8. Focus your mind on Me, engage your intellect in Me. Then (afterwards) you will live in Me without any doubt.
Swami Vivekananda, in his Raja Yoga book, gave a picture of the state of the mind. He said, “There was a monkey, restless by his own nature, as all monkeys are. As if that was not enough, someone made him drink wine, so that he became still more restless. Then a scorpion stung him. When a man is stung by a scorpion, he jumps about for a whole day; so the poor monkey found his condition worse than ever. To complete his misery, a demon entered him. What language can describe the uncontrollable restlessness of the monkey? The human mind is like that monkey. Incessantly active by its own nature, it then becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its turbulence. After desire has taken possession, comes the sting of the scorpion of jealousy at the success of others; and last of all, the demon of pride enters the mind, making it think itself all-important.”
Adi Shankaracharya says in Viveka Chudamani, “There is no ignorance other than one’s own (impure) mind. The (impure) mind itself is the cause of the bondage of the world. When the (impure) mind is destroyed, then all the ignorance will be destroyed. When the (impure) mind manifests, then the world of ignorance manifests. In the dream world, even though there is no contact with the outside world, the mind, alone with its own power, creates a whole universe and an enjoyer. Similarly, it is not different when a person is physically awake. In that state also, the same mind creates a whole world for the person.”
The problems of a person are in his/her mind, and so are the solutions to the problems. The impure or deluded mind is the source of all the problems in our lives. However, when the same mind becomes pure and free from delusions, it acquires knowledge and leads us to God, or Atman, or our true Self.
Usually, we are under the control of our minds. We run around like slaves by the whims of our minds. The mind constantly creates turbulence in itself by creating diverse thoughts and doubts. In the spiritual path, an aspirant has to control one’s mind and guide it towards the highest knowledge. To guide one’s mind, one needs a part of the mind that is calm and analytical. This analytical part of the mind is called the intellect. When this intellect becomes unbiased, impartial, and objective, then it can guide the whole mind in the right direction.
In the mind we have ‘samskaras,’ the past impressions of all our thoughts, speech, and actions. If we have repeatedly performed an act, then it creates a deep impression in our mind, which we call a habit. This habit is so powerful that even though our intellect or conscience says ‘not to perform a certain act,’ the mind, out of habit, tells our senses to perform it. The mind is full of such habits, impressions, and cherished ideas. To go against these habits and impressions is a very difficult task. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to control our minds. Mighty Arjuna tells Shri Krishna says (Gita 6.34), “O Krishna! The mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, and unyielding. To control the mind is as difficult as to control the wind.” Shri Krishna agreed with Arjuna’s statement and said (Gita 6.35), “O mighty Arjuna! Undoubtedly, the mind is restless and difficult to control. But, through ‘abhyasa’ (repeated practice) and ‘vairagya’ (renunciation), the mind can be controlled.”
In the path of devotion, the mind can be controlled easily by singing the name and glories of God. Mind likes to repeat something, a name, a form, an incident, or a thought. If we develop a habit of repeating God’s name, then the mind calms down. The mind needs food for thought. When we do not provide good food for thought to the mind, then it picks up anything that is easily available. As a proverb says, ‘an idle mind is a devil’s house.’ A devotee of God or a seeker of Truth must fill the mind with inspiring ideas and plans to realize Atman and should constantly focus the mind on the goal of God-realization. The mind is very receptive. It picks up thoughts from the environment. Sri Ramakrishna said that “The mind is like a white cloth just returned from the laundry. It will be red if you dip it in red dye and blue if you dip it in blue. It will have whatever color you dip it in.” Therefore, holy company is very necessary. We have to keep our minds constantly in a positive and inspiring environment. A strong and determined mind influences a weaker mind.
Swami Adiswaranandaji said that a thought has to be replaced by a counter thought, speech by counter speech, and an action by a counter action. If we had thought about worldly things, then we have to think about Godly things. If we had uttered day and night words of lust, anger, greed, and jealousy, then we have to talk about love for God, calmness of mind, simple living, and finding virtues in people. If we had acted improperly, then we have to counteract by performing proper actions. Swami Adiswaranandaji said that if the impressions in our minds are due to actions, then we cannot replace them with speech or thoughts. Thus, to make spiritual progress, we have to engage ourselves in spiritual thoughts, speech, and actions in order to remove unfavorable impressions from our minds and to develop favorable ones.
According to the domination of the three gunas, Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva, the mind could be in a dull, restless, or serene mood, respectively. Except for required sleep, the dullness of the mind must be controlled by goal-oriented activities, which include one’s duties. Too many activities make the mind restless. Therefore, morning and evening prayers, japa, meditation, study of scriptures, holy company, and constantly keeping an eye on the goal of God realization help to control our activities and guide them towards the goal. Mind likes to be controlled. When the mind is under control by pure intellect, it becomes our great companion. A pure, serene, and focused mind has a tremendous capacity to give us an infinite source of inspiration, knowledge, and bliss.
We all know that usually the head and heart go in different directions. But, when they both get united to attain a certain higher goal, then our urge to acquire that goal becomes more intense and our enthusiasm multiplies a thousand times. Shri Krishna asked Arjuna to combine his head and heart and focus them on God.
We talked about ways to focus our minds on God. How to focus the intellect on God? In general, for a spiritual path, the intellect, the analytical part of the mind, gets convinced first. Mind jumps around to fulfill infinite desires. Even though the intellect protests, the mind, to fulfill its countless desires, drags the person down from its balanced, calm state to various disturbed and confused levels and then makes him/her go through various joyful and sorrowful experiences. Usually, we have more bitter experiences than joyful ones. After a series of bitter experiences or realizing the futility of worldly achievements, intellect refuses to be dragged down by the mind. Then, the intellect gets drawn to the teachings of wise people, and in particular, to the spiritual path. The desire to make spiritual progress may also arise from studying scriptures and/or the company of holy people and devotees. After reflecting upon the teachings of scriptures and saints, the intellect makes a decision to have a spiritual goal. Also, one starts recognizing the difference between activities that take one towards God and those that take one away from God. This sense is called ‘Viveka,’ the sense of discrimination. It is most needed in the spiritual path. ‘Viveka’ will get more and more refined through spiritual practices. It controls the mind and guides a devotee to God.
At some point, a devotee realizes that God or Atman is his/her home. As we crave to go home after a long trip or from running around for a long time, a devotee, after getting tired of the futile worldly activities, feels going to God, an abode of bliss and peace. Shri Krishna assures Arjuna that if he focuses his mind and intellect on God, he will definitely be in communion with God and attain the highest knowledge and bliss, even in this life. I would like to think ‘hereafter’ means after God Realization.
The following words of Sri Ramakrishna summarize what a spiritual seeker should do to realize God. He said, “Repeat God’s name and sing His glories and keep holy company; and now and then visit God’s devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practices meditation in solitude. …To meditate, you should withdraw within yourself or retire to a secluded corner or to the forest. And you should always discriminate between the Real and the unreal. God alone is real, the Eternal Substance; all else is unreal, that is, impermanent. By discriminating thus, one should shake off impermanent objects from the mind.”
6-7 But those who worship Me, renouncing all their actions in Me, considering Me as their supreme goal, and meditate on Me with single-minded concentration, to them, whose minds are thus absorbed in Me, O Partha, without any delay, I become their Savior and save them from the ocean of worldly sufferings and mortality.
Reflections:
For most people, the Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga) is a relatively easy path for spiritual development. Shrimad Bhagavatam (11.10.8), a renowned spiritual scripture for Bhakti Yoga, teaches us the following “Even though a person who is not established in renunciation, is not detached from the world, but by listening to My (God’s) glories by chance develops love for Me (God), then the Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga) brings successful spiritual results in the life of that person.” Love for God brings positive changes in a person’s life. It fills the heart and mind of the devotee with sublime joy and makes human life meaningful and worth living. The presence of true devotees inspires people to be good and do good.
In these shlokas, Shri Krishna clearly mentions four spiritual practices or the requirements for the devotees to attain liberation or freedom from all bondages through the path of devotion. Narasimha Mehta, a great Gujarati Saint and poet, has written that the devotees of God do not seek liberation, but instead, they ask God to give them a human birth, again and again as devotees, so that they can enjoy loving God and singing God’s glories. However, to the devotees who are established in the following four spiritual practices, Shri Krishna promised that He would immediately lift them out of the ocean of suffering and mortality.
(1) Consider God as the supreme goal:Among all these requirements, the first is to make a resolve that God-realization is the goal of life. God-realization means realizing one’s own “True Divine Identity”. Until this resolve is made, one cannot begin a spiritual journey.
To be a devotee, one must be convinced that worldly pursuits and achievements are incapable of providing what one is seeking: knowledge that brings meaning to life, removal of sufferings or developing strength to bear these suffering with a clam mind, bliss or everlasting happiness, love for all, removal of all fear, including fear of death, and fulfilment. On the other hand, we find many examples of devotees who have attained all the above things through spiritual practices, love for God, and God’s grace. As this conviction strengthens, a devotee becomes increasingly focused on realizing God and engages in spiritual practices earnestly.
(2) Renouncing all actions to God: Once God-realization has been established as the goal of life, a devotee should try to integrate all activities to help achieve that goal. Renouncing all actions to God means performing all actions with the intention of realizing God.
A few blessed souls realize intently that God-realization is the only goal of life, and they renounce everything to achieve that goal. All other people live in the world, and they have to learn how to work that help them to realize God. This is the Karma Yoga Shri Krishna taught to Arjuna and all of us.
For that, first, we have to determine our responsibilities or duties. Our collective responsibilities are referred to as ‘Our Dharma.’ According to one’s position in life, each person has responsibilities to fulfill for the family, society, and the world. A devotee considers these responsibilities as given by God. For example, a student has to study, build up a moral and spiritual foundation, take care of his/her parents and siblings, and try to help people in society. An adult has to earn money, take care of the family, and fulfill his/her social responsibilities. If we do not meet these responsibilities, they create direct or indirect obstructions to focusing our minds on God. On the other hand, if we consider fulfilling these responsibilities as God’s work, sincerely perform our best, and offer them to God, then they become our spiritual practices and help us advance in our spiritual path. Performing our responsibilities in this manner, we feel God’s presence in all our work..
We must be careful to limit our required responsibilities to the minimum and not increase them to fulfill our worldly desires. Otherwise, we may not have time for our spiritual practices, such as regular prayer, studying scriptures, having Holy Company, doing japa and meditation, and unselfish service. All our spiritual practices must be for the development of love for God and ultimately for God-realization.
After the completion of each work, we have to offer the result to God. This way, each work develops our love for God, and the result will not disturb our minds. If a good result comes, we thank God for providing the opportunity and ability to do good work. If failure or an unpleasant result occurs, we must consider how to improve our future performance. If we have done our best and failure comes, we tell God, ‘This is the best I can do. Please let me know my weaknesses and help me in the future.’ A devotee will not perform any action for worldly gain, including name and fame. All worldly gain creates disturbances in the mind and takes us away from God. Shri Krishna reminds Arjuna of the path of Karma Yoga, which he taught him in the Gita, chapters 2-5.
In the Bhagavad Gita (9.27-28), Shri Krishna says, “Whatever act you perform, whatever you eat, whatever you sacrifice (perform yajna), whatever you give in charity, whatever austerity you perform, offer all of these to Me. Those who have thus offered everything to Me become free from the bondages of the good or bad results of their actions, and they realize Me.” Thus, offering all the results to God helps us attain God and freedom from all bondages.
Sri Ramakrishna says we do not have to renounce anything. We have to turn the face of everything towards God. He said it in Bengali, “mod phiriye dao”. Desire to realize God, get angry when we do not make spiritual progress, be jealous of those who have realized God, have an ego that ‘I am a servant of God or I am a devotee of God, and I must not do wrong things, etc.
When we perform all our activities as an offering to God, we renounce our little ego and become God’s instruments. Just as a person who represents a country acquires tremendous power, a devotee surrendering to God acquires infinite power within.
