Sutra 36. Avyaavrita Bhajanaat.
[By uninterrupted worship (success is attained in the
practice of devotion)]
Avyavrita-bhajanaat : by uninterrupted worship.
This Sutra explains the foregoing one. In the previous
Sutra it is said that devotion to God may be developed by abandoning objects of
desire and attachment to objects. But how can one overcome this attraction ?
This answer is given in this Sutra .
The attraction or temptation of worldly desires may be
overcome by uninterrupted worship of God .
Lord Krishna says in Gita, “0 Ariuna ! he who constantly
thinks of Me, without any other thought,
I am easily reached by that Yogi, who is thus ceaselessly
attached to Me.” VIII-14.
You can make a rope out of sand, you can press oil out of sand, you can churn out butter from water but no one can cross over this formidable Samsara or ocean of births and deaths without ceaseless Bhajana or worship of the Lord.
Pooja, Seva are also Bhajan or worship. All kinds of
service to the Lord in a spirit of devotion is Bhajan. Service of humanity with
Divine Bhav is also worship or Bhajan .
Dear All,
- The Same God who have created us, has created Maya in this creation.
- While He himself is on one end, beckoning us to reach him through learning and practicing such sutras, the glittering attractions in this world is also there on the other side, which is also His creation.
- The experience on worshipping Lord is there in our hours of sincere worship but that is subtle, felt by the heart where, God is not physically available to us 24/7.
- Whereas, when we come out of the experience of worship, the worldly attractions, the husband / wife / children / father / mother / Beloved / Fiancee / Career / Wealth / property / Bank Balance / Fame / Power - All these things are not as abstract as God, they are at a very Gross level.
- For example, there is no inward prayer / inward journey required to feel the pleasure of physical needs as the experience is very Gross and too pleasing to the person at physical level itself.
- So, man gets carried away. It is always that the subtler experience needs more practice, more efforts whereas the Gross experience are all obvious.
- In worldly attainments, Man knows, if I do this, I will get this.
- In devotion / In the path of Wisdom etc., Man is never sure, on doing what, He can achieve uninterrupted devotion, uninterrupted absorption on Truth explained in devotional / Wisdom related treatise.
- SO, THE MOST OR MORE OBVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD GAINS WEIGHT OVER THE MORE SUBTLER AND INWARD EXPERIENCE AND THE GOAL IS OFTEN MISSED!!!
What is the solution???
- It is not possible to arrest the mind which goes to the world and bring it aggressively to God worship.
- Only solution is , through sincere practice, SURRENDER the MIND which runs to the world, at the lotus feet of the Lord, giving the ownership of the mind to God Himself.
- It is tough, but it is not impossible.
From where to begin??
- First of all, whether we like it or not, the mind turns toward God, towards spirituality fully only when our previous karmas are cleared to a large extent and we have suffered / enjoyed the fruits of all karmas of our past.
- Instead of accepting defeat and saying, "what to do, it is my karma that I am not able to progress spiritually", One must make God a partner and invoke His grace, His support, His strength so that one may, in spite of what ever one is undergoing, still focus on God, be clear that ultimately, he / She is born as Human, only to realize that beyond the limitations of his / her human existence, the reality is that they are divine and the purpose of life is only to discover this reality and exist as DIVINE.
- With this clarity, the devotee cries out to Lord.
Mujhe Shakti Do mere Sai Shiva
Mujhe Bhakti Do mere Sai Shiva
(O Lord, in this samsara, with my own conviction, on my own, with my own strength, it is too difficult for me to tear apart the gross, visible attractions to enter into the realm of incessant worship and hence, come, give me the strength so that, I may remember You, I may keep You as my partner, my Sakha, my Lord, wherever I go, what ever I do!!)
The Lord turns back, embraces the devotee and whispers, ' Enough, if the above prayer is really sincere, I shall grant you the strength, I shall grace you with uninterrupted devotion and then, you need not sing the last line Mujha Mukhti do mere Sai shiva, (the composer of the bhajan may please excuse the author, what he is writing is not to
undermine the strength of the last line but to really bring about the essence), with your utmost sincere devotion towards me, I shall grant you Mukhti without your asking, for, My only job is to grant you Mukhti, provided you are sincere in your Bhakti!!!!
In Sutra 35 the spiritual practice is of a negative character.
It is avoidance of evil. But in this Sutra it is an active spiritual practice.
Swami Sivananda roars thus:
"You must be a spiritual hero, an Adhyatmic undaunted soldier. You must not be afraid of obstacles and difficulties. You must surmount them patiently and cross all the hurdles that stand in your spiritual path. Let the inner, spiritual fire and aspiration burn steadily. Plod on. Persevere, and come out victorious."
"You must be a spiritual hero, an Adhyatmic undaunted soldier. You must not be afraid of obstacles and difficulties. You must surmount them patiently and cross all the hurdles that stand in your spiritual path. Let the inner, spiritual fire and aspiration burn steadily. Plod on. Persevere, and come out victorious."
Love.
