Vivekachudamani - Post 37

  Verse 31   

मोक्षकारणसामग्र्यां भक्तिरेव गरीयसी ।
स्वस्वरूपानुसन्धानं भक्तिरित्यभिधीयते ॥ ३१ ॥

 

mokṣakāraṇasāmagryāṃ bhaktireva garīyasī |
svasvarūpānusandhānaṃ bhaktirityabhidhīyate || 31 || 

(Among the instruments and conditions necessary for Liberation, bhakti alone is supreme. A constant attempt to live up to one's own real nature is called single pointed devotion.) 

 

So here Sankara is introducing another important sadhana.  In addition to sadhana catuṣṭaya sampatti; another sadhana or preparatory step is introduced, and that is Bhakti; and the word Bhakti is the most confusing word because it has got so many meanings, so many interpretations. 

So we have to understand the word Bhakti clearly. One meaning which is the popular meaning is that Bhakti is love of God, which is generally called devotion; which is perfectly alright. So Bhakti is love of God.

But here Bhakti is presented as a, that means something you practice. I have to do something. Bhakti as a sadhana does not refer to a particular action but it refers to a series of spiritual disciplines.

 

Sankara wants to say that Bhakti in the form of jnana yoga is very important sadhana. Bhakti in the form of karma is important. Bhakti in the form of upasana is important. 

But here Sankara focuses the highest level of Bhakti which is scriptural study, consisting of sravaṇam, consistent systematic study under a guru. Mananam is dwelling upon it until I am convinced. Nidhidhyasanam is assimilating the teaching; transforming my life style. 

There should be a change in my life. Therefore, assimilation leading to transformation in life. It is called vedanta sravana, manana, nidhidhyasanam. 

In English, scriptural enquiry, which is also called Bhakti. What level of Bhakti? The highest level of Bhakti.

What is Bhakti here; sva svarupa anusandhanam. Dwelling upon. Anusandhanam means dwelling upon. Which indicates shravanam, mananam, and nidhidhyasanam.

This Bhakti alone, in the fourth chapter of the Gītā Bhagavan calls as  jnana yajnaḥ. All other yajna like puja, various yagas, and various pilgrimages are also called yajnas, which are expression of your Bhakti; but among various expressions of Bhakti, Krishna includes jnana yajna; hence it is a puja, but he also says sreyan dravyamayad yajna jnanayajnaḥ paraṃtapa. The scriptural study is the highest form of worship.

Assuming that the seeker has a large share of intelligent detachment,  a conspicuous amount of anxiety to liberate himself from his inborn  weaknesses and also a fully developed moral and ethical life, the  question comes to one's mind, 'What practice should one adopt  in order to integrate oneself into a proportionately beautiful,  divine existence?' 

According to Vedanta, the means of self-integration on the path of knowledge is atma-vichara or constant meditation upon the nature of the eternal Self, but Sankara makes use of a popular word to indicate the subtle practice of meditation, resulting in a constant awareness of the Divine in us, which can be maintained only if we maintain in ourselves an unbroken stream of divine thoughts. 

So anusandhana  when it is unbroken, it increases the frequency of divine thoughts  in us and when the frequency of such thoughts comes to the degree  of frequency with which the ego-idea now persists in our hearts,  we shall be able to experience the Divine as intimately and freely  as we experience now our egocentric life. 

Therefore, when we re-read the verse with a correct understanding of the practical implication of atma-vichara and the suggestions of bhakti-marga, we find that Sankara is only too right when he says that for those who want to walk the path of knowledge and reach the Ultimate, the most efficient technique is bhakti, restated in its correct meaning.

It is appropriate to go through few sayings of Sri Ramana on “Bhakti", 

"Bhakti is not different from mukti. Bhakti is as being Self (svarupa). One is always That. He realizes it by the means he adopts."

"What is bhakti? To think of God. That means only one thought prevails to the exclusion of all other thoughts.

That is of God which is the Self or it is the self-surrender unto God; When He has taken you up, nothing will assail you. The absence of thoughts is bhakti. It is also mukti."

"The Saguna merges in the Nirguna in the long run. The saguna purifies the mind and takes one to the final goal. The afflicted one, the seeker of knowledge and the seeker of gains are all dear to God."

"To know God is to love God. Therefore the path of bhakti and of jnana are same. "

 

Love.