(3) Meditate and worship God with single-minded concentration or devotion: Yoga means to connect our mind with God. “Through Ananya Yoga” means having single-minded devotion and determination to realize God. When God-realization is established as the sole goal of life, a devotee develops single-minded devotion. Where there is single-minded devotion, there is single-minded concentration, which leads to ‘Dhyana’ (meditation). Such concentration brings the realization of God.
Sri Ramakrishna says that a thread cannot go through the eye of a needle even if a single fiber of the thread is sticking out. All the fibers of the thread at the end must become one pointed; only then does it go through the eye of a needle. Similarly, only a focused mind can penetrate all the layers of ourselves, namely the body, the subtle forces, the mind, the intellect, and the ego, and realize God residing within us.
In the spiritual path, ‘Upasana,’ or worship, is a dynamic practice. Devotees are constantly trying to lift their minds from the body-mind level to God. Worldly desires bring the mind down from the spirit to the body-mind level. A person who has cravings for worldly desires must go through the cycles of joys and sorrows and is not yet ready to advance on the spiritual path. This means that the person has not yet fully understood that this world cannot give him/her a longer-lasting peace and fulfillment of life. The great Rishi Narada says in the Bhakti Sutra (1.10),
“Anyashrayanam tyaga ananyata,’ giving up all false hopes and completely surrender to God is ‘Ananyata,’ one-pointedness.
We must have one goal in mind – to realize God in this life. Even in worldly pursuits, success often comes when one works with a focused mind for a sustained period. On the spiritual path, where we strive for the highest knowledge, bliss, and immortality, we cannot achieve success with an unfocused mind filled with multiple goals.
(4) Keep the mind absorbed in God: A sincere devotee constantly thinks of God by repeating God’s name, singing God’s glories, reading, listening to, and conversing about God, worshiping God, meditating on God, or doing God’s work. For spiritual progress, we must try to keep our minds absorbed in God in various ways. When one develops love for God, this practice of absorption becomes natural.
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi tells us that constant remembering of God leads to spiritual awakening. She said, “As you smell the fragrance of a flower while handling it or the smell of sandalwood while rubbing it against a stone, so you obtain spiritual awakening by constantly thinking of God.”
The practice of japa helps us absorb our minds in God. Sri Ramakrishna said, “Suppose there is a piece of timber sunk in the water of the Ganga and fastened with a chain to the bank. You proceed link by link, holding onto the chain, and dive into the water, following the chain. Finally, you are able to reach the timber. In the same way, by repeating God’s name, you become absorbed in Him and finally realize Him.”
In the Bhagavad Gita (9.34), Shri Krishna says, “Focus your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, offer your salutations to Me. Having thus disciplined yourself, and regarding Me as the Supreme Goal, you will come to Me.”
Mind takes the form on which it meditates. Swami Chinmayananda said, “When an integrated mind-intellect equipment, with constant practice, gains the capacity to engage it entirely on God, to the exclusion of all agitations and undivine thoughts, then it takes the form of God”.
Amritabindu Upanishad (1.2) says,
“Mind is the cause of bondage and liberation. Mind attached to the objects of the world is the bondage. Mind detached from the objects of the world is the liberation.” The mind makes us slaves, and the same mind makes us free. Actually, the bondage and liberation are in the mind. The Atman (our True Identity) is ever free. It was never bound.
Shri Krishna, the immediate Savior:
Shri Krishna said that Jnana Yogis come to Me, while I lift the devotees, who fulfill the four requirements mentioned above, from the ocean of the “Samsara”, the ocean of delusion, sufferings, and mortality. Devotees who completely surrender to God are sure that their beloved God will take care of them. The word “Samsara” refers to something that is constantly changing and deceives people. It is also filled with small moments of happiness and immense suffering. Shri Krishna does not want His devotees to suffer anymore.
Here, liberation does not mean going to heaven. Going to heaven is like going to a place for vacation. As long as one has money, one enjoys a place of vacation. After the vacation period is over, people come back to their original workplace. Similarly, people enjoy heaven as long as their merits last and then come back to the earth to start all over again. Shri Krishna says (Gita 9.21), “Having enjoyed the vast heavenly world, they come back to the world of the mortals (the Earth) when their merit is exhausted. Thus, abiding by the injunctions of the three Vedas and desiring desires, they are subject to death and rebirth.” Shri Krishna’s lifting up of devotees means that they then live with God. They then attain the highest knowledge. Their impurities and ignorance of the mind have been removed, and the God within them shines through their lives.
In summary, the path of Jnana Yoga is for those who have control over their body, mind, and intellect and can focus their minds on the Atman within, who is the Witness Consciousness. For most people who are attached to their body, mind, and intellect, and have difficulty thinking of Atman as their true Self, the path of Devotion is better. Seekers of both paths ultimately realize Brahman. They ultimately attain the highest knowledge, immortality, and everlasting bliss.
If there are pleasant days, then there are unpleasant days.
If some days we are happy, then some days we are sad.
If some days, we are successful, then some days we face failures.
If some days we receive honor, then some days we feel insulted.
If some days we are healthy, then some days we get sick.
If we like something, then we dislike something else.
If there are rich people, then there are poor people.
If there are good people, then there are bad people.
If there are good administrators, then there are bad administrators.
If we are happy with life, then we face the fear of death.
This life is such that we cannot avoid the pairs of opposites. If we accept one, then we have to accept the other. We cannot have one without the other.
Our spiritual teachers show us the way out of this life filled with pairs of opposites. They say that the problem of pairs of opposites is in our minds.
I separate myself from my true identity, Atman, which is Pure Consciousness or Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute), and consider myself a person who consists of body and mind. Then, I create my likes and dislikes according to the constitution of my mind, which is made by my ignorance and past impressions. This starts the whole drama, which is filled with pairs of opposites.
To go back to my true identity, I have to do three spiritual practices. (i) I have to listen to the teachings of the scriptures from the Holy People, which describe the nature of the Atman and ways to realize it. (ii) I have to reflect on these teachings to understand them properly, and (iii) I have to meditate on Atman until I realize that my true identity is Atman.
Thus, I can go beyond my little imaginary self, which consists of my body and mind, and go beyond the pairs of opposites. In that state, I realize all these opposites are in my mind. When the mind enjoys happiness, I will be very well aware that the same mind will make me suffer. I will not complain to God about my sorrows.
It is strange that we complain to God about our suffering, but not for giving us happiness. We complain about insults but not about the honor we have received. We complain about death, but not about giving us life. This is because of our fundamental ignorance about our true nature, Atman.
People say it is hard to realize Atman. Then, we have to live in this world of opposites, sometimes happy and sometimes sad. It is usually for a bit of time happy, and more time sad. The choice is ours.
Each day we wake up, we have to thank God for blessing us with one more day to sing God’s glory and do God’s work. Performing our responsibilities unselfishly is a great worship of God.
During the day, now and then, we should remind ourselves to repeat God’s name, sing God’s glory, and do God’s work with love—and then just do it.
At night, we should take God’s name, think about the good things we did, and consider how we can improve the next day.
5 However, the path of devotees inclined towards worshipping the Unmanifest God is more difficult. Those who are conscious of their bodies have greater difficulties realizing the Unmanifest God (Brahman).
Reflections:
The Path of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga):
In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna described infinite Brahman with eight epithets and three characteristics of a Jnana Yogi. The path of Jnana Yoga is direct. One has to think that one’s true identity is the Self or the Atman. The body, mind, and intellect are ignorantly projected on the Atman. This Atman and the Infinite form of God, Brahman, are the same. Along with the eight epithets, Brahman is considered Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. It is also described as Truth-Knowledge-Infinite. With these convictions about Atman and Brahman, one has to reflect and meditate on the Atman and realize that ‘I am Atman.’ After realizing one’s true nature as Atman, one lives in the world with the awareness that Brahman has become everything.
However, Shri Krishna says that those who wish to follow this path of worshipping the formless God face more difficulties than those who follow Bhakti yoga, the path of devotion in which they worship God with form. He further says that making progress in the Path of Knowledge is almost impossible for those who have body consciousness. Why is that? Let us reflect on the major difficulties of the followers of Jnana Yoga.
Difficulties in the Path of Knowledge:
(1) Comprehension: It is very difficult to focus the mind on God, who does not have any name, form, or quality. This God is Infinite, Unmanifested, Incomprehensive, and Omnipresent. Whatever we think of, it becomes limited and finite. Our highest idea of the infinite is the sky. But it is manifested and comprehensible. Mind cannot be focused on ‘nothing.’
(2) Self-control: Since the mind has nothing tangible to focus on, it is difficult to control it. On the other hand, the senses run after worldly objects for pleasure, and the uncontrolled restless mind naturally joins the senses and runs after the worldly objects. This makes it difficult to make any spiritual progress.
(3) Discrimination and Dispassion: In the Jnana Yoga, ‘Viveka’ and ‘Vairagya’ are two important practices. ‘Viveka’ is an ability to separate ‘what is Brahman’ and ‘what is not Brahman,’ meaning ‘what is permanent’ and ‘what is not permanent.’ Whatever is perishable is not Brahman. Thus, seekers of the formless God reject everything in the world, saying ‘not this,’ ‘not this.’ Many times, for such seekers, nothing remains after the discrimination. This makes it harder to progress in this path.
‘Vairagya’ is the capacity of the mind to renounce what is not Brahman. In the initial stages of this path, having no concrete idea of Brahman, seekers have difficulty renouncing the world, especially those attached to their bodies. For most people, the attachment to the body and cravings for worldly desires do not go away easily.
(4) Will-power and self-efforts: In this path, one needs tremendous willpower to control the restless and turbulent mind and the senses. Not many people have such willpower. They need an outside help. Seekers of this path need undaunted faith in the words of the scriptures and spiritual teachers. They have to hold on to the belief in the existence of Brahman. Such seekers are like baby monkeys who hold on to their mothers when mothers jump from one branch of a tree to another. If they lose their grips, they fall.
By meditating on the Formless, Infinite, Omnipresent Brahman, a Jnana Yogi must inspire himself/herself to continue on the Path of Knowledge. Compared to Bhakti Yoga, a Jnana Yogi has fewer supportive practices to draw inspiration and motivation.
A Jnana Yogi has to purify one’s mind through self-effort. A mind can fool itself and make compromises. Without purification of the mind, one cannot advance in the spiritual path. Therefore, a Jnana Yogi must take the help of a competent teacher.
(5) False ego: A Jnana Yogi who thinks that ‘I am Brahman’ develops a false ego, a major obstacle in this path. Generally, a person cannot even comprehend that one’s true identity is not one’s body, mind, and intellect, but it is their substratum. The difficulty is that our identities are deeply rooted in our bodies, minds, and intellect.
Only in the highest state of Samadhi (the Nirvikalpa Samadhi) does a person completely merge with the Atman, losing almost total body consciousness. Rare people attain such a stage. People witnessed Sri Ramakrishna going into this stage. In that state, he used to lose the awareness of his body, the place, and the time. When his mind was rising to that state, he used to keep a desire, like ‘I want to drink water’ or ‘I want to eat something.’ Through that desire, he said that his mind used to return to the body-consciousness. This shows how hard it is for most people to attain that state.
If a person has body consciousness and still says, “I am Atman or Brahman,” then great harm comes to the person. Such a person not only falls from the spiritual path, but many times, he/she becomes unethical and immoral, deludes oneself and others, and drags down other people to live a low-level life.
(6) Illusory reality: The Jnana Yoga says, ‘ Brahman is the only Reality, and the universe is a delusion.’ It is very difficult for a person with body consciousness to say that his/her body and the universe are an illusion. Sri Ramakrishna’s Advaita teacher, Sri Totapuri, was established in Jnana Yoga. One day, he developed a stomach pain. He told himself many times that ‘He is not a body. He is Atman, which has no pain or pleasure.’ But the pain continued. He was disgusted with himself and wanted to drown himself in the Ganga. Finally, he accepted that as long as there is body consciousness, he must accept the illusory universe as ‘true.’
