Bhakti-Yoga is often cited as an example of a typical dualist teaching, but dualism is not true of all schools of this branch of Yoga. Even though at the outset all devotees relate to the Divine as a Person who is a separate being, the final goal of some schools is to merge so completely with the Divine that there is utter forgetfulness of one’s own being: The Lord is realized as the only Reality there is-a realization that annuls the illusion of the ego-personality and thus transcends the notion of being a separate entity, or devotee.
The History of the Bhakti Ideal
The devotional approach in India has a fascinating history that we know only imperfectly. There are only a few hymns in the Vedas that suggest a passionate emotional relationship to the invoked deity. The imagery of the Vedic invocations is lofty but aloof, lacking the devotional pathos typical of the medieval bhakti literature. Yet devotionalism is by no means absent from the Vedic hymns.
Thus the opening hymn of the Rig-Veda is in praise of God Agni, who is said to be “worthy of praise by past and present seers” (1.2), and who is asked to make himself easily accessible “like a father is to a son” (1.9). Hymn 8.14.10 speaks of the praise of Indra rushing onward “like exhilarating waves of water.” In hymn 1.171.1, Sage Agastya addresses Indra and the Maruts thus: “To you I come with this homage, and with a hymn I request the kindness of the mighty.” The Vedic hymns are full of mythological allusions, poetic metaphors, and petitions, as well as demands. Above all, the seers were praying for immortality (amrita) in the company of the deities.
Let us recall here that the word ric, which for euphonic reasons is modified to rig in the compound name Rig-Veda, means “praise.” This in itself reflects the basic devotional attitude of the ancient Vedic seers and priests. The Vedic hymns are invocations to various higher powers and reverential celebration, and in them we find the earliest historical roots of Bhakti-Yoga.
However, this Vedic devotionalism occurred in the context of an elaborate sacrificial religion that, over time, became ever more sophisticated and demanding. By the time of the Brâhmanas-texts explaining the Vedic rituals and mythological allusions-the exacting sacrificial ritualism seems to have stifled the devotional element. The proper performance of the various rituals and appeasement of the deities or their enlisting in the sacrificial tasks had become more important than personal devotion to the Divine. Perhaps the never-ending demands of ritualism caused many priests to be motivated more by a sense of duty than a heart overflowing with emotions of spiritual longing or gratitude. Not surprisingly, the monotheistic Pancarâtra tradition early on attracted a growing number of people who found the Vedic pantheon of deities unconvincing or the impersonal Absolute (brahman) of the orthodox theologians too abstract, or who derived no emotional satisfaction from the brahmins’ sacrificial ritualism. The Pancarâtra tradition catered to those who longed for personal intimacy with the Divine, and their worship revolved around God Vâsudeva- Nârâyana-Vishnu. Already the Shata- Patha-Brâhmana (13.6.1) mentions a pancarâtra sacrifice in association with God Nârâyana, and the Mahâbhârata (12.335) speaks of Sage Nara as a devotee of Nârâyana and as hosting many sages well versed in the system of Pancarâtra.20 Thus, this tradition originated long before the time of the Buddha, and it flourished at the margins of the ancient Indic society. Although it was certainly not looked upon favorably by the Vedic priesthood, it nevertheless made its mark within the orthodox fold.
It was largely because of the success of this religio-spiritual tradition-epitomized in the immense popularity of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ and the Bhâgavata-Purâna-that Hinduism came to be what it is today: a religious culture of temples, sacred imagery, and devotional worship. The Pancarâtra tradition, which is sometimes referred to as Bhâgavatism, also was instrumental in the post-Vedic development of Yoga. It introduced the concept and practice of bhakti into what was all too often a somewhat heady or dry approach to Self-realization.
Although the bhakti path was originally most intimately associated with the religious worship of God Vishnu, the word bhakti is used in the technical sense in an early scripture dedicated to God Shiva. This is the Shvetâshvatara-Upanishad (6.23), a powerfully monotheistic work usually assigned to the third or fourth century B.C.E., but probably belonging to the pre-Buddhist era. This text introduces the dual idea of love for God and love for the spiritual teacher, who should be loved in the same manner as the Divine, since he or she is its embodiment.
