Narada Bhakti Sutra - Post 67

Sutra 61. Lokahaanau chintaa na kaaryaa nivedita atmalokavedatwaat.

[The Bhakta should feel no anxiety about worldly concerns, as he has consecrated himself, the world as well as the Vedas to the Lord.]

Loka-haanau: with regard to the miseries of the world, in respect of social disorganization

Chintaa: anxiety, thought

na: not

Kaaryaa: should be cherished, is to be entertained

Nivedita-atma-loka-vedatvaat: on account of his having surrendered to the Lord his own Self, the worlds and the Vedas.

Let us start off with seemingly impossible aspect of this sutra and then proceed to see how it is possible to exist as per this sutra.

Question of a normal human being

There is a line in an old Tamil movie where the poet writes, in contradiction to this sutra's affirmation.

The Hero, in extreme pain on events in his life / his sister's life etc., sings:

"Pambu vandu kadikaiyil, Pazhum vayiru tudikkaiyil yaar mugattil pongi varum sirippu?"

(When a snake comes and bites someone, when someone is hungry without food for days together, then, if  such  beings are asked to smile when you are in distress, then how can they smile?)

So, in the early stages in devotion, how can a devotee stand by this Sutra's affirmation and say, 

"O Bhagawan, this is all your Maya only, I know You are just behind this very sorrow I am now facing, I am not the mind and its sorrows, I am the knower of the sorrows, and so the sorrows cannot be me or mine".

May be a man of wisdom, a true Jnani can say like this. But how can a simple devotee rise to this level???

Answer to the volley of questions shot above 

A Jnani has to go through all the 4 qualifications of Viveka, Vairagya, Shad Sampath, proceed to a Realized master who can take him, give him shelter in His Kutir, teach Him vedas and vedanta.

And, the seeker has to go through the three processes - Shravanam (Listening to the Guru's teachings), Mananam (Accepting the truth in what ever heard, believing in what ever heard) and Nidhidhyasanam (Proceed to absorb intensely, what ever heard and then believed to be a true path).

But a devotee - he does not have to necessarily go through various treatise, he does not have to listen to discourses, he does not have to undertake severe austerities to rise above all anxieties / worries related to this world. 

All that he has to do is - "Surrender his mind, his existence at the lotus feet of his chosen Lord".

Like the famous English line which says "you cannot have the cake and eat it too", it is not possible to retain one's mind, one's ego and then also surrender to God and say, "I have surrendered all my thoughts, words and  words  to God".

Either you retain your mind with you or you leave it at Lord's lotus feet when you prostrate at His feet in the alter when you do the namaskaram after the Bhajan session ends and the Aarti gets over.

So, all that has to be done is - "DEVELOPING AN UNSHAKABLE ATTITUDE OF SURRENDER THAT I WILL DO MY BEST IN MY ROLE AS HUSBAND, FATHER, SON, MANAGER IN MY CO., OFFICE BEARER IN SPIRITUAL ORGANIZATION ETC. ETC, AND MY ROLE ENDS WITH MY PERFORMING MY DUTIES. RESULTS - I HAVE ALREADY OFFERED TO YOU, O BHAGAWAN, AS MY MIND HAS BEEN OFFERED TO YOU WHEN I HAVE KEPT MY HEAD AT YOUR FEET".

Without such an attitude, we are actually not devotees, we are but a part time seekers!!!!

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The devotee need not worry if his affairs go wrong, because his self, worldly affairs and even the Vedas have been surrendered to the Lord .

Just as a drop of curd decomposes a large quantity of milk, so also does the love of the world stand in the way of attaining the highest devotion.

When the devotee surrenders himself and his all to the Lord, the Lord removes all his anxieties. He takes away the mind of his devotee. How can he then worry about the loss in the absence of the mind ?

This Sutra does not advocate hardness of heart or indifference to human suffering. 

It does not condemn the charitable acts and philanthropic work of large-hearted people. 

It emphasises only one point — Chintaa-na-kaarya — No anxiety or worry is to be entertained.

The devotee has surrendered his very existence (intellect, mind and body), attachment to the world and also his reverence to the Vedas (discipline, rules etc.) as Nivedanam to the Lord.

More than all the prasadams, all the ritualistic offerings which we undertake in various Puja, all that Swami wants from us is to offer ourselves ENTIRELY to HIM, for HIM to take over and rule us, inside out!!!!

This is the true Nivedanam which is prescribed by Devarishi in this Sutra.

With this surrender, a true devotee cultivates a spirit of renunciation, the joy of surrender and a constant sense of self-offering to his chosen Lord.

TO GIVE EVER IS THE EXPRESSION OF LOVE!!!

Love is measured by the joy of sacrifice - of giving oneself and one's all to his beloved Lord.

Did Sai not call his devotees and say, "I am yours, you are Mine"?

How can one take back what has been offered in LOVE??

So, the expression of this sutra- "The Bhakta should feel no anxiety about worldly concerns, as he has consecrated himself, the world as well as the Vedas to the Lord, 

is experienced in  a / the most grand, most wonderful climax where, instead of offering his actions, his thoughts, his words, the fruits of his actions etc., the devotee OFFERS HIS LOVE, WHICH IS THE TREASURE BESTOWED ON HIM BY THE LORD, BACK TO HIM, CRYING  OUT,

" Tera Tujhko Arpan"

(O Lord, anything else, apart from Love, cannot be claimed as a true offering as all the above die or wither away with passage of time, but I am offering You the most beautiful gift which You gave me and sent me to this world, which is nothing else but You Yourself. I am offering my love, I am offering me as Love, to You, who are nothing but Love, so that, Let LOVE merge in LOVE and then, thereafter, EXIST ONLY AS LOVE)!!!!!

Love.

PS- Devotees of Sai Sadan, Muscat, may pick up the Samarpan booklet which might have gathered a lot of dust by now, from the corner of their shelves, (if somehow they can remember where they kept it last, 3 years before when their brother Sathya retired from his coordinator role) and then read the   Bhajan "TUMHE NAMASKAR SAI BABA" along with its interpretation, especially the line "Prem Dakshina Sveekaro Bhagwan"!!!!!!.

Whether any one remembers any thing about this Bhajan or not, Sathya still vividly what Sai made him speak on this bhajan, this line, when this bhajan was taught - ne - learnt together at  Sai's Lotus feet in Sadan.

Love.