bhajans kirtans carried value when we expressed total faith in God Almighty, never otherwise!
In present times, most human beings indulged in singing praises of God, Bhajans and Kirtans merely as a ritual. Unless we try to understand difference between religion and spirituality… nothing would become clear on path of spirituality that directly led to God Almighty! For serious seekers of God… refraining from bondages, attachments of material world constitute part of bhakti yoga. Remaining attached to earthly relationships; we could never reach God in present life. We must cut across all shackles of earthly relationships, all material bondages and attachments to practice true worship of God as was meant to be. For a true seeker of God, God existed in every form of human life… as our soul atman, the spirit within!
Working for welfare of entire mankind is worshipping God truthfully and successfully. Only then we can remove all forms of enmity towards others from our lives. Only by practicing forgiveness at each and every stage of life human beings finally realized God. In a nutshell Lord Krishna says… for reaching me, indulgence in good karma… liberation form bondages of material world… practice of forgiveness were necessitated. Lord Krishna is God Almighty personified in human form. Believing and worshipping Lord Krishna truthfully and sincerely is reaching God in our lifetime. In Hinduism Lord Krishna is always considered an avatar (God manifest in human form)… a saviour, messiah who always comes in times of need, extreme tribulation!
Believing in dictates of Lord Krishna was believing in God Almighty! Lord Krishna truthfully says… all human beings are reflections of me! As God Almighty existed in every human being in miniscule form as our soul atman, the spirit within… believing in teachings of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita is travelling spiritual path sincerely and diligently and finally reaching God. One who indulged in karma with an unattached attitude finally succeeded in negating karma in totality. Negation of total karma announced, we as a soul atman gaining absolute purity forever! To understand teachings of Lord Krishna one could never indulge in sacred texts literally. All sacred scriptures demand our reading in between the lines to reach underlying hidden truth.
Bhakti Yoga is a wonderful form of yoga provided one can practice it in present times. Both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana started their spiritual journey in search of God via path of bhakti yoga. But ascertaining that in present dark age, metal age… one could never reach God via path of bhakti yoga alone… both finally switched to path of jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom) to reach God. Practicing bhakti yoga in present times of tribulation is very difficult… almost unachievable! Even though Lord Krishna advises practicing bhakti yoga of the highest order… the same is truly not possible, achievable in present times! True practice of bhakti yoga demands suppressing our ego in totality forever.
Negation of ego forever is annihilating karma in totality… something really difficult to practice in present times! As path of spirituality could not be travelled by path of karma yoga, bhakti yoga alone… one should tread path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) to reach God in present times.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 16, 2013
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