In order to appreciate the evolution of the bhakti path, we must understand that the monotheistic teachings were developed largely, though not exclusively, in two religious circles, namely Vaishnavism (largely carried by the Pancarâtra tradition) and Shaivism. The Vaishnavas celebrate God Vishnu-often in his Krishna incarnation-as the divine Person, and the Shaivas dedicate their lives to Lord Shiva. Both Vishnu and Shiva are mentioned in the Rig-Veda, and we may assume that they have had worshipers since those early days. However, as full-fledged religious movements, Vaishnavism and Shaivism become fully visible only during the second half of the first millennium B.C.E. Early sects of the latter movement were the Pâshupâtas, the Kâpâlikas, and the Kâlâmukhas, which are treated in Chapter 11.
A third significant strand of religious development, which also has its roots in the Rig-Veda, is known as Shaktism. It centers on the worship of the Divine in its feminine or power aspect-as Shakti. In this movement, too, bhakti plays an important role as part of the ritual worship of the Goddess, whether it be Mahâdevî, Kâlî, Durgâ, Pârvatî, Annapûrnâ, Cândî, Sâtî, or any of the other female deities of Hinduism. In the early centuries of the Common Era, Shaktism merged more and more with Tantra, though without losing its independent identity altogether.
The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, a Vaishnava scripture belonging possibly to the fifth century B.C.E., uses the word bhakti extensively. It stands for the proper relationship between the spiritual practitioner and the Divine (in the form of Lord Krishna). Significantly, however, in this work bhakti refers not only to the path of devotion but also to the goal of liberation. For Lord Krishna, bhakti is the alpha and omega of spiritual life. Vaishnavism became increasingly popular in the early centuries of the Common Era, attracting large numbers of adherents in both North and South India.
In medieval times, the Shaiva community created a counterpart to the ever more popular Bhagavad-Gîtâ, namely the Îshvara-Gîtâ, which is embedded in the second part of the Kûrma-Purâna (chapter 11). This poetic composition, which is dated slightly later than the Bhâgavata-Purâna (c. 900 C.E.), belongs to an era in which the bhakti path was broadened into a cultural movement that swept across the entire Indian peninsula. A comparable event occurred in medieval Europe, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when thousands of Christian women discovered the power of the heart through Jesus mysticism.
The bhakti ideal found enthusiastic reception especially in South India, where the path of devotion was developed by both the Shaiva and the Vaishnava communities. Thousands of Tamil and Sanskrit works extolling the virtue of devotion in its various forms were created in the millennium between 200 B.C.E. and 800 C.E.
Among the Shiva devotees of Tamilnadu (South India), who created the theological system of Shaiva-Siddhânta, bhakti played an important role already in the centuries prior to the Common Era. Thus, in the wonderful Tiru-Mantiram (“Sacred Words”) of Tirumûlar (often placed c. 200 B.C.E.-100 C.E., but probably 700 C.E.) the Tamil terms patti and anpu are explicitly mentioned; both these terms are synonyms of the Sanskrit word bhakti. Tirumûlar’s work forms the tenth book of the Tiru-Murai, which has been called the Tamil Shaiva equivalent of the Vedas of North India. It was compiled fairly late (in the eleventh century C.E.) by Nambiyândâr Nambi. (The Vaishnavas of the South also claim a “Veda” of their own in the form of the Tiru-Vâymoli, which will be introduced shortly.) The Tiru-Murukâr-Ruppâtai of Nakkîrar, a poetical composition found in the eleventh book of the Tiru-Murai, speaks of the bhakta’s quest for liberation at the feet of God Murukan (or Muruga).<
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Among the Vaishnava minority of South India, the bhakti ideal and the worship of God Vishnu were particularly promoted by the lvârs, a group of twelve saintly bhaktas (including only one woman). They sang their songs of praise in the seventh or eighth century C.E., though tradition places them as far back as the period 4203–2706 B.C.E. The northern branches of Vaishnavism and Shaivism likewise popularized the bhakti approach in their own distinct fashion.