The advantages of the Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga):
The title of this chapter is Bhakti Yoga. Shri Krishna wanted to point out that it is hard for most people to go beyond their body consciousness, and therefore, Jnana Yoga will be more difficult for them. Hence, for most people, Bhakti Yoga is a relatively easier path. Let us reflect on the major advantages of Bhakri Yoga.
(1) God as a human being: It is natural for a human being to think of God as a human being. As long as a person has a body, God also has a body. In his book ‘Bhakti Yoga,’ Swami Vivekananda says, “Talk as you may, try as you may, you cannot think of God except as a man (human being). You may deliver great intellectual discourses on God and all things under the sun, become great rationalists, and prove to your satisfaction that all these accounts of the Avataras (Incarnations) of God as men are nonsense. But let us come for a moment to practical common sense. What is there behind this kind of remarkable intellect? Zero, nothing, simply so much froth….By our present constitution, we are limited and bound to see God as a man. If, for instance, the buffaloes want to worship God, they will, in keeping with their own nature, see Him as a huge buffalo; if the fish want to worship God, they will have to form an idea of Him as a big fish; and men have to think of Him as a man. And these various conceptions are not due to a morbidly active imagination. Man, buffalo, and fish all may be supposed to represent so many different vessels, so to speak. All these vessels go to the sea of God to get filled with water, each according to its own shape and capacity. In the man, the water takes the shape of a man; in the buffalo, the shape of a buffalo; and in the fish, the shape of a fish. Each of these vessels has the same water of the Sea of God. When men see Him, they see Him as a man, and the animals, if they have any conception of God at all, must see Him as an animal, each according to his own ideal. So, we cannot help seeing God as a man; therefore, we are bound to worship Him as a man. There is no other way.”
Therefore, it is easy for a human being to think of God as a human being. That is why Hinduism provides various forms of God. The devotees choose the forms they like, and it becomes easy for them to focus their minds on them. The Infinite God appears to the devotee in the form of the God he/she worships.
(2) Control of the mind and the senses: In the Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga), it is easy to focus the mind on the form of God, which one likes. Also, worshiping God with form helps control one’s senses. The senses find something divine to focus on rather than worldly objects. For example, the eyes want to see God’s form, the mouth wants to sing God’s name and glory, the ears want to listen to God’s name and glories, the hands want to worship God by offering flowers, incense, naivedya, etc., and legs want to visit the places of pilgrimage or Holy People.
(3) Eradication of ego: By thinking of God as Father, Mother, or Master and oneself as God’s child or a servant, one easily eradicates one’s ego. A human relationship with God makes it easy for a devotee to surrender to God completely.
A devotee thinks, ‘ God is everything, and I am nothing.’ ‘Everything belongs to God. Nothing belongs to me.’ Thus, ‘Me and Mine’ turns into ‘Thee and Thins.’
Thinking that ‘I am an instrument in the hands of God,’ a devotee gets rid of ‘doer-ship.’
(4) Incarnations of God: For beginners on the spiritual path, it is easy to get an idea of God through the Incarnations of God. An Incarnation of God exhibits all the qualities of God in human life through his/her words and actions. Shri Krishna says (Gita 4.7-8), “O Bharat (Arjuna)! Whenever there is the decline of righteousness and a rise of unrighteousness, I incarnate Myself. I am born in every age for the protection of the good people, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness.” Humanity needs a human being to guide and show the path of righteousness. Seeing a person who day and night thinks of God and lives a God-centered life inspires us to follow his/her example and mold our lives accordingly. The lives of Incarnations provide concrete examples or role models to which devotees can connect and follow.
The scriptures describe the characteristics of people who have realized God. For example, the Bhagavad Gita describes the characteristics of people with steady intellects, beloved devotees of God, people who have gone beyond the three gunas, and others. The lives of Incarnations provide living examples of these characteristics. It is difficult to believe these states are attainable without seeing such living examples. By imitating them, the devotees develop devotion to God. Also, it is easy to focus one’s mind on the life incidents of the Incarnations. Their lives provide high ethical standards for the devotees, which helps them make spiritual progress.
(5) Grace and Assurance: When a devotee sincerely struggles to make spiritual progress, God showers His/Her grace on the devotee, removes his/her obstacles, and smooths the progress. Saints say that when a devotee goes one step towards God, God moves ten steps towards the devotee. From the Absolute Vedanta point of view, the help comes from within, but the devotee thinks it came from God. However, the devotee’s love for God becomes more intense when he/she feels God showered His/Her grace on him/her.
In the Bhagavad Gita (9.22), Shri Krishna says, “Those who worship Me without thinking of anything else, and are ever devoted to Me, I provide them what they lack and preserve what they have.” With this assurance, a devotee becomes free from any worry. A devotee is sure that the way a father or mother takes care of his/her child, God takes care of me. If a child makes a mistake, the mother worries for the child’s welfare more than punishing the child. A devotee (the worshiper of God with form) is like a kitten whom the mother holds and moves around. There is less danger of falling. Because of the devotee’s love for God, God removes the impurities of the devotee out of compassion.
A devotee is sure that God will provide what he/she needs. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the Universal Mother can even give me the knowledge of Brahman if she will.
Problems with the Bhakti Yoga:
Most people find the Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga) relatively easy. However, people are of various kinds. Some people have analytical minds. They like to reason and accept answers that convince their intellect. They ask questions regarding God with form: ‘Who is God? Is God a man or woman? Where does God live? If God is compassionate, why is there so much misery in the world? Does God favor some and punish other people? How can a God with form be infinite or eternal? Were Rama, Sita, Krishna, Radha, Shiva, and Parvati born in the past, or are they just people’s imaginations? People make pictures or statues of gods and goddesses from their imaginations. The different parts of India have different kinds of pictures or statues of Rama, Sita, Krishna, Radha, Shiva, Parvati, and others. Thus, many questions come to the minds of people who like to reason. Analytic-minded people need convincing answers before they accept God with form.
Also, people get turned off from the Bhakti Yoga for several reasons. The following are a few examples of followers of Bhakti Yoga, who turn off rational-minded people. (i) People wear external spiritual marks and make a big show, but their characters don’t match the characteristics of the devotees described in the scriptures. (ii) People become fanatics about the forms of God they worship and try to convince other people that their forms of God are superior, and all must accept them as superior. Fanatics even kill people in the name of religion. (3) People mix up emotions and devotion. They lose their ability to separate what is right and what is wrong. They even lose rational thinking and common sense. For example, in one place, from early morning, a saint’s devotees were celebrating his 90th birthday with extended worship of the saint’s photo. It was 1:00 p.m., and the worship was still going on. The saint was hungry and wanted to eat. The devotees said they would give him food after the picture’s concluding worship, ‘arati.’ (iv) People with temporary sentiments have no lifelong commitment to realizing God. They feel that a temporary emotion is devotion. (v) God loves all, but priests of some temples discriminate and prohibit certain people from entering the temples.
The Path of Devotion mixed with Knowledge:
Sri Ramakrishna encouraged devotees to have devotion mixed with Knowledge of Atman. When devotees develop such devotion, they do not become fanatics. They know that they are worshipping the Absolute Formless God in the form of their ‘Ishta Deva,’ their chosen ideal. Different forms of God are representing the same Brahman, the Formless God. Therefore, there is no need to quarrel comparing various forms of God trying to prove ‘my God is superior.’ A devotee knows very well that it is easy to start focusing one’s mind on God with form. That is why one selects a form of God one likes to worship and starts his/her spiritual practices. As the devotee advances in the spiritual path, his/her body consciousness becomes less and less, and he/she becomes qualified to realize the formless God. Also, when a devotee develops devotion with the Knowledge of Brahman, he/she can understand and follow Bhakti Yoga properly and does not deviate from the path by wrong interpretations.
Sri Ramakrishna showed from his life how to combine devotion with the Knowledge of Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna first realized God as Mother Kali, and then he experienced the Omnipresent, Infinite, and Formless God. Sri Ramakrishna described this experience in his own words: “Tota Puri (Advaita Vedanta teacher) taught me to detach my mind from all objects and plunge it into the heart of Atman. But, despite all my efforts, I could not cross the realm of name and form and lead my spirit to the Unconditional state. I had no difficulty in detaching my mind from all objects, with the one exception of the too-familiar form of the radiant Mother (Kali), the essence of pure knowledge, who appeared before me as a living reality. She barred the way to the beyond. I tried on several occasions to concentrate on the precepts of the Advaita Vedanta, but each time, the form of the Mother intervened. I said to Tota Puri in despair: ‘It is no good. I shall never succeed in lifting my spirit to the “unconditioned” state and find myself face to face with the Atman.’ He replied severely: ‘What! You say you cannot? You must!’ Looking around him, he found a piece of glass. He took it and stuck the point between my eyes. I began to meditate with all my might, and as soon as the glorious form of the Divine Mother appeared, I used my discrimination as a sword, and I clove Her in two. The last barrier fell, and my spirit immediately precipitated beyond the plane of the ‘conditioned’; I lost myself in Samadhi.”
After merging with the Brahman, the Formless aspect of God, Sri Ramakrishna again engaged himself in singing the glories of Mother Kali. He showed that as long as there is body consciousness, one should think of God with form. The experience of Formless God is possible only in Samadhi.
Sri Ramakrishna provided a nice analogy to combine these two views. He said that when we climb a staircase to reach the roof, at each step, we say, ‘This step is not the roof.’ When we reach the roof, we find that all the steps are made of the same material by which the roof is made. Similarly, initially, we deny everything in the universe as not Brahman, saying, ‘Neti, Neti – Not this, not this.’ After realizing Brahman, we see that Brahman has become everything in the universe. In particular, Brahman is manifesting through all the forms of God.
Different States of Mind:
Swami Vivekananda says that all the various philosophies of God are not contradictory. They represent various states of human minds. Hanumanji and Sant Kabir have expressed it in simple language.
Once, Lord Rama asked his devotee Hanumanji, “How do you look at Me?” Hanumanji replied, “O Rama, when I have body consciousness, I see that ‘Thou art the Master and I am your servant.’ When I am aware of my soul, then I see that ‘Thou art the Whole, and I am your part.’ But, when I am aware that ‘I am Pure Consciousness (Atman),’ I see that “Thou art I and I am Thou.’ This is my firm conviction.
Saint Kabir also showed us how to combine God’s two aspects: formless and endowed with form. He said, “The formless Absolute is my Father and God with form is my Mother.” We love both, and both are needed.
A question:
A question comes to mind: Shri Krishna said (Gita 12.4) that a Jnana Yogi comes to Me and becomes one with God. Then, what happens to those who think of God with form? We find the answer in the following shlokas.
Let us reflect upon what Shri Krishna says about the devotees who worship the Infinite, Formless God.
3 -4 “However, those who worship the Imperishable, the Indefinable, the Unmanifested, the Omnipresent, the Incomprehensible, the Unchangeable, the Immovable, and the Eternal, having controlled their senses, being even-minded everywhere, engaged in unselfish service to all, definitely reach Me only.”
In the first shloka of this chapter, Arjuna mentioned only two epithets of the Formless God (Brahman), namely, the Imperishable and the Unmanifested. In the third shloka, Shri Krishna mentioned eight epithets of Brahman, namely (1) the Imperishable, (2) the Indefinable, (3) the Unmanifested, (4) the Omnipresent, (5) the Incomprehensible, (6) the Unchangeable, (7) the Immovable, and (8) the Eternal. These epithets have been mentioned in the Upanishads.
Shri Krishna says that those who worship the Formless God (Brahman) with these epithets and who are endowed with the three characteristics, namely, (1) having total control over the senses, (2) being even-minded everywhere in all circumstances, and (3) constantly engaged in unselfish service to all, also reach the same highest state as the worshippers of God with form do.
Shri Krishna is a great teacher. He describes various aspects of Infinite Formless God clearly and states all the characteristics needed to attain It. Let us reflect upon the eight epithets and the three characteristics.
The eight epithets are interconnected. If we accept one, we have to accept all. They give us an idea of Brahman, the Formless God, from various points of view. Words cannot describe Brahman, but through words, we try to get an idea of Brahman. Keeping this limitation in mind, let us try to understand these epithets.
