What Does Selfless Devotion Really Mean?
Does selfless devotion mean having no desires at all, or does it change whose happiness the devotee desires?
📍 Where You Are in the Inquiry
We have established that Divine Bhakti (भक्ति | bhakti) is not something we can produce through the strength of our own spiritual practice. It is the essence of Hladini Shakti (ह्लादिनी शक्ति | hlādinī śakti), God's most personal Divine power, and is attained through His Grace.
Yet this does not mean that we have nothing to do. Shri Maharaj Ji establishes the progression clearly:
Sadhana Bhakti → Grace of God → Divine Bhakti
Sadhana Bhakti (साधना भक्ति | sādhanā bhakti) is therefore what we must practice. But what does that practice require?
Its foundation is selflessness—freedom from all desires. At first, this may seem straightforward: perhaps we should simply stop asking God for worldly things. Shri Maharaj Ji takes the inquiry much deeper. What counts as a desire? Why does desire interfere with devotion? Does even the desire for liberation have to be renounced? And if love seeks nothing for oneself, what does it seek instead?
The answer begins with the mind itself.
There Is Only One Mind
Sadhana Bhakti can truly be practiced by abandoning all worldly desires because devotion is performed by the mind.
The mind alone is the cause of bondage to or liberation from Maya (माया | māyā). If worldly or celestial desires remain within that mind, Shri Maharaj Ji asks: with what mind will we perform devotion?
We do not possess one mind for the world and another for God. There is only one mind. It can be filled either with worldly desires or with the desire for God realization. Even if we wish to fill it with both, the two cannot reside together in the same mind.
This is why freedom from desire is not merely an admirable quality added to devotion. It concerns the very instrument through which devotion is performed.
But this immediately raises another question: what does “all desires” actually include?
What Does It Mean to Renounce All Desires?
Leaving aside Divine desires, whatever remains in the mind is material desire. Shri Maharaj Ji classifies these desires into four:
- Dharm (धर्म | dharma) — righteousness
- Arth (अर्थ | artha) — material prosperity
- Kaam (काम | kāma) — worldly enjoyment
- Mokch (मोक्ष | mokṣa) — absolute liberation
Dharm, arth, and kaam together are called Bhukti (भुक्ति | bhukti). Absolute liberation is Mukti (मुक्ति | mukti).
Therefore, renouncing all material desires means renouncing both bhukti and mukti.
Renouncing material enjoyment may appear understandable. But why should someone seeking God also renounce the desire for liberation?
Roop Goswami states:
भुक्तिमुक्तिस्पृहा यावत् पिशाची हृदि वर्तते ।
तावत् भक्तिसुखस्यात्र कथमभ्युदयो भवेत् ॥
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat piśācī hṛdi vartate |
tāvat bhakti-sukhasyātra katham abhyudayo bhavet ||
“As long as both of these demonesses, bhukti and mukti, reside in the heart of a person, Bhakti Devi, the supreme Goddess of Bhakti, cannot appear.”
Shri Maharaj Ji explains that of these two, the desire for mukti is even more dangerous.
A person possessing worldly desires may eventually become free from them. If that fortunate person meets a Rasik Saint (रसिक संत | rasika santa) and surrenders, he may experience the Bliss of Bhakti.
But absolute liberation, once attained, is attained forever. After attaining it, the Bliss of Divine love cannot be experienced.
Why Could Paramhansas Attain Divine Love?
An apparent objection now arises.
Many Paramhansas (परमहंस | paramahaṁsa), including Kumars (Sanakadik) and Janak, became Rasik Saints and experienced the Bliss of Divine love. If liberation makes this impossible, how could they do so?
Shri Maharaj Ji explains that while a Paramhans remains in the physical body, absolute Divine unity has not yet been attained. Absolute liberation occurs only after a Yogi (योगी | yogī) or Gyani (ज्ञानी | jñānī) leaves the physical body.
After that point, the liberated soul cannot become separate from Brahm (ब्रह्म | brahma) and cannot take a human body. Without taking a human body, the dualistic sweetness of Divine love cannot be attained.
For this reason, the desire for mukti is more frightening than the desire for bhukti.