The lvârs were followed by the so-called câryas (“Preceptors”), who attempted to systematize the monotheistic theology of Vaishnavism. Foremost among them was Râmânuja (1017–1137 C.E.), a southern brahmin. He was the principal exponent of Vishishta-Advaita, or “Qualified Nondualism.” His contribution to Hinduism equals that of Shankara, for what Râmânuja did was to make the idea of a suprapersonal divine Being logically consistent with the teaching of Vedântic nondualism. He succeeded in integrating the northern and southern traditions of Vaishnavism, thereby greatly strengthening the religious worship of Vishnu and paving the way for the medieval bhakti-mârga, or “way of devotion.”
Râmânuja formulated a Yoga that is radically different from Patanjali’s system in that the cultivation of bhakti is given prominence over meditation. For Râmânuja, devotion was not only the means to liberation but the goal of all spiritual endeavor. According to this school, there is no end to spiritual practice.
The history of the bhakti approach is vastly complex, and modern scholarship has only scratched the surface. In particular the traditions of South India have been badly neglected. What is clear, however, is that India has not only had its share of world-denying mystics but can also take pride in its many generations of thousands of love-intoxicated seekers and realizers.
The teachers of this movement hail bhakti as the easiest way to emancipation. Loving devotion to the Lord bears fruit readily when it is constant, unswerving, and purposeless. The gopîs, or cowgirls, of the Krishna legends symbolize that attitude perfectly. In their ardor for the God-man Krishna, they ignored everything—their husbands, children, family, friends, and daily duties. They were simply intoxicated with love, and it was their love that brought them closer to the divine essence of the beautiful young Krishna who was really God incarnate.
We will return to the Shaiva and Vaishnava communities and their devotional practices in Chapters 11 and 12.
SOURCE READING 4
Bhakti-Sûtra of Nârada
The Bhakti-Sûtra of Sage Nârada is one of two Sûtras expounding the path of bhakti. This popular work was probably composed around 1000 C.E. It is thus slightly later than the Bhakti-Sûtra of Shândilya, which is more technical and abstruse. Nârada’s scripture consists of eighty-four aphorisms (sutra) distributed over five chapters. Unlike the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, it does not seek to integrate the distinct approaches of devotion, action, and knowledge. Instead it places bhakti above all other paths.
Book I
Now then, we will expound love (bhakti). (1)
In this [book of aphorisms], this [love is understood to be of] the essence of supreme love (para-prema). (2)
And [it is of] the quintessence of immortality. (3)
Having obtained it, a man becomes perfect, becomes immortal, becomes content. (4)
Having reached it, he does not desire anything, does not grieve, not hate, not rejoice, and is not overactive. (5)
Having known it, he becomes intoxicated, he becomes immobilized [in ecstasy], he comes to delight in the Self. (6)
It is not of the nature of desire, because it is of the essence of restriction (nirodha).21 (7)
Restriction, however, is the resignation of [all] secular and religious activities [to the Divine]. (8)
In that [resignation] is “non-otherness” and indifference toward [all things that are] antagonistic to that [love]. (9)
“Non-othemess” (ananyatâ) is the abandonment of [all] other refuges. (10)
Indifference (udâsînatâ) to secular and religious [things that are] antagonistic to that [love] is the performance [of actions that are] in consonance with that [love], (11)
Let there be heedfulness about the teaching [even] after steadfastness of conviction [has been gained]. (12)
Otherwise [there is always] the possibility of falling [from grace]. (13)
Thus [there should be heedfulness] also about secular [activities] such as the activity of eating until the end of the maintenance of the body [due to natural death]. (14)
The characteristics of that [love] are described differently owing to differences of opinion. (15)
Pârâsharya [claims that love is] devotion to worship and so forth. (16)
Garga [states that love is devotion] to sacred stories (kathâ) and so forth. (17)
Shândilya [declares that love is that which is] not antagonistic to the Self’s [innate] delight. (18)
Nârada, again, [insists that love is when] all conduct is consecrated to Him, [and that it also is the experience of] extreme agitation upon forgetting Him. (19)
There is [more than one example] of this. (20)
Like [the love] of the cowgirls of Vrâja. (21)