(1) The Imperishable (Aksharam): Rishis, the Knowers of Brahman, realized that whatever has a name, a form, and characteristics or qualities is made of five elements, namely, Space, Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth. Whatever has been composed of elements will decompose in time and will perish. Even the five elements came from Brahman or Pure Consciousness, and one day, they will merge into It. Thus, whatever has names, forms, and qualities are perishable.
We have to understand what perishable means. Perishable means going back to its origin, its Ultimate Reality. Swami Vivekananda said in his paper on Hinduism, “…chemistry could not progress further when it would discover one element out of which all others could be made. Physics would stop when it is able to fulfill its services in discovering one energy of which all the others are but manifestations, and the science of religion becomes perfect when it discovers Him (Brahman), who is the one life in a universe of death, Him, who is the constant basis of an ever-changing world, One who is the only Soul of which all souls are but delusive manifestations.”
Thus, the Rishis realized that there is only One Ultimate Reality called Brahman, which is the cause of the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe. They realized further that Brahman alone appears as the universe. Out of ignorance, a human being sees Brahman as entities confined to names, forms, and qualities, including oneself.
The title of the eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is ‘Akshara Brahma Yoga,’ ‘The Path to the Imperishable Brahman.’ At the beginning of the chapter, Arjuna asks, “What is Brahman?” Shri Krishna replies, “Brahman is the Imperishable, the Supreme.’ Thus, the Vedanta scriptures declare that Brahman is Imperishable, the Ultimate Realiity.
Brahman is Imperishable because It is devoid of names, forms, and qualities. Since It is the Ultimate Reality, It does not decompose any further. Examples have been given to understand the relationship between Brahman and the universe. (1) Golden ornaments like rings, necklaces, and earrings have names, forms, and qualities, and they look different from each other, but in reality, they are nothing but gold. When the ornaments are melted in the fire, what remains is nothing but gold. Here, the gold is the Ultimate Reality for the ornaments. (2) A kid makes objects and people from the moisturized sand on the ocean bank. After some time, he/she destroys all the forms, and what remains is the sand. Here, the sand is the Ultimate Reality for all the sand objects. (3) A movie is projected on a screen. Various characters and situations appear on the screen. People are born, they live, and they die. But, all the time, the screen remains the same. It was the screen that appeared as characters and situations, but all the time, the screen was without names, forms, and qualities that we saw in the movie. The screen was the substratum. Similarly, due to ignorance of the Ultimate Reality, we see the universe in Brahman with all the objects and beings. The universe is created, sustained, and dissolved in Brahman. (4) Consider the Brahman or Pure Consciousness to be an ocean. In the ocean, various waves appear, remain there, and then dissolve into the ocean. The waves have names, forms, and qualities, and they look different than the ocean. But in reality, all the waves are nothing but the ocean water. Similarly, Pure Consciousness appears as objects and people, but ultimately, they are not different from Pure Consciousness. Also, Pure Consciousness or Brahman is always there. It is Imperishable.
(2) The Indefinable (Anirdeshyam): The meaning of Anirdeshyam is also something we cannot point out. If we point out a thing means, we can define it. We can define a thing with a name, form, and qualities. Since Brahman is devoid of name, form, and qualities, It is indefinable.
Sri Ramakrishna said that Brahman has not become ‘Jhutha.’ If we touch food with our mouth, then it is considered as ‘Jhutha’ or polluted. He said that Brahman cannot be described by our mouth, so It is never polluted or limited. Whatever we describe becomes limited by those words. Brahman is beyond all our descriptions. Brahman manifests as the whole universe and is beyond. Brahman is Unmanifested. Therefore, It cannot be defined.
Sri Ramakrishna quoted one incident from the scriptures. A father sent his two sons to Ashrama to learn Vedanta. After learning for some time, they came home. Father asked the older son, ‘What is Braman?’ The son started describing Brahman with various epithets. The father didn’t say anything. He then turned to the younger son and asked the same question. The younger son kept his head down and didn’t say anything. From his gestures, it was clear that he could not describe Brahman. The father said, “Well, you have understood somewhat what Brahman is.”
(3) The Unmanifested (Avyaktam): Whatever is manifested has a name, form, and quality. Whatever has a name, form, and quality will perish. Brahman is Imperishable. Hence, it is not manifested.
A question comes. What is the purpose of talking about something that is not manifested? For pure Advaitist, this universe is a dream and has no real existence. Everything is Brahman, but by ignorance or delusion created by Maya, the power of Brahman, we see the universe. In the dream, there is nothing there, but we create a huge baseball field, thousands of people, and a game or various situations of joys and sorrows. When we wake up, we find nothing else but ourselves. Knowledgeable people say that, in reality, there is only Brahman, but because of our desires, ignorance, or delusion, we see a variety of things with names, forms, and qualities. Knowledgeable people say that when we get rid of our ignorance or delusion, then, just like the dream world, this world also disappears, and we see only one Reality, Brahman. Then, we understand that whatever is manifested is perishable, and Brahman is not manifested.
Shri Shankaracharya gives examples to illustrate how, due to delusion, we see things differently. He said that there is a rope lying on the floor, but in the semi-darkness, we see it as a snake and get scared. When we bring light, then we see the reality. Another example is a mirage. On a hot summer day, we see water on the ground. But, if we go closer, we find no water at all. Thus, through ignorance or delusion, we see names, forms, and qualities, but the ultimate reality is Brahman or Pure Consciousness. Thus, manifest is the universe, and Brahman remains unmanifested.
There are saints and sages like Sri Ramakrishna who say that the universe is not a dream. Sri Ramakrishna said that he accepts everything, Brahman, Its Power Shaki (or Maya), Ishwara (the creator, preserver, and dissolver), Universe, and Jiva (individuals), as true. As long as we have body consciousness, we are aware of Shakti, Ishwara, Universe, and Jiva. Only in the state of Samadhi does the universe not exist when an individual completely merges with Brahman and has no separate existence. He said that if we accept that only Brahman exists and nothing else, the total weight is not counted. Sri Ramakrishna gave an example. Bel fruit has an outer skin, an inner fruit substance that people eat, and its seed. If people say that when we buy the bel fruits, the seller must weigh only the eatable inner substance, then the seller would not agree. The seller will say that the bell fruit consists of all three things, and he/she must weigh the complete bel fruit. Thus, Brahman is the manifested universe and the Unmanifested.
What we see in the universe is the tip of an iceberg. The manifested universe is just a fraction of what is un-manifested. How many kinds of human beings, animals, insects, fish, plants, and stars have been born, are being born, and will be born in the future? If the Un-manifested Brahman is finite in nature, it creates only a finite number of varieties. Time is infinite, and in this time, infinitely many varieties of species have been born in the past, being born in the present, and will be born in the future. Even though this manifested universe looks infinite, Brahman is all of this and beyond. Ishopanishad says Brahman is infinite, and this universe is infinite. Infinite (universe) came from the infinite (Brahman) and infinite remains.’ From this point of view, a part of Brahman is manifested and most of it is unmanifested.
(4) The Omnipresent (Sarvatragama): Brahman is all-pervading. If Brahman is not somewhere, it has a limit and a shape. Whatever has a shape perishes. Therefore, Brahman is everywhere. Ishopanishad says that everything in the universe is covered by the Lord (Brahman).
It is hard for people to think that God is in both the harmless and the harmful plants, and animals, and in good and bad people. Initially, we try to see God in good plants, animals, and people. Later, when we advance in the spiritual path, we understand God is also in the bad people. Bad people cover God with their bad acts. When the cover of bad thoughts, speech, and actions is removed, God shines through them. Harmful plants and animals also have their purpose in the universe, many of which we may not understand.
(5) The Incomprehensible (Achintyam): Socrates has taught us that the sign of knowledge or wisdom is to know the fact, ‘how little we know.’ This is the reason why wise people are humble. They are aware that the finite human mind cannot know the infinite. After all these years of human research, how little we know! A research paper solves one problem and raises several new problems. Think of a circle. Think that inside the circle is all the knowledge that human beings have collected so far, and outside the circle is the world of the unknown. As the circle of knowledge gets bigger, its circumference, which is touching the world of the unknown, also gets bigger. As our knowledge of the world increases, so does our awareness of our ignorance.
Let us look at the sky. Where is its end? With a powerful telescope, we see galaxies, planets, and stars being created and destroyed trillions of light-years afar. We talk about events that took place several light-years ago, and these are only finitely many events! We go to aquariums and are amazed by the varieties of species, all different in shapes and colors. These are just a few species we have gathered during our finite time. Similarly, in any field, starting from our body and mind to the galaxies, we find that there is an infinite amount of information lying there. Sri Ramakrishna said that a one-gallon container cannot hold ten gallons of milk. Our finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite. Also, we can comprehend things that have names and forms. Such things we can grasp through our senses. Brahman is beyond names and forms. It is a support of all names and forms. Thus, Brahman is Incomprehensible. But, our finite minds can feel the infinite or develop an intuition about the infinite. Spiritual practices are to develop that feel of the infinite and mold our lives based on that experience. Great teachers of humanity have felt that infinite.
Sri Ramakrishna expresses this idea effectively. He said, “Men often think they have understood Brahman fully. Once, an ant went to a hill of sugar. One grain filled its stomach. Taking another grain in its mouth, it started homeward. On its way, it thought, ‘Next time, I shall carry home the whole hill.’ That is the way shallow minds think. They do not know that Brahman is beyond one’s words and thoughts. However great a man may be, how much can he know of Brahman? Sukadeva and sages like him may have been big ants, but even they could carry, at the most, eight or ten grains of sugar!…. Once, a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. It wanted to tell others how deep the water was. But this it could never do, for no sooner had it got into the water than it melted. Now, who was there to speak about the depth?” Anything that we perceive through our senses is finite, and thus, it cannot perceive or describe the infinite.
(6) The Unchangeable (Kutastham): The Sanskrit word “Kuta” has many meanings. In this reference, it means ‘unchangeable.’ Some people use the English word ‘immutable’ to translate it. The known analogy for this word is an anvil. An anvil is a heavy steel or iron block with a flat top, concave sides, and typically a pointed end on which metal can be hammered and shaped. A blacksmith makes various kinds of iron tools or objects by hammering the iron pieces on an anvil. At the end of the day, after all the tools or objects of various shapes are made, the anvil remains unchanged. That is why Brahman has been referred to as ‘Kutastha.’ Brahman is the substratum on which we see various objects with different names, forms, and qualities.
We can also consider ‘Kutastha’ as a television screen. So many people, objects, and situations of various kinds appear on the television screen, but the screen remains unchanged. Similarly, Brahman, due to Its power Maya, appears as various people, objects, and situations with names, forms, and qualities, but It remains unchanged.
Change needs a duality: one that is changing and another that is observing. These two could be the same person looking objectively at oneself as a separate being. Also, change happens in time. A baby is born, and after a few months or years, the baby looks different. People who see this change remember when the baby was born and how it looked. Compared to that moment, now, after a few months or years, people see the change. Babies cannot see the change in themselves unless they look at their old photos and compare them with their present look in a mirror. Thus, to perceive a change, one needs awareness, which is there all the time and is not changing. We perceive changes in the backdrop of Atman or Brahman, an eternal and unchanging awareness, which we call a witness consciousness. If Brahman or Awareness keeps changing, we cannot perceive a change. Time, space, and qualities are projected on Brahman. The reality is that Brahman is beyond time, space, and qualities. The Awareness due to the presence of Brahman and an illusory ego that limits itself to a body-mind frame sees all the changes.
(7) The Immovable (Achalam): Brahman is immovable. To move a thing, one needs room to move. Since Brahman is Omnipresent, there is no room for Brahman to move. Also, things move in space and time. Brahman is the support of time and space and is beyond both. Thus, It is immovable.
(8) The Eternal (Dhruvam): Brahman is Imperishable. Therefore, It is eternal. Brahman is like a pole star. All directions are meaningful because the pole star remains at the same place. Brahman is the cause of the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe, so it has to be eternal. All the epithets of Brahman are interconnected. If we accept one, we have to accept all.