Freedom from desire therefore does not stop at renouncing worldly pleasures. Even the desire for absolute liberation must be relinquished.
Is Asking God for Worldly Things Devotion?
Before beginning devotion, people's hearts are ordinarily filled with worldly desires they hope God will fulfill. Such people may describe themselves as Sakam Bhaktas (सकाम भक्त | sakāma bhakta)—devotees with desires.
Shri Maharaj Ji makes an important distinction. A true sakam bhakta is still a devotee. Merely having worldly desires and asking God to fulfill them does not make someone a true sakam bhakta.
How then could such a person equate himself with devotees such as Draupadi or Gajraj who were fully surrendered to God?
There are, Shri Maharaj Ji explains, many detriments to approaching devotion with material desires.
Material Desire Leaves the Fundamental Question Unresolved
The first problem is foundational.
A person seeking worldly things from God has not yet understood where happiness actually lies.
If happiness is in the world, what is the necessity of God?
And if happiness is only in God, what is the necessity of desiring worldly things?
Maya, in the form of the world, and God are opposites. To desire the world while simultaneously accepting that happiness lies in God is like saying:
“I want fire to stay cool.”
If our aim is perfect happiness, then turning to the source of Bliss while asking for worldly things—the source of sorrow—shows that we have not yet understood that the world is not the field of happiness.
If our understanding itself is incorrect, how can our devotion be correct, and how can we attain our goal?
Worldly acquisition creates another difficulty. Desires continue to increase, and with material attainment, pride also increases. Shri Maharaj Ji reminds us that pride is a principal cause that keeps us away from God.
Desire Makes Faith Dependent on Outcomes
The second detriment concerns what happens when our requests are either fulfilled or denied.
When a person receives worldly possessions in accordance with his good Sanskars (संस्कार | saṁskāra), he may proclaim:
“This is God's Grace.”
But when he does not receive what he wants because of his unfavorable sanskars, he may declare that God is unfavorable.
When worldly desires are fulfilled, he becomes a believer. When they are not fulfilled, he becomes an atheist.
Such devotion remains dependent upon whether God gives the person what he wants.
Therefore, it is in the devotee's best interest to renounce desires for worldly things completely.
Why Keep Asking for What Cannot Satisfy Us?
The third detriment concerns repeated asking.
Some people claim that God always listens to them and fulfills their desires. Shri Maharaj Ji asks: if that is so, why not ask Him once for everything forever and bring the disease of repeatedly asking to an end?
There is no happiness in worldly objects, and acquiring them only causes desires to increase. Continually begging God for them can therefore only harm us.
Instead, why not ask for God, His vision, or Divine love so that the root of desire itself may be eliminated and the soul may become Divinely contented forever?
A person may casually say, “God listens to me,” interpreting material acquisitions following prayer as God's Grace, when they are actually the consequence of his own past sanskars.
There is one positive aspect: at least such a person accepts God's existence. But if his desires are later not fulfilled, even his favorable feelings toward God may disappear.
If God Knows Our Welfare, Why Interfere?
The fourth point takes the inquiry deeper.
The scriptures establish that God dwells within everyone's heart and knows what is best for us.
If we genuinely understand that He is all-knowing and dwelling within us, then why is there any necessity to interfere in His work?
An ignorant soul does not know where his true welfare lies.
If God knows, and we do not, then everything can be left to Him. The disease of continually asking Him for worldly things no longer needs to arise.
Can God Be Asked to Change Our Destiny?
The fifth detriment concerns Karm (कर्म | karma).
According to the scriptures, every soul is bound by his karmas. Through Prarabdh (प्रारब्ध | prārabdha)—the destiny of this life arising from the good and bad karmas of previous lives—a person experiences what appears to be worldly happiness, which ultimately ends in disappointment.
Whatever is written in one's destiny, one will receive accordingly.
Shri Maharaj Ji points to scriptural examples. The father of all-powerful Bhagwan Ram died, and Ram did not save him. Abhimanyu's uncle was the absolute Supreme God, Bhagwan Krishn, and his father Arjun was a Saint, yet Abhimanyu was not saved from death.
