Test of eternality
In the Vedas and the Shastra, three paths to attaining the aim of life have been mentioned – Karma, Gyan and Bhakti. In order to prove the exclusive supremacy of any principle, five criteria have been prescribed in Nyay Darshan, namely - 1) Anvaya or goal achievability [1], 2) Vyatireka or indispensability , 3) Anya-nirapekshata or independence 4) Sarvatrikta or universality[2] , and 5) Sadatanatva (eternality). In the past three articles, we put the three paths to test on the first four criteria, and based on various evidences from the Vedas and the scriptures, we concluded that only the path of bhakti fulfills these criteria. In this edition, we will test these paths on the fifth and last criterion, that is, eternality (sadatanatva).Let's take up Karma first. Once karma grants the fruits of the actions, it ceases to exist. For example, let's consider a laborer who worked at some place for the whole day, and in the evening he got his wages.
Now, the next day that laborer went back and said, "I worked at your place yesterday." "Yes you did. So?" Then the laborer says, "So please give me my wages again today." “Hey, we had settled it yesterday itself. We paid you your wages yesterday.” In other words, the entire day's hard work got absorbed in that daily wage.
Similarly, a virtuous karma gets absorbed in 'punya' (virtue) for which one is granted luxuries of swarg. Once the soul completes enjoying those fruits, the virtue also ends. That is, by following the Vedic rituals to the letter, one will get luxuries of swarg, for a finite period of time, but not 'divine bliss'. And after enjoyment, both the karma and the results of that action are finished. A laborer asking for wages again for the work he did the previous day.Now, if you want to enjoy more material luxuries, then you will have to do more karma as prescribed in Vedas. In other words, there is no eternality in the path of karma.
Is there eternality in the path of gyan? Let us explore.
Since eternity we have turned away from God, due to which we are bound by Maya. So naturally, all the vices of Maya are there in us. The main defect in this is agyan (ignorance) [3], which is, forgetting our original form ('I am the soul') and considering oneself to be the body. Gyan ends this ignorance and in doing so the gyan also dies. The happiness that one gets in this state is huge. It is so potent that one goes into samadhi. Every living being has a limited capability to bear happiness and sorrow. When sorrow or happiness exceeds that limit, the mind cannot stand it and falls unconscious. This state of unconsciousness is called samadhi.The happiness attained by thinking of oneself as a soul is so great that in comparison, even the happiness experienced in the Brahmalok [4] is insignificant. And this is logical, since jeev is a part of infinite bliss, brahm, and hence a glimpse of that bliss is also really big. But the happiness attained by atmagyan is satvik [5], not divine. The ignorance stays away only as long as the jivanmukt paramhams remains in the state of samadhi. Only while he is in samadhi, he is not tormented by the vices of Maya. But as soon as he comes out of samadhi, Maya catches hold of him because he did not do bhakti of Shri Krishna. Since he committed this transgression, Maya punishes him [6].
You must have heard the story in which Jad Bharat got attached to a fawn. At the time of his death, he repeatedly thought of the fawn because of which a jivanmukt paramahams like him had to become a deer after death.Atmagyan is born out of the sattva guna of Maya. When one has atmagyan, the rajas guna and tamas guna get suppressed. Please note - they don't leave the jeev, they only get suppressed. And as soon as they get an opportunity, they dominate the jeev again like they dominated Jad Bharat. In essence, atmagyan is the most that the path of gyan can offer but this is an intermediate stage in the path of spirituality, and without doing bhakti, the jeev is vulnerable to downfall even after attaining atmagyan.
Thus there is no eternality in the path of Gyan either.
Now let us discuss the eternality in the path of Bhakti. Bhakti is found in all yugas, all ages of human life, before, during and after creation. Let us delve a little deeper into this topic. 1) Pralayavastha, in the state of dissolution - Bhakti remains at the time of all the four kinds of pralaya or dissolution (nitya, naimittik, mahapralay and atyantik pralay)
क उपासीरन् क उ स्विदनुशेरते - भा. 3.7.37
ka upāsīran ka u svidanuśerate - bhā. 3.7.37
Vidur Ji had asked Maitreya as to when God falls asleep in Mahayog nidra, which are the elements that serve Him? Maitreya has enumerated some elements in his answer and said that such and such elements continue to do devotion to Shri Krishna.2) Prior to creation - Bhakti remains even at the time prior to creation.
मयादौ ब्रह्मणो प्रोक्ता धर्मो यस्यां मदात्मक: (भा.)
mayādau brahmaṇo proktā dharmo yasyāṁ madātmaka:
bhā.
In other words, as soon as the creation began, Shri Krishna advised Creator Brahma through the Vedas, to do bhakti.3) In the four yugas -
Shri Krishna bhakti remains in all the yugas -
कृते यद्ध्यायतो विष्णुं त्रेतायां यजतो मखै:
द्वापरे परिचर्यायां कलौ तद्धरिकीर्तनात्
भा.
kr̥te yaddhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhai:
dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ kalau taddharikīrtanāt
bhā.