Notes: Swami Ramsukhdasji says in “Srimad Bhagavadgita – Sadhaka-Sanjivani” that negative epithets of Brahman, like Imperishable, Indefinable, Unmanifested, Incomprehensible, Immovable, are negative adjectives of Brahman. They show that Braman is different from the universe. On the other hand, the positive epithets, such as omnipresent, eternal, blissful, truth, and consciousness, show Brahman’s independent existence.
Swami Ramsukhdasji also points out that in the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna describes the epithets of Atman, which are the same as the epithets of Brahman. For example, in Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two, shlokas 24 and 25 say, along with other things, the Self (Atman) is Eternal, All-Pervading, Unchanging, Immovable, Unmanifest, and Incomprehensible. This shows that Atman and Brahman are the same.
Three Characteristics: Shri Krishna described three characteristics needed to realize God, especially the Formless God. They are also needed to realize God with form. These characteristics are the signs of the realized people and also the practices of the seekers of a formless God. Let us reflect on these characteristics so that we can practice and develop them in our lives.
(i) Total Control of senses: One sign of a person with God-realization is having total control of one’s senses and mind. For a spiritual seeker, trying to get total control of one’s senses and mind is absolutely necessary. Kathopanishad (2.1.1) says, “The Lord has destroyed the senses by making them extrovert. Therefore, people see outside of themselves and do not see their Self inside. A rare individual with discrimination, desiring immortality, turns one’s eyes inside, and he/she realizes the Atman within.” Most people think that all the joy of life is in the objects of the world. They feel that their desires will be satisfied by worldly objects, and this satisfaction will ultimately make them very happy and help them attain contentment. That is why people run around the world to acquire worldly objects to be happy. As a person’s brain develops and acquires more experiences of the world, one finds that this joy is not in worldly objects. This joy is projected from our mind in the object. When situations change, and with it, mental outlook changes, the same object that was giving joy can give intense pain.
Mature people realize that worldly desires cannot be completely fulfilled. Knowledgeable people say that when we add ghee to a plank of burning wood, then it increases the fire. Pouring more ghee does not put off the fire. Similarly, the more we try to fulfill worldly desires, the cravings to fulfill them become more intense. For example, lust and greed are never satisfied. When we try to fulfill them, initially, we feel some joy, but then, as the cravings become more intense, we forget the joy and feel intense pain for not being able to satisfy them. Also, the efforts to satisfy worldly desires make us slaves of worldly objects. Wise people say, ‘It is good to drink tea, but tea should not drink us.’ We are happy when we live like a master and not like a slave.
A spiritual seeker should have total control of the senses and the mind to realize God. If we do not have control of our senses and minds, how can we focus them on God? Swami Ramsukhdasji says that those who like to realize the Formless God need absolute control of the senses and the mind. Devotees who worship God with form can focus their senses and minds on the form of God, but the worshippers of formless God initially have nothing to focus on.
The senses will be controlled if we control our worldly desires. Sri Ramakrishna expresses the need to control our desires very effectively. He says, “In our part of the country, I have seen peasants bringing water into their paddy fields. The fields have low ridges on all sides to prevent the water from leaking out, but these are made of mud and often have holes here and there. The peasants work themselves to death to bring the water, which, however, leaks out through the holes. Desires are the holes. You practice japa and austerities, no doubt, but they all leak out through the holes of your desires. If there are no desires, the mind naturally looks up toward God.” We pray and meditate on the Atman or Self within and make some spiritual progress. But, if our daily activities are not integrated with the goal of Self-realization, our spiritual progress gets nullified, and we go nowhere.
Senses are very powerful and very difficult to get under control. What to do? Kathopanishad (1.3.3 & 4) says, “Know the Atman (Self) as the master of the chariot, the body as the chariot, the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins. The people with discrimination call the senses as the horses, the objects of the senses as the roads, and the Self associated with body, mind, and senses as the enjoyer of the ride.” A person whose senses are not under control will have a rough ride in life, and the one whose senses are under control will have a smooth ride. We also learn from these mantras that we have to control our senses by our minds, control our minds by intellect, and control our intellect by our Self or Soul. Initially, we do not have any experience of our Self. Hence, we have to develop our intellect through the study of scriptures and holy company – a company of teachers who have realized the Atman or are committed to realizing It through sincere spiritual practices. We have to reflect upon the teachings of scriptures and develop Viveka, a sense of discrimination that tells us clearly which thoughts and activities will take us towards the Atman and which will take us away from It. With this intellect, we can control our minds, and we can control our senses by our minds. With the sense of discrimination, we make proper choices that help us realize the Atman and avoid things that diverge us from this realization. If we realize that our house is on fire, then we simply run away from the house to save ourselves. In this case, our intellect and mind are convinced that fire will kill us. Similarly, in the spiritual path, once we develop a sense of discrimination and convince the mind about what is favorable and what is not favorable, then through the mind and intellect, we can control our senses.
Which practices help us to control our senses? In the book “Raja Yoga,” Swami Vivekananda states that the Raja Yoga is divided into eight steps. The first step is “Yama,” which consists of non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving of gifts. The second step is “Niyama,” which consists of cleanliness, contentment, austerity, the study of scriptures, and self-surrender to God. These two steps build the foundation for the eight steps to realize Atman. The practice of these two steps brings control to our minds and senses. As we make progress in getting control over our minds and senses, we become fit to focus our minds on the Atman.
Practical Hints:
(a) To control lust, greed, jealousy, anger, or hatred is more difficult. For beginners, it is advised to start with making a daily schedule for spiritual practices, like prayer, japa, meditation, and reading inspiring books. Then, people have to be diligent to maintain this regular schedule. Minds will bring all kinds of excuses to break the schedule, but they should try their best to keep the schedule. This way, people get some control over their minds. Then, it is advised to keep weekly, monthly, and yearly spiritual schedules for special spiritual practices, holy company, and unselfish service.
When we start getting control over our minds, then we can work on removing the weaknesses of the mind and strengthening the positive sides of our minds.
(b) To control our minds, we have to know our minds. Start observing our minds and know their strengths and weaknesses. We get some control over our minds by just knowing our weaknesses. Then we have to work on them cleverly. The difficult part is that we have to control our minds by our minds. Keeping a diary to observe the mind is also helpful. Sincere prayers and an intense desire to control the mind and the senses are most helpful.
(ii) Even-minded in all situations: Suppose a person controls one’s senses and mind. Does this necessarily mean that one is progressing towards one’s Atman? It may not be the case. Many people with worldly goals have control over themselves. That is why Shri Krishna gave three characteristics together. All three characteristics are very important to realize one’s Self or Atman. When one realizes one’s Atman, then one finds that the same Atman resides in all beings and that the Atman does not depend on gender, age, color, creed, religion, or any external differences. Thus, a spiritual seeker of Jnana Yoga, the path of knowledge, realizes Oneness.
The more one advances towards one’s Atman, the more one identifies oneself with others. The pain and pleasures of others become his/her pain and pleasures. Also, this Oneness is not limited to one’s relatives or friends, but it envelops all beings. There is a story that a thief entered a holy man’s hut and stole a couple of pots. The holy man woke up. The thief started running. The holy man saw that the thief was running away with his pots, but he also realized that the thief did not have warm clothes to protect himself in the cold winter. The holy man ran after the thief with a blanket, shouting, ‘Hey fellow! Please stop and take this blanket. You need it badly!’ Such unselfish love is possible only when one realizes Oneness with all beings. Even when a child makes a mistake, the child’s welfare becomes more important for the mother than the punishment for the mistake. A person who has realized Atman will feel that all beings are not different from him/herself.
In the Bhagavad Gita (5.18), Shri Krishna says, “Knowledgeable people see the same Atman in all – whether it be a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility, or a cow, or an elephant, or a dog, or an outcaste.” Of course, dealings with wise people and cows will be different, but a person who has realized the Formless God sees the same Atman in all beings.
Another aspect of being even-minded everywhere is achieving a state of calmness in all circumstances, like pain or pleasure, success or failure, honor or insults, and others. This is achieved when one remains absorbed in Atman under all circumstances, is devoid of all worldly desires, has no expectations from the world, and is ever satisfied being one with Atman.
Practical Hints: First, we try to see and experience the Atman within us through meditation. As we experience the Atman within, we can see Atman in others.
The universe and life constantly bring us opposite situations, like joys and sorrows, successes and failures, honors and insults, etc. Through spiritual practices, we can develop a mind that balances our reactions to these situations and remains calm.
The reactions of the mind are just thoughts. One kind of thought creates disturbances in our mind, while another creates calmness and peace within. Suppose suffering comes, then we can go on complaining and screaming about it and get disturbed thinking, ‘Why me?’ This way, we add more pain to our miseries. On the other hand, devotees, after making all the efforts to remove the cause of suffering, think that God is the controller of everything and that God has sent this suffering either to learn something from it or to exhaust my past karma or something beneficial may come out from this, which I don’t know. Such a thought helps us to go through the suffering with a calm mind. We have to suffer anyway, then why not suffer calmly and strengthen our faith in God? We can apply the same kind of thinking in all unfavorable situations.
(iii) Engaged in selfless service to all: Realization of Oneness naturally leads to selfless service to all beings. A mother feels oneness with her child. As a consequence, she is always ready to serve her child. When a seeker of Truth or a Jnana Yogi realizes that all beings are not different from him/her, then he/she is always ready to serve all beings. Such a service has no worldly motive like material gain or name or fame. Just as the left hand of a person is ready to help the right hand when it is injured, such a realized Jnani is ready to serve all beings, considering them as part of him/herself.
Practical Hints: We can start seeing Atman or Brahman in our family members and friends and render services without any selfish motive, thinking that ‘I am serving God.’ Then, we can expand our circle to all beings. It is also good to get engaged in selfless service projects as offering our worship to the Living God.
Worship of the people who try to realize the formless God:
We know the worship of those who try to realize God with form. They decorate God, offer flowers, incense, lamps, and food, sing God’s glories, do japa, and meditate. What kind of worship of those who try to realize the formless God?
The Jnana Yogis, who try to realize the formless God through the practice of analysis and meditation, make efforts to experience that (i) Brahman alone is real, and all else is unreal, meaning impermanent, (ii) one’s own true identity is Atman, which is Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence- Knowledge-Bliss Absolute), and (iii) Atman is Brahman. This practice and selfless service to all seeing the same Atman in them are the worship of the Jnana Yogis. In the end, they merge in Brahman.
They also reach Me:
In the second shloka of this chapter, Shri Krishna said that those who worship God with form, whose minds are fixed on Him, are ever steadfast, and endowed with supreme faith are better Yogis. In this shloka, He said that the Jnana Yogis described above, who worship the formless God, also attain Him. In the Bhagavad Gita (7.18), Shri Krishna says that the Jnanis are My very Self. Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.9) says, ‘One who knows Brahman becomes one with Brahman.’ Thus, the Jnana Yogis who worship the formless God also reach the same God realized by the worshippers of God with form. There is nothing higher or lower among the great souls who have realized God either way.
Then, why did Shri Krishna first say that those who worship God with form are better yogis? The answer is in the next shloka.
2. The Lord (Shri Krishna) said, “According to my opinion, those devotees who focus their minds on Me (God with form), are endowed with supreme faith, and constantly engaged in spiritual practices to realize Me, are the best among the two Yogis.”
Sri Krishna said that the devotees who worship God in human form, focusing their minds on God, being ever steadfast and endowed with supreme faith, are well-versed in yoga. However, we should not jump to any conclusion about Sri Krishna’s opinion without reading and reflecting upon His explanations given in the subsequent shlokas. Lord Krishna also talks about His thoughts on those who worship the formless God in these shlokas.
First, let us reflect upon Sri Krishna’s answer. In this shloka, Sri Krishna mentioned three essential aspects of devotion.