We should therefore not imagine ourselves greater than Dashrath and Abhimanyu and expect God to alter His irrefutable law of karmic destiny for our sake.
Even Material Prosperity Can Take Us Away from God
The sixth point reverses another ordinary assumption.
We usually consider the lack of material possessions unfortunate. Shrimad Bhagavat explains that it is actually God's Grace.
A person with less material wealth is less likely to become intoxicated with pride. Material prosperity increases pride and causes a person to forget God.
What, then, is the value of asking God for the very things that may remove His remembrance from our heart?
There are innumerable detriments that interfere with devotion and surrender to a Saint. Unless these issues are resolved, how can we progress toward our ultimate goal?
Therefore, all desires—even the desire for liberation—must be disregarded. We should desire only what is truly in our best interest: the attainment of the selfless Divine love of God.
Tulsidas expresses our true self-interest:
स्वारथ साँच जीव कर यहा । मन क्रम वचन राम पद नेहा ॥
svāratha sāṁca jīva kara yahā | mana krama vacana rāma pada nehā ||
(Tulsidas)
Our true self-interest lies in pleasing God and doing only what He desires.
This is the true form of devotion.
Desire Seeks My Happiness; Love Seeks the Beloved's
We can now see that selflessness means more than simply refraining from asking God for material possessions.
Worldly desire and Divine love are opposites.
Give-and-take is business. When something is desired from the Beloved, that is not love.
In true love, everything is given to the Beloved, yet the lover never feels that enough has been given. The desire is always to give more.
Worldly relationships cannot sustain such love because every soul seeks perfect happiness and therefore naturally thinks of taking. When both people in a relationship think primarily of taking, how long can that relationship remain harmonious? Conflicts arise repeatedly between husband and wife, father and son, and others.
Worldly love associated with worldly desire therefore wanes, whereas Divine love increases every moment.
The Chaitanya Charitamrit draws the distinction:
कामेर तात्पर्य निज संभोग केवल । कृष्ण-सुख तात्पर्य प्रेम तो प्रबल ॥
लोक धर्म, वेद धर्म, देहधर्म, कर्म । लज्जा, धैर्य, देह सुख, आत्मसुख मर्म ॥
सर्वत्याग करये करे कृष्णेर भजन । कृष्ण सुख हेतु करे प्रेमेर सेवन ॥
अतएव कामे प्रेमे बहुत अन्तर । काम अन्धतम प्रेम निर्मल भास्कर ॥
kāmera tātparya nija sambhoga kevala | kṛṣṇa-sukha tātparya prema to prabala ||
loka dharma, veda dharma, dehadharma, karma | lajjā, dhairya, deha sukha, ātmasukha marma ||
sarvatyāga karaye kare kṛṣṇera bhajana | kṛṣṇa sukha hetu kare premera sevana ||
ataeva kāme preme bahuta antara | kāma andhatama prema nirmala bhāskara ||
(Chaitanya Charitamrit)
“To wish for one's own happiness is a selfish desire; that is darkness. Desire for the happiness of the Beloved is true love; that is light.”
This is the essential reversal:
Desire asks: What will make me happy?
Love asks: What will make my Beloved happy?
The Chatak Loves Without Asking for an Alternative
Shri Maharaj Ji asks us to consider the Chatak (चातक | cātaka) bird as an example of selfless love.
Tulsidasji describes the Chatak as drinking only the rainwater that falls when the moon is in the Swati position. It waits for its beloved Swati rainwater for twelve months, regardless of adverse conditions.
By contrast, when worldly trouble arises, people may run to temples or Saints for help as though they were great devotees. Once the worldly desire is fulfilled, the temple and satsang may quickly be forgotten.
The object of worship was not truly God. It was the fulfillment of the worldly desire.
The Chatak teaches something different: wait for the Beloved without replacing the Beloved with something more convenient.
जाचे बारह मास पिये पपीहा स्वाति जल ।
jāce bāraha māsa piye papīhā svāti jala |
In the same way, Shri Maharaj Ji explains, we should merge our desires into the desire of our Divine Beloved and love Him selflessly.