Tulsidas Ji says in the same vein in Ramayana -
कृतयुग सब योगी विज्ञानी, करि हरिध्यान तरहिं भव प्रानी ।
त्रेता विविध यज्ञ नर करहीं, प्रभुहिं समर्पि कर्म भव तरहीं ।
द्वापर करि रघुपति पद पूजा, तर भवतरिय उपाय न दूजा ।
कलियुग केवल हरि गुन गाहा, गावत नर पावत भव याहा ।
kr̥tayuga saba yogī vijñānī, kari haridhyāna tarahiṁ bhava prānī ।
tretā vividha yajña nara karahīṁ, prabhuhiṁ samarpi karma bhava tarahīṁ ।
dvāpara kari raghupati pada pūjā, tara bhavatariya upāya na dūjā ।
kaliyuga kevala hari guna gāhā, gāvata nara pāvata bhava yāhā ।
In other words, even after performing karma and gyan in all the yugas, ultimately one can cross the ocean of maya only by doing bhakti. Also, in Kaliyuga, bhakti is the only way to be freed from the clutches of maya.
सा हानिस्तन्महच्छिंद्र स मोह: स विभ्रम:
यन्मुहूर्तं क्षणं वापि वासुदेवं न चिंतयेत् (वि. पु.)
sā hānistanmahacchiṁdra sa moha: sa vibhrama:
yanmuhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi vāsudevaṁ na ciṁtayet (vi. pu.)
In other words, any auspicious time or any moment of a human being that is spent without the loving remembrance of Shri Krishna, is a great loss and a great defect of a human being, and is a moment of great delusion and passion.4) In the different stages of human life - Shri Krishna’s bhakti can be seen in all the different stages of human life.
(a) Narad ji bestowed devotion on Prahlad when he was in the womb.[7]
(b) Dhruv did devotion to Shri Krishna in his childhood.
(c) Ambarish and others did devotion to Shri Krishna in their youth.[8]
(d) Dhritarashtra did Shri Krishna bhakti in his old age.
(e) Ajamil worshiped God at the time of his death.[9]
And the biggest example is that of the Braj Gopis who did bhakti in all stages of life. [10]Braj Gopis did bhakti in all stages of lifeTo sum it up, devotion is always present everywhere. Devotion always remains at the time of dissolution, at the beginning of the creation, during creation, in all ages, in all stages of life and even in different realms such as swarg. Devotion does not hesitate going to anyone, anywhere. Devotion is the only principle that never ends. Even the eternal parshad always do bhakti.
Now there is one more thing to consider. There are three types of Bhakti; Sadhana Bhakti, Bhav Bhakti and Siddha Bhakti.
- Sadhana Bhakti - Practicing to focus the mind on God, this is called Sadhana Bhakti.
- Bhav Bhakti - When the mind starts getting engaged in remembrance of God, then that state of sadhana bhakti is called Bhav Bhakti. When this state reaches its apex that is the end of sadhana bhakti. After reaching the extreme limit, the mind is cleansed of all material attachments.
- Siddha Bhakti - When the mind is purified, then Guru graces the jeev and makes its mind divine and bestows divine love in it - this is Siddha Bhakti. This perfect devotion lasts from this moment till eternity, it never ends. That's why Narad ji has called Bhakti as 'Amritaswarupa' in his Narad Bhakti Sutra. This is made of 2 words amrit and swaroopa. Amrit literally means no-death. Swaroopa means “inherent nature”.
What is meant by Amritaswarupa ? Let's think about it.
In Ayurveda it is called “payo amritam” which means milk is amrit. There is a liquid called amrit in swarg too. By drinking that liquid the diseases of the body end. That's why old age, diseases, excreta do not happen in the bodies of devi-devata (Demi-gods). But effect of this amrit also ends one day. That is, it is not truly 'a-mrit', i.e. it is not something that can prevent death.
So what kind of amrit is devotion?
An epithet of God is Amrit - Bhakti is that Amrit i.e. it is a form of God. As God is eternal and infinite, similarly Siddha Bhakti is also eternal and infinite. Once that Siddha Bhakti is received by a jeev, it lasts for eternity. Maya can never gain authority over that jeev. That jeev is automatically liberated from the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, the jeev who attains Siddha Bhakti always remains blissful. That's why devotion is called a form of amrit.Dhanvantri appeared from the milk ocean with a pot of amritThe summary is that the fruit of bhakti is also bhakti and bhakti remains forever. Bhakti does not end even after attaining God [11]. Be it Saint Narad, Lord Shiva, seers like the 4 Kumars. They all do bhakti.
To what extent we can say - even Shri Krishna Himself does bhakti. Whose bhakti does Shri Krishna do? The word bhakti means service. Shri Krishna worships His soul Shri Radha anyway. In addition to Her, Shri Krishna becomes a bonded slave of those jeev who take refuge in Him.
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् |
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्या: पार्थ सर्वश: || गीता 4.11
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁstathaiva bhajāmyaham |
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyā: pārtha sarvaśa: || gītā 4.11
“The soul who worships Me in whatever way to whichever extent, I also worship that soul in the same way to the same extent.”
Thus, the path of Bhakti alone has eternality.[12]
By putting the three paths to test on the five criteria, we found that Bhakti alone stands the test of all five criteria. The other paths give material pleasures for a certain amount of time, but are not capable of bestowing infinite, immeasurable divine bliss. For attaining that bliss, Bhakti is the only means.
In the upcoming publications, we will delve deeper and deeper into tattva gyan [13][14] pertaining to bhakti, which is essential for an aspirant of bhakti marg . It is God’s immense grace that the crest jewel of all Rasik saints Shri Maharaj Ji is our Guru, who has made such esoteric knowledge so simple for common people like us.