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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
On many occasions I have explained what the human personality consists of so far as our life, interaction with the world, experiences, knowledge, memory and other allied factors are concerned. Besides the analysis of the human personality, the gross body and the subtle mind, intelligence and ego, I have also emphasized one important point that our activities can be sensory and bodily. They are of least effect. The next exclusive kind of activity will be with the tongue and mouth, bringing forth sound, words, phrases, essays etc. This is an exclusive activity, though it is bodily, it is from the mouth. With sounds, consonants, vowels etc. how many words can we make? Actually, they are all creations by the human mouth and brain.
Sound is called a shabda-prapancha. The external universe is a dravya prapancha, a material universe. This is a sound prapancha, a sound world. Any activity that you perform with sound, even you pray, you do puja etc., the bodily part will have the least effect, one; and the oral part will have ten times effect. Then there are two more without which even the external activity cannot and will not take place, that is the mental one. The mind has to employ the senses, direct them in the manner it wants and when the senses contact the objects, the mind has to take imprints in itself of all the contacts and interactions. So, mind is independent, though body and senses are associated with it. Now the mental activity has got one hundred effect. The topmost of all is the intelligential activity where you start introspecting over or reflecting upon what is what, what is what. Let us apply it in practice.
Srimad Bhagavata is a compendium. It analyzes the human personality, analyzes the world, analyzes the interactions between the two, the resultant experiences, how they are reducing in number and getting filtered as they go inward and inward. He refers to sleep, dream and also wakefulness. So, the entire discussion is a comprehensive discussion. In that, in three different places he has referred to worship of God. The first he says:
The most common way of devotional worship. We are using our hands and fingers to collect flowers, clean them and then make them ready on a plate and from the plate we take and offer to the feet of the Lord. What are the things we offer?
Patram - leaf, Pushpam - flower, Phalam - fruit. If nothing is there, even water, a spoonful of water. Any of these things.
Yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Who offers these things, bhaktyā, with devotion. The moment you say devotion, it is in the nature of a bhava or an attitude of your mind. It is not thoughts, it is not reason, it is an attitude of piety and devotion you develop in your mind and express it. And that expression is the offering of leaf, flower, fruit or water.
So, Krishna emphasizes, “Whoever offers these external materials to Me with adequate devotion”. The moment he has said 'devotion', it rests in the mind. The mind should have the devotional attitude. So, it is an attitudinal expression. So, with devotion you offer any of these items. Then tad-ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam. When the offering materials, offered materials are besmeared with devotion, it should be coated with devotion. Where is devotion? In your mind or heart. What is its nature? Emotional bhava. So, with the devotional bhava, you have to besmear the whole offer.
Suppose you take flowers, take them in a gentle, whole-hearted, wholesome manner. Take them to your heart and then place it gently at the feet of the Lord or picture. Now this devotion is a bhava, an emotion. You alone can know whether you are a devotee or not. How much of devotion do you have? Are you satisfied with that devotional attitude of your mind which you display? Try to mend yourself and become up to date.
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. tad-ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam. When he smears it with bhakti, that bhakti alone becomes acceptable and useful to God. ‘Whatever is given with bhakti, with devotion, that devotion is what touches Me and I look for.’ The materials offered will remain there. You can use them as prasāda and distribute them to your people.
Now tell me, it is an external offering of materials, using your hand and fingers. But in that Krishna says, what counts is the attitude of devotion that you have. So, the flowers, the idol, the plates and so many other things, they only provide us an occasion to express our devotion inwardly. When the offering is thus covered by devotion, coated by devotion...
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ‘I eat it.’ The word 'eat' means I open my mouth and take it almost like a dog. aśnāmi. But the devotee has to be a prayatātmā. What is meant by prayatātmā? He should be a man, very regulated in his life, moral, ethical, kind-hearted, not hurting anybody, trying to help and serve. Only then that person is called a well-regulated person, refined person. So, the refinement of the devotee is very important. “The devotional attitude with which he offers is very important and then I accept the offer.” he says. So, this is the lowest level of devotion.