True Love Does Not Turn Against the Beloved in Adversity
The Chatak's love reveals another dimension of selflessness.
Worldly love is inherently connected with self-interest. When that self-interest is obstructed, love may end and even turn into enmity.
The Chatak does not love in this way.
पवि पाहन दामिनि गरजि, झरि झकोरि खिरि खीझि ।
रोष न प्रियतम दोष लखि, तुलसी रागहि रीझि ॥
pavi pāhana dāmini garaji, jhari jhakori khiri khījhi |
roṣa na priyatama doṣa lakhi, tulasī rāgahi rījhi ||
Its beloved sends lightning, thunder, and hail as though testing whether selfishness remains in its love. Yet the Chatak does not become angry with the beloved. Instead, its love increases.
Shri Maharaj Ji asks us to learn from this. When worldly difficulties arise, our response should not be agitation or anger toward God.
Love that survives only while the Beloved behaves according to our wishes is still tied to our own happiness.
The Chatak Refuses Even Liberation
Shri Maharaj Ji then takes the Chatak's selflessness further.
Once, a hungry and thirsty Chatak, exhausted from flying, sat upon a tree. A hunter beneath the tree shot it with an arrow. The wounded bird fell into the waters of the Ganges.
As death approached, the Chatak thought that perhaps this was fortunate: after remaining faithful to its beloved throughout life, the sacred water of the Ganges would enter its mouth at death and it would attain liberation.
But immediately its conscience rebuked it.
If it drank the Ganges water and accepted liberation, the purity of its love would be stained.
At the final moment, the Chatak turned its beak upward so that no Ganges water would enter its mouth. It died with its love unblemished.
Tulsidasji writes:
बध्यो चातक पर्यो पुन्य जल, उलटि उठाई चोंच ।
तुलसी चातक प्रेम-पट, मरतहुँ लगी न खोंच ॥
badhyo cātaka paryo punya jala, ulaṭi uṭhāī coṁca |
tulasī cātaka prema-paṭa, maratahuṁ lagī na khoṁca ||
The lesson returns us to the earlier question of mukti.
We should not lose the opportunity to receive Divine love by becoming involved in the desire for liberation:
भक्ति करत सोई मुक्ति गुसाईं । आनइच्छित आवत बरि आईं ॥
bhakti karata soī mukti gusāīṁ | ānaicchita āvata bari āīṁ ||
By doing Bhakti, liberation comes automatically. Why then sacrifice the Bliss of Divine love by desiring liberation itself?
Upon attaining absolute liberation, the Bliss of Divine love cannot subsequently be attained. But upon attaining Divine love, liberation is automatically attained.
Selfless love therefore does not ask even for mukti.
True Love Does Not Depend on the Beloved's Qualities
There is still a subtler form of self-interest to remove.
We should not love the Beloved because of His virtues.
In worldly relationships, if someone is loved because of a particular quality, love may disappear when that quality disappears. Love based upon beauty may end when beauty fades. Love based upon wealth may end when wealth is lost.
Shri Maharaj Ji illustrates this through Parvati.
While Parvati was performing devotional austerities before Her marriage to God Shiv, Rishis approached Her. They questioned why She loved Shankar, describing His snakes, garland of skulls, cremation-ground dwelling, association with ghosts, renunciation, and apparent heartlessness. Why not love the all-virtuous Bhagwan Vishnu instead?
Parvati accepted what they said but rejected the premise behind their question.
She did not love Shankar because of His qualities.
She simply loved Him.
जन्म कोटि लगि रगरि हमारी । बरौं शंभु न तु रहौं कुंवारी ॥
janma koṭi lagi ragari hamārī | barauṁ śambhu na tu rahauṁ kuṁvārī ||
“Even if I have to wait for uncountable lifetimes, it would be My only choice that either I will select Bhagwan Shankar as My husband or I will remain unmarried.”
And:
शंभु सकल अवगुण भवन, विष्णु सकल गुण खान ।
जाकर मन रम जाहि सन, ताहि ताहि सन काम ॥
śambhu sakala avaguṇa bhavana, viṣṇu sakala guṇa khāna |
jākara mana rama jāhi sana, tāhi tāhi sana kāma ||
True love does not continually inspect whether the Beloved appears kind, merciful, loving, or otherwise.
