10.3. Bhakti Purifies the Self

The most significant benefit of bhakti is its power to eradicate the vicious nature and faults of an aspirant. When an aspirant serves and offers bhakti with heart and ātman, his sins get eliminated, his vices get destroyed, his rebirth-causing desires(vāsanā) and inclinations get worn out and he becomes the best devotee dearer to Parabrahman.^[1] Thus, Bhakti helps in purifying the self, destroying māyā, fixing the mind perpetually on Parabrahman, and accomplishing detachment from worldly objects.^[2]

Bhadreśadāsa also confirms that a devotee who is offering bhakti with brahmabhāva “na śocati na kāṅkṣati” neither grieves nor desires.^[3] However, bhakti is the loving devout worship of a pure heart. It entails giving up on deceit, anger, lust, greed, pride, ego, jealousy, envy, etc. The most intense untainted love and attachment (premalaksanā-bhakti) towards Parabrahman encompasses thr virtues of Akṣara. Therefore, Akṣarabrahman-Gunātitā satpurush is the prerequisite of the whole range of the bhakti-sādhanā.

Bhadreśadāsa explains that bhakti is love for Parabrahman supported by knowledge of Parabrahman's glory and faithful conviction of His power of granting liberation. Bhakti reinforces in intensity and extensity when Parabrahman as the source of all joy and bliss is well-known as such. It is the certitude that Parabrahman is the embodiment of imperishable, infinite, inexhaustible bliss, and whatever little joy and happiness we find in the world of material existence is just a tiny droplet from His unfathomable ocean of happiness. The bliss supplying from Parabrahman assuages all the senses, the mind, and the ātman simultaneously. Once this kind of highest glory of Parabrahman is known decisively, the detachment in everything except Parabrahman develops naturally. When the senses, the mind, and the ātman are totally anchored in Parabrahman, the highest consummation occurs, giving rise to the rapturous union with Him. Seeking Parabrahman by way of bhakti leads to authentic self-ascent and oneness (qualitative) with Him.^[4]

The Bhagavad-Gītā states:

api cetsudurācāro bhajate māmananyabhāk |
sādhureva sa mantavyaḥ samyagvyavasito hi saḥ ||^[5]

“Even if the most sinful person chooses to worship me with single-minded loving devotion, such a person must be regarded as a Sadhu because of making the right resolution.”

Bhadreśadāsa comments here:

“paramātmānanyabhāvapūrvakabhajanaikavyavasāyayuktaḥ” (Bhagavad-Gītā 9/30, p.219)

“Here, the single-minded devotion towards Parabrahman is extolled.”

According to the Svāminārāyaṇa Vedanta, devotion to Parabrahman is the exclusive means to liberate oneself from the incumbrance of māyā. Therefore, Parabrahman should be worshipped with undaunted devotion.^[6] But norms and regulations must not be violated. Bhakti should be supplemented by righteous conduct. One should not worship the Supreme Parabrahman, disregarding the codes of pious moral life.^[7]

Moral laws are Parabrahman's commands. So, a devotee should not ignore them. They must abide by them. For example, A true devotee does not accept or enjoy anything without offering it first to his Lord. He does not waste his time in fruitless talks and activities. In all his activities, he keeps his mind fixed on Parabrahman. In other words, he remembers Parabrahman ceaselessly, by constantly chanting Parabrahman's name, and thus does not forget Parabrahman-consciousness even for a moment, because the reward (even) for a virtuous scholar lies in engaging oneself in satsaṅga and bhakti, without which there is certainly a possibility for a fall and degeneration in spiritual life.^[8] And he who keeps his mind fixed on Parabrahman whilst abiding by all regulations; as a result, his actions fail to bind him. Therefore, a devotee should not abandon norms established by Parabrahman out of fear of slander by ignorant and cruel people.

The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam counsels:

“Also a wise scholar, whether he has no desire at all, or is actuated by all sorts of desires; -he should worship the Supreme Person with intense love-devotion.”^[9]

The knowledge of Parabrahman's highest glory (māhātmya-jñāna) makes a devotee cherish Him as the Supreme value. He, therefore, practices devotion both as a discipline and as a fulfillment. Thus, devotion with intense love, knowledge of Parabrahman's glory, and undivided fidelity to the eternally perfect Parabrahman can remove all our miseries and internal sorrow. This is the exclusive path of bhakti on which billions of devotees are trading today.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vacanāmṛta Vartāl 5

[2]:

Var. Gadh. 1/19

[3]:

Bhagavad-Gītā 18/54, p.360

[4]:

Mundaka-upaniṣad 2/2/8, p.278, Bhagavad-Gītā 18/54, pp.360-361

[5]:

Bhagavad-Gītā 9/30

[6]:

Vacanāmṛta Gadhadā I/19

[7]:

Vacanāmṛta Gadhadā I/77

[8]:

Vacanāmṛta Vartāl 11

[9]:

Śrīmadbhāgavatam 1/7/10