(I) “Whose minds are focused on Me”:
(i) The importance of focusing our mind:
To be a Yogi, one must have the capacity to focus one’s mind on God. The human mind has tremendous power. As the concentrated sun’s rays focused through a special lens burns an object, similarly, when the mind is focused on one subject, it penetrates all the layers of the object and finds its deepest secrets. When the mind is focused on God within, it reveals the deepest secrets of one’s true divine nature. Sri Ramakrishna gave an analogy that a piece of thread will not go through the eye of a needle if it is not one-pointed. Even if a single fiber is sticking out, it would not go through the eye of a needle. Thus, without fully focusing our minds, we cannot realize the divinity within or the presence of God. Swami Vivekananda said that if he had to relearn everything in his life, he would first learn how to focus his mind, and then, through that mind, he would easily learn whatever subject he wanted.
(ii) How do we focus our minds?
It is very difficult to focus our minds. Arjuna, who had such a powerful mind, told Shri Krishna (Gita 6.34) that the mind is restless, turbulent, and mighty. Controlling the mind is as difficult as controlling the wind. Shri Krishna (Gita 6.35) agreed to this. He said one can control one’s mind through constant practice (Abhyasa Yoga) and detachment (Vairagya).
There are several ways to practice focusing our minds. A Raja Yogi practices control of the senses and mind and, through regular meditation, tries to focus one’s mind on the Self or God. A Karma Yogi first purifies one’s mind through performing unselfish activities and offering the results of all actions to God. Through such actions, one becomes unselfish and realizes the Self lying within all beings. A Jnana Yogi reasons that only the Self is real, and the world is unreal or illusory. Thus, with reasoning, he/she disregards the world and focuses his/her mind on the Self. A devotee, or a follower of Bhakti Yoga, focuses his/her mind on God through love. When one develops a love for God, the mind gets easily focused. Singing hymns, bhajans, and dhoons that describe God’s glories, sincerely doing regular prayers and japa, worshiping God, reading inspiring books, Holy Company, and practicing values described in the scriptures help develop a love for God. The combination of these yoga practices helps one get control over one’s mind and be able to focus it on God or Self.
Swami Turiyananda says, “Restlessness is the nature of the mind. It becomes calm through prayer and meditation. There is no other method. As a result of spiritual disciplines and by the grace of God, one’s mind becomes tranquil.”
(a) Abhyasa Yoga (Constant Practice):
If our minds run away while praying, japa, or meditation, we must bring them back and focus them again on the Self or God. Many other thoughts may come during this time, but they go away if we don’t associate with them. This process of bringing our minds back on the Self or God is called the Abhyasa Yoga, the Yoga of constant practice. Lovingly explaining the importance of spiritual development may help to bring the mind back and focus on God. Caring parents use various methods to make their children do the required things like eating properly on time, doing their homework, following values, and others. Similarly, we have to guide our minds by various means. We have to be careful not to force the mind unnecessarily, which may damage it. Our mind is the only thing we have to realize our True Identity, the Self or God. We should not lose patience and get frustrated. Sincerely and regularly doing japa and meditation helps us to focus the mind.
Swami Vivekananda says that before we start our japa or meditation, we should pray for the good of all. We can pray, “May all be happy, may all be healthy, may good come to all, and may no one suffer.” Hating none and loving all, seeing God in all helps reduce the distractions of the mind created by negative thoughts.
(b) Vairagya (Practice of Detachment):
A focused mind is anchored in and pervaded by a single thought of God. The Bhagavad Gita gives two analogies regarding such a focused mind: an uninterrupted flow of oil poured from one container to another and the un-flickered flame of a lamp in a windless environment.
Observing our minds, especially during prayer, japa, or meditation, can help us identify which thoughts distract us. The following are major things that usually distract our minds.
(i) Our desires: As long as we have desires for worldly enjoyment, our minds will run after the objects of the enjoyment. When our desire to realize God or make spiritual development becomes more intense than our worldly desires, the mind becomes more focused on God. We have to realize that our desires for worldly enjoyment have been deeply rooted in our minds, and the desire to realize God is relatively new. So, it takes time to make the desire to realize God stronger than all other desires.
Practice of Detachment: We need a clear conviction that spiritual pursuit is most valuable. Worldly pursuits may temporarily satisfy one’s physical, mental, and intellectual needs. Still, as such, they are transitory and have been proven useless when faced with life’s trials and tribulations. A sound spiritual foundation, on the other hand, helps a person to keep one’s mind balanced while going through mental and physical storms, such as frustrations, disappointments, sorrows, boredom, depression, and fear of death.
A mere intellectual understanding of the need for spiritual pursuit is also insufficient. One must mold one’s life according to the guidance of the scriptures and the spiritual teachers and make conscious efforts to advance in the spiritual path. This demands a disciplined life, regular spiritual practices, and a properly cultivated mind.
(ii) Dwelling on the past: The mind tends to run the mental tapes of past incidents, situations, conversations, etc. It wants to add something to them, correct them, or judge them.
Practice of Detachment: We can learn lessons from past mistakes and correct our present plans and actions if necessary. If we have done something good in the past, we must strengthen our resolve to continue doing the same. Other than these two, dwelling on the past is a waste of time. By convincing the mind that brooding over the past is not very helpful, we can stop brooding and help focus it on our Spiritual Goals.
(iii) Dwelling on the future: The mind wants to plan many things to be happy. For that reason, it daydreams about situations and incidents. It likes to imagine many things that bring happiness. Many times, simply through imagination, it also creates fearful situations and worries.
Practice of Detachment: Sometimes, our minds think about very helpful plans for our progress, but most of the time, they daydream and imagine things that are not useful at all. Carefully, we must get out of such imaginations and focus our minds on the Self or God. Also, learning how to focus our minds on the task at hand helps us improve our performance.
(iv) Dwelling on the work: The mind often does the work mentally, which will be done afterward. For example, if we are going to go for groceries after our japa (or meditation), then during the japa, the mind goes over the list of groceries, goes to the store, and starts buying things mentally.
The Practice of Detachment: During japa, if we notice our mind is doing work that we will do afterward, the restless mind gets exposed and stops doing the work. The restless mind does not want to be exposed. If it continues to do it, we must tell our mind that ‘This is a very important time for japa. Don’t waste your time and energy doing the work mentally, which will be done physically later.’ When we sit down for prayer, japa, or meditation, we can also tell our minds, ‘This is my Atman time. Please focus on Atman. Don’t bring anything related to the body and mind.’ Reading an inspiring book before japa and meditation helps the mind dwell on inspiring thoughts rather than others. Thus, we can help the mind remain focused on our spiritual goal.
The focus of the mind is equally proportional to the intensity of our desire to make spiritual progress. So, we have to intensify our desire to realize the Self. Actually, our minds do not have to focus for a long time to establish in meditation and attain the highest state of Consciousness in which we realize the Self. In Raja Yoga, Swami Vivekananda says that if we continuously focus our minds on the Self or God for twelve seconds, it is considered one unit of Dharana (concentration). Twelve units of Dharana, meaning 12 x 12 = 144 seconds = 2 minutes and 24 seconds, is one unit of Dhyana (meditation), and twelve units of Dhyana, 12 x 144 = 1,728 seconds = 28 minutes and 48 seconds, will be a state called Samadhi. Thus, even uninterruptedly focusing our minds for 12 seconds on the Self or God gives us some experience of bliss. However, we can focus our mind easily on something we grasp through our senses, but it is very difficult to focus on the Self or God. Many have attained Samadhi. So, it is not an impossible state. Even trying to go closer to the state of Samadhi fills our lives with abundant peace and bliss.
(ii) “Worship Me, ever steadfast” means constantly trying to unfold the higher Self within.
(a) Success comes with systematic hard work:
In any field of the world, if we want to make progress and attain the desired results, we must work hard for a long time. Sri Ramakrishna says that if we desire to find water, we cannot keep digging a little everywhere on the earth. First, using scientific techniques, we locate a spot on the earth where there is water. Then, we must keep digging in the same place and remove stones and dirt until the water comes. People work hard for years to become medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, professional athletes, accomplished artists, renowned scientists, or successful businesspeople. Swami Brahmananda told a disciple that attaining the Spiritual Goal takes less effort than acquiring a university degree. How much we work from kindergarten to graduate school to acquire a master’s degree! The irony is that many are unhappy with their degrees after such hard work. It is not surprising that people who have sincerely and systematically carried on spiritual practices for a long time have acquired successful results.
Like worldly pursuits, on the spiritual path, we have to get guidance from a competent teacher and then work hard following the guidelines for several years to make significant progress. There are several examples that if people are sincere in their efforts and, for some reason, they go in the wrong direction, then knowledgeable people will guide them in the right direction.
To see some results in the spiritual path, we must continue making efforts whether we have good or bad times, favorable or unfavorable situations. Saints say a minimum period of twelve years of intense spiritual practice is necessary for significant spiritual progress. More intense practice brings faster results. Swami Vivekananda says that if a seeker of God (Self) intensely does spiritual practices, then he/she can realize God (Self) in six months.
A firm conviction is needed to continue making spiritual practices for a long time. A devotee with firm conviction knows well that only spiritual progress will give him/her what he/she is searching for in the world, such as ever-lasting happiness, the highest knowledge, unselfish love, fearlessness, fulfillment, and others. The stronger the conviction, the more intense will be the tenacity to work harder and longer for spiritual development. Finally, when love for God develops, worship of God becomes natural, just like our breathing.
Those who have attained spiritual success say that on the spiritual path, if we walk one step towards God, then God walks ten steps towards us. After some progress, we realize that the spiritual reward is tens or thousands of times bigger than the worldly reward for the same amount of effort.
(b) Worship of God:
Worship of God is nothing but an expression of one’s love for God. In human relationships, we express love by offering our best to our loved ones. Similarly, in the worship of God, we offer incense, flowers, food, music, etc., and then we offer our minds, ego, and ourselves. The Infinite, omnipresent God is incomprehensible by our finite minds. Therefore, we invoke God’s presence in a picture or a symbol and offer our worship to Him/Her. Just as the national flag of a country symbolizes the whole country, similarly, the image of God symbolizes the all-pervading Reality. Swami Vivekananda says there is nothing wrong with worshiping God through a picture or a symbol. Eventually, one should outgrow this stage and begin worshipping the Living God, the sum total of all beings. Worshipping the Living God means seeing God in all and serving them. This service is an expression of love and is entirely unselfish.
(iii) “Endowed with Supreme Faith.”
(a) Faith in Spiritual Path:
In the worldly life, we have faith in banks, universities, doctors, pilots, plumbers, and all. In the spiritual life, we need much deeper faith as it is an inward journey towards our Inner Self, Atman, of God.
In spiritual life, we need faith in (i) God, Consciousness, or some power that creates, preserves, and dissolves the universe and supports our lives. (ii) the scriptures, and (iii) the words of our spiritual teacher. This is not a blind belief but a conviction derived by careful logical reasoning. In the research regarding the physical world, we desire to attain some truth, then we go to a competent guide and take guidance, read appropriate literature, work hard, and attain the truth. Similarly, we desire to realize God or the Ultimate Reality in Spiritual Research. Then, we go to spiritual teachers for guidance, read scriptures, do spiritual practices, and realize God. The faith in God was first a hypothesis; then, as we experience the presence of God through our spiritual practices guided by the scriptures and spiritual teachers, the hypothesis becomes a conviction. Finally, when we realize God, our conviction becomes a reality. Thus, the hypothesis turns into realization. At that time, all our doubts vanish. We don’t have to prove anything to ourselves or anyone else. Suppose we are enjoying the warmth of a bright sun shining on a cloudless winter day; we don’t need to prove the existence of the sun and its warmth to anyone.
The supreme faith is an intense desire to realize God. It is an active desire and not a passive one. A person with supreme faith will always be active in making efforts to realize God. Shri Ramakrishna told a story. A person’s wife was seriously ill and was about to die. A doctor said that if he could get rainwater collected on a particular day in a skull with snake poison, he could make medicine to cure his wife. It was an impossible task. But the man waited for the day and prayed to God to have a rain. To his surprise, the sky was covered by clouds and rained. After desperately running around in the cremation ground, he found a skull filled with rainwater. He intensely prayed to God for the snake’s poison. He waited and waited. Finally, he saw a frog come near the skull, and a snake jumped on the frog. The frog jumped over the skull to save itself and the snake’s poison fell in the rainwater collected in the skull. Thus, supreme faith is active, and it helps us realize God.
