STAGES AND ASPECTS OF BHAKTI

Love is of three varieties: unselfish (Samartha), mutual (Samanjasa) and ordinary or selfish (Sadharana). Unselfish love is of the highest kind. The lover here seeks only the welfare of the beloved, and does not care whether he suffers pains and hardships thereby. The second kind of love is mutual love in which the lover desires not only the happiness of his beloved, but has an eye to his own happiness also. Selfish love is the lowest. It makes a man only care for his own happiness without having any regard for the weal or woe of the beloved.

As there are shades of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas in worldliness, so Bhakti has its corresponding aspects. There is one type of Bhakti that partakes of the humility of Sattva, another that is characterised by the ostentation of Rajas, and a third by the brute force of Tamas.

The Sattvic devotee performs his devotions in secret. He meditates in the night in his bed inside the mosquito-curtain, and therefore rises late in the morning—a fact explained by his friends as due to want of good sleep. The care he bestows on the body ends by providing it with plain food—perhaps a little rice and vegetables. Of luxury he has none, either in food or in dress. There is no show of fittings and furniture in his house, and he never seeks to rise in the world by flattery. The Rajasic devotee has perhaps distinctive sectarian marks on his body and beads round his neck, with perhaps a few golden ones interspersed. He is particular about outward observances such as wearing silk at the time of worship and celebrating the worship of the Deity with pomp and splendour.

The Tamasic devotee has a fiery faith. He applies force to God like a robber seizing things by force. " What!" he says, "I have uttered His 'name' and yet I am to remain sinful! I am His son! I am duly entitled to the inheritance of His wealth I" Such is his vehement ardour.

Q. What is the violent form of devotion ?

A. It is becoming mad with the constant and terrific uttering of Jai Kali' (Glory to the Divine Mother), or dancing like a maniac with arms upraised and shouting praise of Hari (Hari-bol). In this iron age (Kali Yuga) the violent form of devotion is more suitable than other forms; it brings speedier fruition than do milder forms of contemplation. The citadel of God must be taken by storm.

These are the stages of Sadhana (devotional practice) for the purification of the soul:

(1) Sadhu-sanga or the company of holy men; (2) Sraddha or faith in, and devotion to things relating to the Spirit; (3) Nishtha or single-minded devotion to one's ideal; (4) Bhakti or intense love of God; (5) Bhava or the state of speechless absorption in the thought of God; and (6) Mahabhava—When Bhava is intensified, it is called Mahabhava. The devotee sometimes laughs and sometimes weeps like a mad man. He has completely conquered the flesh and has no consciousness of his body. This stage is not generally attained by ordinary souls but by Mahapurushas or Incarnations of God only. (7) Prema or the most intense love of God. It goes hand in hand with Mahabhava. The two marks of this stage are: first, forgetfulness of the world ; second, forgetfulness of self, which includes one's own body. This brings the devotee face to face with God, and he thus attains the goal of life.

"This much of pious duties has been enjoined by the scriptures, so I am doing it"—this sort of attitude is called Vaidhi-bhakti. There is another kind of devotion known as Raga-bhakti, which comes through extreme love of God—as was the case with Prahlada. When that Raga-bhakti appears, there remains no necessity to do the "enjoined works" (Vaidhi-karma).

There is the kind of Bhakti which is called Vaidhi-bhakti (devotion as enjoined by the scriptures). Repeating the name' of God a certain number of times, fasting on certain occasions, making pilgrimages to certain shrines, worshipping with certain articles—these and other observances constitute Vaidhi-bhakti. Practice of this for a long time leads one to the higher aspect of devotion known as Raga-bhakti. Love is the one thing needful. Worldly ideas must go away completely ; the mind should be set on Him " in all its sixteen annas" (i.e., wholly) and only then you can reach Him. Without Raga-bhakti one cannot attain Him.

Love of God is of two kinds: First, the Bhakti which is enjoined by the scriptures. We are to worship in a certain way or repeat the name' of the Lord so many times, and so on. All this belongs to what is known as Vaidhi-bhakti, i.e., devotion according to the Law. It may lead to pure devotion and Knowledge of the Absolute in Samadhi. The self is thus merged in the Universal Soul never to come back. This is the case with ordinary devotees. But quite different is the case with Divine Incarnations and those that are the Lords own. Their love of God is not made up of mere scriptural formulas. It springs from within. It wells up from the soul. Divine Incarnations (like Sri Chaitanya) and those that are nearest to Him, have within their reach the Knowledge of the Absolute attainable in Samadhi, and at the same time may come down from that height, retaining their self and loving the Lord as Father, Mother, and so on. Saying, ' Not this,' Not this,' they leave behind them the stairs one after another until they get to the roof. Reaching there, they say, ' It is this. But soon they find out that the staircase is made up of the same materials as the roof itself—brick lime and brick-dust. So they walk up and down, sometimes resting on the roof and sometimes on the steps of the staircase.

The roof symbolises the Absolute realised in Samadhi, in which the self responding to the sense-world is blotted out. The staircase is the phenomenal world, theworld of name and form. When one has attained that roof of Samadhi, one realises the world as a manifestation of the Absolute to the human senses.