Also, with regard to this, the imputation [that the cowgirls were] forgetful of the knowledge of [God’s] glory [and merely loved the God-man Krishna for conventional reasons], is not [true], (22)
Lacking that [knowledge of God’s glory, they would have been] like adulterers. (23)
In such [adulterous passion], the happiness is not the happiness [innate to] this [glory]. (24)
Book II
This [love] is even superior to ritual (karma), knowledge (jnâna), and the [conventional types of] Yoga. (25)
[This is so,] because [love is of] the essence of the fruit [of all these approaches], (26)
Moreover, [love is superior to any other path,] because of the Lord’s dislike for conceit and because of His fondness for [the devotee’s mood of] humility (dainya). (27)
According to some, knowledge alone is the means for this [love]. (28)
According to others, there is interdependence of the various [means]. (29)
Brahmakumâra [i.e., Nârada, maintains that love is of] the essence of its own fruit. (30)
[This is so,] because there is the example of the king, the house, and the food, etc.22 (31)
Not by that [recognition of his true parentage] is the king satisfied, nor [is there any satisfaction beyond] the appeasement of hunger. (32)
Therefore this [love] alone is to be followed by the seekers of liberation. (33)
Book III
The teachers praise [the following) means for [realizing] it. (34)
That [love], however, [is realized] through the renunciation of objects and through the renunciation of clinging. (35)
[Love is realized] through constant dedication. (36)
[Love is further realized] through singing and hearing the Lord’s attributes even [while engaged] in secular [activities]. (37)
[Love is realized] mainly through the grace of a great one or through a [mere] particle of the Lord’s grace. (38)
But contact with a great one is difficult to obtain, [although his blessing] is incomprehensible and infallible. (39)
Even so, [love] is realized by the grace of these alone. (40)
[This is so,] because of the absence of difference in Him and in His creatures. (41)
That [love] alone is to be followed. That alone is to be followed. (42)
Bad company is to be avoided in every respect. (43)
[Bad company is to be avoided,] because it causes desire, anger, delusion, confusion of memory, and loss of wisdom. (44)
Even though these arise as [mere] waves, they become an ocean due to clinging (sanga). (45)
Who crosses, who indeed crosses [the ocean of] illusion (mâyâ)? He who abandons clinging, who frequents the great experience [of ecstatic love] free from [the sense of] “mine” … (46)
… who frequents solitary places, and who uproots the thralldom to the world becomes free of the triple qu
alities [of Nature] and abandons [all idea of] gain or hoarding … (47)
… who abandons the fruit of actions, [even] renounces actions, and thence becomes opposite-less (nirdvandva) … (48)
… who renounces even [the ritual actions enjoined] in the Vedas, and obtains undisturbed longing [for God] … (49)
-he crosses, he indeed crosses, he [even] saves the world. (50)
Book IV
The essence of love is indescribable. (51)
Like the taste of a dumb [person], (52)
[Love] is ever manifested in a [fit] recipient. (53)
[Love] is devoid of the qualities [of Nature], devoid of desire, continually growing, unbroken, extremely subtle, and of the essence of [transcendental] experience (anu-bhâva). (54)
Having realized that [love], he sees only that, he hears only that, [he speaks only that], he ponders only that. (55)
Secondary [love] is threefold due to the distinctions in the qualities [of Nature] or due to the distinctions of being distressed, and so forth. (56)
Each preceding [quality of Nature: sattva, rajas, tamas] is [more conducive] to the good than each subsequent [quality].23 (57)
In [comparison with this secondary] love, the other [i.e., the supreme love] is more easily realizable. (58)
[The supreme love is more easily realizable,] because it is independent from other evidence and owing to its self-evident [character]. (59)
[This is also true] because [the supreme love is of] the essence of peace and of the essence of supreme bliss (parama-ânanda). (60)
In the event of worldly lack, worry is not to be entertained, because the self is to be surrendered in [all] secular and religious [activities]. (61)
Upon attaining that [supreme love], secular activity is not to be abandoned, but the renunciation of the fruit [of one’s actions should be practiced], and the means for it [are to be diligently cultivated]. (62)
The conduct of women, wealthy folk, and atheists should not be listened to.24. (63)
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