(b) Faith, Reason, and Doubt:
Faith is not a blind belief. A person with supreme faith keeps an eye on the Spiritual Goal, the Realization of God. He/she wants to see that through spiritual practices, he/she is advancing towards this goal. If progress is not made, such a person questions the practices to find out the reason for not making the progress and what to do to go further. Genuine spiritual teachers welcome sincere disciple’s honest doubts and questions and are eager to see the disciples continue to make spiritual progress. Genuine disciples will ask questions to understand the guidance and not challenge them.
(c) Blessed Souls:
Some people are blessed from their childhood with clear intellect and proper intuitions. They are naturally inclined to what is beneficial to themselves and all beings. They intuitively shunned themselves from the things that are harmful and destructive. Such people do not have to reason to have faith in God. From childhood, they have loved God and strived to realize God. If we are not one of those, we have to reason, try to clear doubts from our minds, and develop faith.
Conclusion:
Thus, devotees who worship God in human form, as described above, are well-versed in Yoga. What about those who worship the Formless aspect of God? What happens to them? Sri Krishna answers these questions in the following shlokas.
Chapter twelve discusses a few major aspects of Bhakti Yoga, the Path of Devotion. A devotee, the follower of this path, usually has several questions, the answers of which help him/her to have a clear understanding of the path and its practices.
In this chapter, we find that Lord Krishna Himself clearly answers the following questions: (i) Who is a better Yogi, one who worships God with form or one who worships God without form? (ii) How to realize God? (iii) What do we do if we cannot focus our mind on God? and (iv) Who is a true devotee of God?
It will be helpful to all devotees to reflect upon the answers given in this chapter and practice them wholeheartedly to develop a love for God and ultimately have a direct vision of God. At the end of the chapter, Shri Krishna himself says that a devotee who considers God as the supreme goal, endowed with faith and devotion, and follows the guidelines prescribed here is His (God’s) most beloved.
1. Arjuna asked, “Those devotees who, ever steadfast, thus worship You (God with form) and also those who worship the Imperishable, the Unmanifested – which of them are well-versed in Yoga?”
Why did Arjuna ask this question?
To understand the reason for Arjuna’s question, we have to quickly go over the essential parts of Bhagavad Gita’s chapters, tenth and eleventh.
In chapter ten of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asked Shri Krishna, “How can I realize You by constantly meditating on You? What are Your forms I should meditate on? Please tell me elaborately about Your Yogic Divine Powers and Your special manifestations. The more I listen to You, the more my desire to listen to You increases.
Then, Shri Krishna mentioned many of His forms, like Atman in the hearts of all, the Sun among the luminous objects, the Mind among the senses, the Om among all the words, the Japa among all the yajnas, the Himalaya among the immovable things and many others. In the end, He said there is no limit to His Divine manifestations. They are infinite. In short, He said, wherever you see glorious or mighty things, know they are a fraction of His Power; even the whole universe is supported by a fraction of His Power.
This partial description created Arjuna’s desire to actually see Lord Krishna’s Universal Form. In the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna showed him His Universal Form out of love for Arjuna. Arjuna enjoyed seeing the beautiful part of the Universal Form but was scared by Its horrible part. Arjuna then requested Shri Krishna to show him His loving and compassionate human form. Again, out of love, Lord Krishna showed His human form to Arjuna, making him feel more at peace.
Thus, Arjuna saw the Universal Form, which gives an idea of an Unmanifested Infinite God and the loving human form of the manifested God. After seeing these two forms, it is natural that he asked Shri Krishna which form a devotee or himself should meditate upon. He asked it differently. He asked, “Who is well-versed in Yoga, one who worships God with form or one who worships God without form?”
Those religions that believe only in God without Form do not need to consider this question. However, in Hinduism, devotees are allowed to worship God without form and with form. For these devotees, this is a fundamental question. In this chapter, Lord Krishna clearly answers this question with a logical explanation.
What does ‘thus’ (evam) mean here?
Arjuna asked, “…. devotees who, ever steadfast, thus worship You…”. What does he mean by ‘thus’?
Arjuna refers to what Shri Krishna told at the end of chapter eleven. Shri Krishna said one cannot see any forms, the Universal or the human, by studying scriptures, austerities, charity, or any other means. He said that only through love for Him (God) alone can one know, see, or essentially understand Him. He further said, “One who does My work and looks on Me as the Supreme Goal, who is devoted to Me, who is without attachment and hatred for any creature – he/she comes to Me.”
Back to the Arjuna’s question:
In Hinduism, most of the seekers of God or Truth can be divided into two categories: those who worship God in human form through idols, statues, and pictures, whom we call the followers of the Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga), and those who worship the Infinite God devoid of names, forms, and epithets, whom we refer to as the followers of the Path of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga). In particular, the students of Vedanta come across such question: scriptures like Upanishads extol the Infinite, Formless Brahman as the only one worthy of realization, while the devotional scriptures based upon the same Upanishads emphasize the worship of various forms of God or Incarnations of God. It puzzles the novice on the spiritual path. Which one of the above two is better?
Those who are inclined to the Infinite aspect of God think that people who worship God in the statues and pictures are ignorant and inferior. They asked whether a wave could represent the entire ocean. On the other hand, those who worship God in human form think that people who worship the Infinite form of God are either thinking about the void or some non-tangible abstract concept and live in an imaginary world. Such people lack sensitivity and cannot relate their God to the world. They say that the ocean does not exist without waves. Arjuna wanted to find an answer to his question from the Lord to decide which aspect of God he should worship.
Each sincere seeker of God must settle this question before starting spiritual practices. Thus, Arjuna’s question is extremely important and appropriate. Let us see what Sri Krishna’s answer is.
Chandas means Sasnkrit Poetic Meters. Pushpadanta has composed Shiva Mahimna Stotra in various Chandas. I wanted to study the structures of these Chandas. I am attaching a file that is the outcome of my study. I hope you like it. It may inspire you to write in these Chandas.
Meaning: A person, who recites Shiva Mahimna Stotra once, twice, or thrice every day, becomes free from all sins and gets worshipped in the abode of Lord Shiva.
Reflections: A spiritual seeker tries to keep his/her mind absorbed in spiritual consciousness. Shri Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita (12.14), says that one who offers his/her mind and intellect to Me, is my most beloved devotee. We have to use our intellect to keep our minds focused on God. The easy way to focus our mind on God is to repeat God’s name or recite God’s glory.
We can learn from Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi about the importance of repeating God’s name. A disciple wrote to the Holy Mother, ‘I cannot calm my mind and concentrate’ and so on. Holy Mother became agitated at these words and said, “It can be done if one repeats God’s names fifteen or twenty thousand times each day. I have seen it actually happen. Let him do that first and talk afterward if it fails. One must put one’s mind to it.”
Singing God’s glory is also an effective spiritual practice for our spiritual growth. Shiva Mahimna Stotra is filled with Lord Shiva’s glories. Every day, if one recites it once, twice, or thrice, thinking of Lord Shiva, he/she will definitely uplift his/her mind to a higher level of spiritual consciousness. When our mind remains in spiritual consciousness more often, our impurities go away from our minds.
Definitely, we have to recite this hymn with faith, a focused mind, and humility, and we must reflect upon its meaning. By Lord Shiva’s grace, when we develop love for Him, then, our mind goes to the abode of Lord Shiva and ultimately merges into Lord Shiva.
Om Namah Shivaya! May Lord Shiva bless us all.
Note: By the grace of Lord Shiva, with this shloka, I completed my reflections on the Shiva Mahimna Stotra. I posted my reflections on the Shloka 43 earlier. Writing my reflections on this divine hymn was my spiritual practice and a spiritual journey. I offer this collection of reflections at the feet of Lord Shiva.
Thank you all for joining me on this spiritual journey. Om Namah Shivaya!
Meaning: O Maheshwara (the Supreme Lord)! I don’t know your essential form. O Mahadeva (the God of gods)! Whatever is your form, I salute you again and again.
Reflections: As we evolve spiritually, our idea of God also evolves. As Swami Vivekananda expressed through “Namo namo Prabhu vakya-manatita…”, meaning, “I salute to God who is beyond the comprehension of our speech and mind, but, on the other hand, who is the support of our speech and mind.” In the final stage, one realizes that God has become everything. There is nothing in the universe that is not God. However, out of ignorance, we see things and people having different names, forms, characteristics, and their own separate existence.
Only by God’s grace, we can realize God’s true form. People who have realized God become quiet. They know that whatever they say will not describe God completely.
It seems that keeping this in mind, Pushpadanta says ‘I don’t know your essential form. But whatever is your form, I salute you again and again.’
We have to begin with whatever form of God we have in our mind. Then, as we sincerely do our spiritual practices described by the spiritual teachers and the scriptures, we get a better and better understanding of God, and ultimately, by the grace of God, we get the ultimate realization of God.
Meaning: Thus, I have offered this worship in the form of speech at the feet of Lord Shiva. May the ever-auspicious Supreme Lord be gracious to me.
Reflections: ‘Thus’ here means after the completion of the composition of the Shiva Mahimna Stotra. Pushpadanata says that this hymn was his worship of Lord Shiva through the words. He knew that Lord Shiva was ever auspicious, and He would definitely be pleased with this offering.
As we love God, God also loves us. Shri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (9.26):
“If a devotee, out of devotion, offers to me even a simple thing, such as a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I greatly accept it and enjoy it since it is a pious offering of the pure in heart.”
If we recite this Shiva Mahimna with love and devotion as an offering, Lord Shiva will be pleased with us.
Meaning: From the beginning to the end, this (Shiva Mahimna) hymn, composed by a Gandharva (Pushpadanta), is pure, wonderful, pleasing to the mind, and auspicious. It describes the glories of the Lord (Shiva).
Reflections: The poetic beauty of the Shiva Mahiman Stotra and the descriptions of Lord Shiva’s glories attract our minds easily. When we recite this Stotra with devotion and focused mind and reflect upon its meaning, we purify our mind and uplift it spiritually.
Meaning: The Shiva Mahimna Stotra has been composed by Pushpadanta, praised by great Devas and Munis, and sung by the Gandharvas. It is the main cause of attaining heaven and liberation and its effect never fails. One, who recites this hymn with folded hands and with a focused mind, goes closer to Lord Shiva.
Reflections: This is another shloka that glorifies the Shiva Mahimna Stotra and the sure effect of its recitation. Folded hands signify the faith, devotion, and humility of a devotee who recites this hymn. A focused mind is most important during the recitation. When one is reciting this hymn, one should think of its meaning and feel the presence of Lord Shiva to get closer to Him.
Recitations of such hymns are easy and effective means for spiritual development.
Meaning: Pushpadanta, the king of Gandharvas, was a servant of the supreme Lord Shiva who wears the crescent moon on his head. Because of Lord Shiva’s anger, he lost all his power, and he composed this supremely divine hymn, called Shiva Mahimna.
Reflections: This shloka reminds the story of Pushpadanta and the reason why he composed the Shiva Mahimna hymn.
Pushpadanta, the king of the Gandharvas, had the power to be invisible and move around anywhere he desired. Once, he saw a beautiful garden of King Chitraratha having varieties of flowers. He thought to offer these flowers to Lord Shiva. Even though the garden was guarded by the security people, Pushpadanta, with his power, went inside the garden at night and collected flowers of his choice without being noticed. When in the morning the King came to pick up his flowers for his worship of Lord Shiva, he found that the good flowers were already plucked. Upon inquiry, he found from the guards that no one had plucked the flowers, and no one had entered the garden at night. This stealing continued for a couple of days. King Chitraratha was puzzled. Then, he came up with an idea. He knew that anyone who stepped on the bilva leaves and the flowers offered to Lord Shiva would incur sin and must face Lord Shiva’s anger.