When you go further, what happens? Here you were taking a special time, a special occasion, a special place, keeping a picture, keeping a few vessels and chanting a mantra and whatever you worship, you try to get it from a holy place so that that holiness will be associated with it. But the actual offering is a physical offering. In the second part, that physical offering is not there. It is only the devotional attitude fostered by the devotee. In the eighteenth chapter, He says:
If the devotee has to have siddhi, perfection, fulfillment in his practice, then he has to grow from the lowest level, incorporate the devotion in the mind level and make the mind more and more expansive. Ultimately, let it assume the universal magnitude. Just see how he puts it.
yata: pravṛttir-bhūtānām yena sarvam-idam tatam. From where, that is the source of all creations, created products. What is the source? That is what you call God. Whatever activity is there, it is all done by these instruments but it is all due to mind’s employing these organs. So, the mind part is important. So, he is activating the mind directly. When you worship God, you must have an idea that God is the source of all creatures and also their varietal or various activities. So that thought process comes, that becomes important there. There is no material. Then what becomes the material?
yata: pravṛttir-bhūtānām yena sarvam-idam tatam. svakarmaṇā tam-abhyarcya. From where all these created products have emerged and that source which is permeating everything and all. It is not only that God is the source, he also permeates and pervades all the creations. Two points are important. Don’t think that he is only the source of creation. He is also present in the form of a permeation in all the creatures that are born.
Now such a God, how will you worship? Earlier you worshipped him with flowers plucked from the garden, water drawn from the well or taken from the tap. So, these are external, visible, materials. Here no such material. That means your worship is restricted to the puja time, restricted to the puja materials, restricted to the idol for whom you offered it. Here it is not time bound or act bound.
svakarmaṇā tam-abhyarcya. Don’t go for any specific materials. All the activities which you are performing are motivated and inspired by, energized by the Supreme Lord. If the Supreme Lord is thus present in all your activities, what material are you going to select and offer? Everything becomes redundant. Then what becomes relevant? He says, svakarmaṇā tam-abhyarcya.
Your devotion should continue throughout except in the hours of sleep. Even before sleeping you have to say “I am going to sleep. Let us be together in sleep.” svakarmaṇā tam-abhyarcya. Instead of materials, you have to make use of all your sensory activities, whatever you think, whatever you understand, whatever you speak, whatever you do, all these should become a puja for the Lord. And some activity or the other will always be occurring during the day. So, everything becomes a worship. Now, this is not the end of worship. This is the intermediate level. What is the final level?
The two verses, the first is earlier, now this is in the eighteenth concluding chapter. He says:
Materials were there, they are gone. Activities replaced the materials. Because activities are continuous, your worship and devotional fervor also become continuous. Now he says, “No, go further.”
iśvara: sarva-bhūtānām hṛd-deśe’rjuna tiṣṭhati. Understand the Lord whom you worship, where is He really? He is in the core of your heart. So that recognition and surety are there. I am not worshiping an external God. I am not worshipping with any materials or even my physical activity. I am going to worship you differently, understanding that God dwells in the heart of all creatures.
tam-eva śaraṇam gaccha. Seek refuge under Him, under whom? Under the indwelling God presence. And how will you seek refuge under? sarva-bhāvena.
In the first verse, with a few flowers or even water. In the next, with all your activities you worship Him. Here he says, “All these are physical and external. I want you to offer your bhāva in total.” Whatever emotions you have, whatever attitude you have, that attitude should be one of wholesomeness and humility. svakarmaṇā, now, sarvabhāvena bhārata.
tat-prasādāt-parām śāntim sthānam prāpsyasi śāśvatam
Then with His blessings, whose blessings, whose blessings? Blessings of the indwelling presence, you will attain a perpetual abode, perpetual abode. Arjuna surrendered to Krishna initially:
“I have sought refuge under you, I am a disciple. As a Guru, instruct me on the path of śreyas and felicity.”
Now Krishna says, “You prostrated before me. Now I want you to do this.”
tam-eva śaraṇam gaccha. You should seek refuge under the indwelling presence alone. By what? By all the emotions and attitudes that you have. Love, hatred, jealousy, competition, infatuation, everything! Don’t reserve at all! You don’t have to go out and collect flowers. You don’t have to seek or install an idol. He is already present in you. Thinking that it is so, make an artificial product called devotional attitude and fervor and that mental product, all, not one, make use of them and offer them to the indwelling Lord. Then you will attain by His blessings, śāśvatam padam avavyam and shantih. You will attain a permanent abode and peace, peacefulness. I would like you to remember this. This is what I wanted ‘X’ to somehow picturize it on the computer. From little, little materials restricted to a short period of time, you offered thinking of God in your mind. From there, you leave everything and all the activities you perform will themselves be the offered material. And in the third, everything physical vanishes and you seek refuge under the indwelling presence, Lord.
You will find everything becomes a full offer to God. There is no time where you have to practice; there is no time when you will have to remember. Everything is God, world is in Him. I am included in this world. So I am already in Him, there is no question of my attaining it once again. How many times you become a son or daughter of your parents? Only once. How many times do you generally marry? How many times, the one child gets born from you? Only once and that one-time event makes you think ‘I am a mother of this child.’ ‘This is my son or daughter.’ Similarly, here, you need do it only once. Then it becomes always. What a wonderful statement!
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.