Quality#14
Anapeksha
Free from wants
Devotees are rich in divine love for God and
they consider it to be the highest treasure worthy of possessing.
Want comes from where?? Again, it traces back
its origin to Avidya, Ignorance of our divine nature leading to ----
Asmita (Mine-ness, I-ness) ---- Raga, Attachment. From attachment comes desire
to own the object / being, to whom you are attached.
A small kid sees a toy, develops attachment
to it, then only the WANT to own the toy crops up, then only it rushes to own it.
It does not mean that such a devotee will not
own anything at all.
In Vivekachudamani, Chinmaya, while
commenting on a verse, explains the nature of such a person (call
him Bhakta, call him Jnani, it does not matter, the state of existence is the
same for both of them), in the following manner
“Like child sleeping in cold , when a
blanket is wrapped around it by someone, it feels the warmth of blanket, it
does not reject it, it accepts in innocence and returns to sleep”
Since all human beings are filled with wants,
when they look at such a bhakta / jnana wrapped in a blanket or coat, says,
“See, this person calls himself a Jnani, still he is adorning such a cosy coat”
Swami Sivananda used to wear a long coat and
when someone commented on the same, he smiled and said, “ for you, it may be a
long overcoat, for me, it is rugged woolen cloth, worn by me so that, in this
cold climate (Hrishikesh), when a call comes from someone who needs my service,
I can run to him easily with this cloth”!!!!
Quality#15
Suchi
Pure
We know by now that we are created PURE by
God.
Then why is it that we ever get impure??
When we are filled with Ego,
we develop attachment, Hatred and then along with them
come all their byproducts- Anger, Greed, Lust, Envy etc.
And, we undertake actions, propelled by such
undesirable qualities, our actions fetch us Karma. Caught in this
vicious circle, we develop our Sanskara and the whole
sequence explained, renders our thoughts / our actions impure.
On the other hand, what would be the nature
of a true devotee / jnani?
Since his minds are constantly
absorbed in the all-pure Lord, devotees become internally cleansed from the
defects of lust, anger, greed, envy, ego, etc.
In this state of mind, they naturally prefer
to keep the external body and environment pure as well. Thus, in
accordance with the old saying, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” they are
also externally pure.
Quality#16
Daksha
Expert
Author cannot but look at Sri Krishna awestuck at the sequence in which the qualities have been enumerated in this
chapter by the Lord!!
This quality - EXPERT, is but the
manifestation of the previous quality - PURE.
He writes this from his real lifetime
experience and hence, you may or may not find this alignment of being PURE with
being EXPERT, in any other commentary on this verse.
We have understood about “Suchi” and how such
a devotee is internally and externally pure.
Now, with this purity, he goes about in the
world, performing the necessary duties.
If internally he is not pure, what happens??
He will have preconceived thoughts / notions / impressions about each and every
person whom he comes into contact throughout the day, while performing his /
her duties as house holder or pursuing career etc.
And his interaction with all beings during
the day is with the background of his impressions about them, it could be
excessive attachment or excessive hatred or greed or lust etc.
What happens?? His planning, his acts, his
behavior, is all colored by these bad qualities and the results are often not
to a total perfection level.
Whereas, with inner purity, his heart, his
body, his mind is fully charged up, full of energy and spirit as he is
approaching the day with utmost purity, with no ego to being down /
deflate his energy, focus, concentration and spirit.
How would be the results of actions
undertaken with such energy level, with such focus and attention??
Obviously, everything turns out to be
perfect, as if they are planned, organized and executed by AN EXPERT, though he
may not be an expert in that field in worldly terms.
Whatever he talks, whatever he does, is
experienced by the world as PERFECT, done with EXPERTISE.
A Master writes on a devotee
endowed with this quality, an EXPERT, thus:-
“He is very able in the performance of his
duties. Whether they are spiritual duties in the form of meditation or external
duties in the form of relations with society, he is expert, adroit and very
precise in his behavior, and he will not bungle in his attitude. But he looks
like an uninterested person. He does not talk much. He does not take any
initiative, and keeps quiet, as if he is not interested in anything in this
world. Yet he is very able, a very great expert, and when he starts doing a
thing, he will do it in a more expert manner than anybody else”
Love.