He asked guards to spread such leaves and flowers without stepping on them. Pushpadanta unaware of these leaves and flowers stepped on them and immediately lost his power of invisibility. The guards caught him and brought him to the king. As a punishment, the king put him in jail. To please Lord Shiva and to obtain His grace, Pushpadanta composed the Shiva Mahimna Hymn. By Lord Shiva’s grace, he received his power back and was released from jail.
Since the Shiva Mahiman Shlokas 33 – 43 describe the story of the Pushpadanta and the glories of the hymn, it is not clear whether he composed these shlokas or they were added by some other people. Common sense tells us that this shloka might not have been composed by him. However, the shloka is well-composed, and no harm in singing it.
Meaning: Initiation, charity, austerity, pilgrimage, scriptural knowledge, and performance of rituals like homa and others – the benefit of none of these is equal to one-sixteenth of the benefits one gets by reciting the Shiva Mahimna Stotra.
Reflections: This is one of the concluding shlokas that encourage devotees to read, recite, and meditate on the Shiva Mahimna Hymn.
To learn, recite, and meditate on the essence of the hymns are spiritual practices of Bhakti Yoga. Because it is related to the heart, Bhakti Yoga is easier for many devotees compared to the other paths. Recitations or singing hymns help the mind focus on the form and qualities of the god or goddess mentioned in the hymns. By Lord Shiva’s grace, for many days, I had recited Shiva Mahimna Stotra eleven times while offering ‘Abhishekam’ in a quiet secluded Shiva temple of a village Pij, Gujarat, India. I still remember the spiritual environment created by the recitations which brought absorption and peace within. I used to forget the world around me.
Sri Ramakrishna said again and again that we have to develop love for God. If we do it with understanding, then by God’s grace, the recitation of God’s glories through bhajans, dhoons, and hymns helps us develop love for God.
When we develop a love for God, then by God’s grace, we get all the benefits that one gets by practicing all the other three Yogas, performing rituals, giving in charity, going on pilgrimage, or doing any other spiritual practice.
It seems that in the earlier times in India, a hundred percent is compared to the moon shining with all its sixteen phases or ‘kalas’, meaning the moon fully shining with all its glories. Some books say that the fifteen kalas are visible and the 16th is beyond our visibility. The fifteen kalas are related to the fifteen days of the waning and waxing phases of the moon. In some books, we find the names of the sixteen kalas of the moon. They are amritaa, maanadaa, pusha, tusti, pusti, rati, dhriti, sasini (or sasichini), chandrika, kaanti (or kanta), jyotsna, sri, priti, angadaa, purnaa, and purnamritaa. The readers can search on the internet or through any other means to get more information regarding these kalas.
Thinking of the above measurement, Pushpadanta tells us that if the benefit of recitation of the Shiva Mahimna Stotra is one hundred percent which is equal to the moon shining with all its sixteen kalas, then the benefit of any other spiritual practice is not equal to even moon shining with only one kala.
Let us learn Shiva Mahina Stotra, reflect upon its essential meaning, and meditate on Lord Shiva who is nothing but Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.
Meaning: There is no god superior to Mahesha (Lord Shiva). There is no hymn superior to Shiva Mahimna. There is no mantra superior to Aghora (Omkar) Mantra. There is no ‘Tatva’ (Truth, the Ultimate Reality, or Goal) superior to the Spiritual Guru.
Reflections: Most spiritual seekers, in their initial stage, select a form of God as a chosen ideal to focus their minds on and to develop a love for God. This chosen ideal is called an “Ishta deva’. Initially, one must consider this form as the best form of God. By doing this, the seekers develop spiritual roots and make spiritual progress. As the spiritual seekers make progress, they realize that this form is just a representation of the One God, Brahman, and the selection of an ‘Ishta deva’ was only for their spiritual progress and not to put down the other forms of God. Real ‘Ishta Nishtha’ (one-pointed devotion to one’s likable form of God) does not develop fanaticism. Rather, such a devotee understands and appreciates other people’s “Ishta Nishtha’. If I love my mother dearly, I understand and appreciate other people’s love for their mothers.
Swami Adiswarananda, Spiritual Head of New York’s Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center, used to say that ‘Ishta Nishtha’ helps develop spiritual roots. If there are no roots, there will not be any fruits.
Thus, the devotees of Lord Shiva initially should consider Him to be the most superior form of God. Similarly, they must consider the mantra related to Lord Shiva as the best mantra and Lord Shiva’s hymn as the best hymn. Many devotees worship Lord Shiva as Aghora.
Finally, Pushpadana says that there is nothing higher than the spiritual teacher. Proper spiritual guidance is extremely important.
In Viveka Chudamani (3),
Shri Shankaracharya says: “Three things, namely, a human birth, desire to realize God (One’s true divine identity), and spiritual guidance, are very difficult to get and they can only be acquired by God’s grace.”
We can read many scriptural books, but without proper spiritual guidance, we may not be able to grasp the essence of these books. Also, without seeing a real living example we may not know how to practice the essence of the scriptures. Thus, proper spiritual guidance is essential. A genuine spiritual teacher who has a direct experience of God (the Ultimate Spiritual Truth) or one who is sincerely doing proper spiritual practices can wake up our inner spiritual guide. This spiritual guide is our inner conscience which helps us decide what to do and what not to do for our spiritual progress.
Sant Kabir gives the highest honor to Guru, a spiritual teacher.
Sant Kabir says, “Guru and Govinda are standing together. To whom should I salute first? I will salute my Guru first because my Guru has shown me Govinda.”
Pushpadanta, in this shloka, is saying that there is nothing higher than a spiritual teacher. The spiritual teacher takes us to our Ishta deva and in the last stage, our mind along with our Guru merges into the Ishta deva and Ishta deva merges into Brahman.
Meaning: One who recites every day this auspicious hymn of Dhurjati (Lord Shiva with matted hair) with supreme devotion and pure mind, acquires fame, abundance of wealth, and long life, and be blessed with a child in this life, and after death goes to the abode of Lord Shiva and becomes like Shiva.
Reflections: To attract worldly-minded people to the spiritual path and to encourage them to recite hymns, like Shiva Mahimna Stotra, poets add such shlokas which tell them what worldly benefits they get by reciting the hymns. Most worldly-minded people will not think of their spiritual progress until their worldly desires are extinguished either by fulfillment or by bitter experiences. Usually, people want money, a long life, children, and name and fame. Therefore, these benefits are mentioned in this shloka.
After promising worldly pleasures, Pushpadanta reminds the devotees that after their deaths, they achieve their higher goal of life, namely, going to the Shivaloka (the abode of Lord Shiva) and becoming like Shiva.
A sincere devotee wants the Ultimate Knowledge and devotion by reciting Shiva Mahimna Stotra. If people recite his hymn for Knowledge and devotion, then they become like Shiva in this very life and experience real fulfillment and bliss.
Meanng: Lord Chandrasekhara (Shiva) has been worshipped by devas, danavas (demons), and sages, and His glories have been described in the Vedas. He is a God with form and without form. The most virtuous Pushpadanta composed a wonderful hymn for Lord Chandrasekhara in various long Sanskrit poetry meters.
Reflections: Lord Shiva is filled with compassion and love for all. He can be easily pleased. That is why he is also known as ‘Bholanath’, a simple-minded God who can be easily pleased. Because of his love for all, people with different mindsets, like devas, danavas, and sages, worship Lord Shiva.
Three important things have been mentioned in this shloka: (i) Lord Shiva has a crescent moon on his head, (ii) Shiva Mahimna Stotra has been composed in long Chandas, meaning in long Sanskrit Poetic Meters, and (iii) The Shiva is God with form and God without form. Let us look into these things.
(i) Why Lord Shiva is called ‘Indumaule’, ‘Chandramauli’, or ‘Chandrasekhara’?
Chandra (Moon) was married to twenty-seven daughters of Daksha Prajapati. (This is symbolic. There are 27 Nakshatras or Constellations, connected to the Chandra (Moon)).
Over some time, Chandra was more attracted to Rohini, one of the twenty-seven wives. The other twenty-six wives complained to their father Daksha about this unfair treatment. Daksha sat down a couple of times with Chandra and requested him to treat all his wives equally, but Chandra turned a deaf ear to Daksha’s request.
Finally, Daksha got angry and cursed Chandra ‘You will have the tuberculosis disease and you will wane. You will slowly lose your luster and disappear’. Chandra started decreasing and losing his luster. All devas and Rishis were worried because Chandra (Moon) was needed for the juice in the vegetation. Chandra also did not want to die. He went to all the devas and requested them to go to Brahma, the Creator, and find the solution. Brahma told them that Chandra should go to the sacred place called Prabhasa with all the devas, establish a Shivalinga there, offer worship to Lord Shiva, and try to please Lord Shiva with the ‘Japa of the Mrutunjaya Mantra’.
Chandra did everything that Brahma had told him to do and with his severe austerity, he pleased Lord Shiva. When Lord Shiva asked Chandra what he wanted, Chandra said to make him free from the tuberculosis disease. Lord Shiva said that Daksha’s curse would remain, and because of that he would wane for 15 days, but after 15 days he would grow again to his normal form. This is how the waxing and waning of Chandra (moon) started.
Then, the devas and Rishis were very happy and requested Lord Shiva to stay at that place. Lord Shiva blessed all and said that his presence would be felt at that place. This place is nothing but one of the famous Twelve Jyotirlingas (luminous emblems of Lord Shiva), called Somanath Temple in Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. ‘Soma’ means Chandra. Thus, Lord Shiva glorified Chandra.
People say that to glorify Chandra more, Lord Shiva wears Chandra, a crescent moon, on his head. It could be symbolic indicating that Lord Shiva is the controller of the time, and this cycle of birth, growth, and death is eternal. Because of all these events Lord Shiva is known as ‘Indumaule’, ‘Chandramauli’, and ‘Chandrasekhara’.
(ii) Chanda (Sanskrit Poetry Meters) in Shiva Mahimna Stotra:
It has been mentioned that Siva Mahimna Stotra has been composed in long Chandas. The following is the list of these Chandas used in this Stotra.
Shlokas 1 – 29: Shiva Mahimna Stotra’s shlokas 1 through 29 are composed in ‘Shikharini” chanda. It consists of 17 syllables. There is a pause after the 6th syllable. The 2nd – 6th, 12th, 13th, and 17th syllables are long and the others are short. One has to learn about the long and the short syllables.
Shloka 30: This shloka has been composed in ‘Harini’ Chanda. It also contains 17 syllables but has a pause after the 8th syllable. However, in this chanda, the 6th – 10th, 12th, 15th, and 17th syllables are long and the others are short.
Shlokas 31st – 34th, 37th and 38th: These shlokas are composed in ‘Malini’ chanda. It consists of 15 syllables and has a pause after the 8th syllable. The 7th – 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th, and 15th syllables are long, while the others are short.
Shlokas 35th, 36th, and 39th – 42nd: These shlokas are composed in ‘Anushtupa’ chanda. Most of the Bhagavad Gita’s shlokas are in this chanda. It contains 8 syllables in the half line. The full line has 16 syllables. In this Chanda, the 5th syllable is short, the 6th syllable is long, and the 7th syllable is alternately long and short.
Shloka 43: The last shloka has been composed in ‘Vasantatilaka’ or ‘Vasantatilakam’ Chanda. It contains 14 syllables. The pause comes after the 8th syllable. The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 11th, 13th, and 14th syllables are long and others are short. However, in the 13th and 14th syllables, the poet takes the liberty to keep it long or short.
Thus, we can see that the great poet Pushpadanta has beautifully composed Shiva Mahimna Stotra in these long Chandas with the restrictions of long and short syllables and still it has deeper meanings, is filled with devotion, and has wonderful poetry.
(iii) Lord Shiva is a God with form, and also a God without a form: In most of the hymns of Hindu gods and goddesses, there are indications that these gods and goddesses have form, but they represent the formless God, called Brahman, which is only one. For most of the people, it is difficult to think of God without any form. In the universe we constantly perceive things with forms and qualities, therefore it is easy for most people to think of God with forms having virtues. This shloka reminds us that Shiva Mahimna Stotra praises Lord Shiva with form and without form.
mahendrajani 