Part 6 – Devotion inspired by Love
The article describes the two kinds of devotion, one
dominated by rituals and the other inspired by love. While rituals are relevant
at the beginning of one’s spiritual journey, they gradually become
insignificant as Love for God overrules external devotion.
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj in His divine kirtan “jo piya ruchi mahaṁ ruchi rākhē”
instructs devotees that in order to attain Divine Love they will have to be
cautious of rituals laid out in the ‘karm-kand’
portion of the Scriptures. The rituals
have their own relevance in initiating the spiritual advancement of an
individual but are in no way helpful in attaining the supreme goal of Divine
Love. People who do not realize this fact
end up entangled in rituals and performing merely external devotion. They
however never advance to building an inner connection with God or grasping
internal devotion.
‘karm-kand’ will not suffice in making us cross the ocean of
nescience and meeting our soul Beloved. Therefore the Scriptures state that as
internal devotion enhances, the importance of the rituals automatically slips
out of your mind.
yadā yasyanugrihnāti
bhagavān atma-bhāvitah
sa jahati matim loke
vede ca parinishthitām
For e.g., in Varnāshram Dharm (ritualistic
social duties), all persons are expected to perform actions in order to get
released from five kinds of debts. There
is Devarin, or our debt to the
celestial gods from whom we receive sun, water, wind etc. It is our duty to release ourselves from the
debt of these celestial gods. Then there
is Pitririn or our debt to the
ancestors, for which we perform Tarpan or Shrad ritual to get released. In fact we are indebted to all other human
beings and this debt is called Nririn.
The roads we utilize for conveniently
travelling, the internet services we use for instant communication etc are all
inventions of human beings who made our life so comfortable. It is our duty to discharge these debts to
fellow human beings and many other debts to living entities as well. Vedas
describe elaborate procedures to release ourselves from these debts and hence
we find people feeding grains to ants, birds etc.
On the other hand, the Bhagwatam says:
devarshi-bhutāpta-nrinām pitrinām
na kinkaro nāyam rini cha rājan
sarvātmanā yah saranam saranyam
gato mukundam parihritya kartam
(Bhagavatam 11.5.41)
Whoever discharges his or her debt to God is automatically released from
all the other debts. One no longer needs to be bothered about getting released
from other debts because he/she is now engaging in devotion to the Lord of the
Universe. Devotion to the Supreme Master
is like watering the roots of a tree – water will automatically reach the
flowers, branches and twigs. Therefore, when we
engage in devotion, the importance of rituals automatically starts fading away.
The rituals are supposed to be an aid to devotion, and not devotion an aid to
the rituals.
Basically there are two kinds of devotions. One is the ritualistic kind
where rituals are a highly emphasized, and is called Vaidhi Bhakti. The other
kind is Rāgānugā Bhakti, where the
Love dominates. People have their own
inclinations and some are attracted to ritualistic devotion. Now here the aim of rituals is to enhance our
Bhakti, on the contrary most people unconsciously make Bhakti serve the rituals.
In other words, Bhakti becomes
subservient to the ritual – the aim is no longer to do devotion but to perform
the ritual.
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj preaches Rāgānugā Bhakti - where
the inner sentiment and devotion are the primary focus. Therefore in
spirituality we take advantage of
those rituals that help the inner devotion.
The ones that don’t, we reject them fearlessly.
sarva dharmān
parityatjya, mām ekam saranam vraja
(Bhagavad Gita 18.66)
Here the primary devotion that we engage in is simple, straightforward and most
powerful! That is shravan, keertan, and smaran – chanting, hearing and remembering. This simple devotion is
the most powerful way of developing the inner sentiment; of enhancing our inner
devotion and love for God.
Therefore, Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, “karma na nekahuṁ bhāve rē”:
if you want ‘Prem Ras’, you have to be careful and wary of rituals. Don’t be
overcome by them. For the aspirant who wishes to taste Prem Ras, the Karm becomes insipid, tasteless.
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