Gaurang Mahaprabhu expresses this state:
आश्लिष्य वा पादरतां पिनष्टु मामदर्शनान्मर्महतां करोतु वा ।
यथा तथा वा विदधातु लम्पटो मत्प्राणनाथस्तु स एव नापरः ॥
āśliṣya vā pādaratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām adarśanān marmahatāṁ karotu vā |
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo matprāṇanāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ ||
(Shikshashtak)
“O my Shyam Sundar! Either You accept me as Your beloved and love me, or You disregard me and beat me, or You can act indifferently and torment me. Please do whatever pleases You. I will love You in all situations, as You are my soul beloved. I don't know anyone else except You.”
We should not think, I love God because He is akaran karun—causelessly merciful.
True love does not depend upon the virtues of the Beloved.
To love Him is the nature of the soul. We should not think beyond this, whatever happens.
Selfless Love Seeks Only the Beloved's Happiness
Shri Maharaj Ji finally gives a glimpse of how completely self-interest can disappear in Divine love.
A Saint in Braj was continually immersed in the Bliss of Divine love. Seeing Shyam Sundar close to him in his Bhao (भाव | bhāva), he ran forward to embrace Him. But his matted hair became entangled in a bush, and Shyam Sundar disappeared.
The Saint initially thought of freeing his hair. Then another thought arose:
Perhaps my beloved Shyam Sundar likes seeing me in this position.
He had not deliberately entangled his hair. But if he freed it merely for his own comfort, perhaps that would not fulfill the wish of his Beloved.
So he left it entangled.
He remained there for seven days and nights.
On the seventh day, Shyam Sundar came in disguise and offered to disentangle his hair. The Saint refused to allow a third person to interfere in matters between husband and wife.
When Krishn revealed that He Himself was the Saint's Beloved, the Saint still would not accept the claim. His beloved Shyam Sundar, he insisted, was the Beloved of Radha Rani and possessed the beautiful form curved in three places.
Krishn finally appeared in His true form.
Yet when He reached forward to disentangle the Saint's hair, the Saint objected again. He would accept Him only when Radha Rani Herself came and confirmed that He was Her Beloved.
Krishn had come under the control of the Saint's love. Radha Rani came, the matter was resolved, and the Saint's hair was finally disentangled.
This is a glimpse of selfless love.
The Saint's concern was no longer:
What would make me comfortable?
It was:
What would please my Beloved?
Where This Inquiry Leads
Selfless devotion is therefore far deeper than simply refraining from asking God for wealth, health, success, or other worldly things.
There is only one mind, and devotion must be performed with that mind. Therefore, worldly and celestial desires cannot be allowed to occupy the very mind we seek to attach to God.
Nor does selflessness end with renouncing bhukti. Even mukti must be renounced. Divine love does not seek worldly enjoyment, liberation, favorable circumstances, or even a particular response from the Beloved.
Shri Maharaj Ji progressively reveals the positive nature of selflessness:
Desire seeks my happiness. Love seeks the happiness of the Beloved.
The Chatak remains faithful despite adversity and refuses even liberation rather than stain its love. Parvati's love does not depend upon the qualities of Her Beloved. Gaurang Mahaprabhu's love remains unchanged regardless of how the Beloved behaves. And the Saint of Braj places even his own comfort beneath what he believes might please Shyam Sundar.
This is the foundation of Sadhana Bhakti: our desires are merged into the desire of the Divine Beloved.
Having understood why devotion must be selfless, the inquiry can now proceed to the next condition of Sadhana Bhakti.
Go Deeper
Continue the Inquiry
Part 2 of 6 — Bhakti Yoga — The Path
Selfless devotion does not mean having no Divine desires. It means becoming free from desires for one's own happiness and directing one's love toward the happiness of the Divine Beloved. But Sadhana Bhakti does not exist in isolation from other spiritual practices. This raises the next question: what takes priority when the requirements of Karm, Gyan, or other practices conflict with devotion?
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