how shall we love Amma as Goddess and Lord Krishna

[Guest guest]

This brings us to the important and vital factor Bhakti Yoga, viz., Bhava

(Bhava is, "the state of one's inner being").

It is not so much what the devotee does that matters but the Bhava with

which it is done.

Hence, Sri Krishna declares in the Bhagavad Gita (IX. 26) that even if the

devotee merely offers a flower, a leaf, a fruit or a little water - if it is

offered with devotion - He accepts it.

Bhakti stands or falls, depending on how strong this cornerstone of Bhava

is.

Bhava is inner attitude, feeling, faith, conviction, visualisation and many

other kindred elements well mixed together, and it is very difficult to

describe.

It has to be felt.

When you say, "I am", you are expressing a Bhava.

Bhava does not demand proof, even as you will not want to prove to yourself

"I am a human being" and will not touch your hindparts if someone said, "Ah,

there, you are growing a tail, you dog!"

Bhava is the intense feeling that, for, instance a mother has for her little

baby, indescribable, a-logical, but all-powerful.

The sages who laid the path of devotion were great psychologists.

They studied Man and noted the object towards which everyone's heart flows

out in love.

In every heart there is love.

That love is directed towards someone falling under one or the other of the

following categories :

(i) unemotional or impersonal love or goodwill towards the

man-in-the-street,

(ii) love towards the: master,

(iii) friendship,

(iv) maternal affection, and

(v) the lover-beloved relationship.

The sages, therefore,, taught that these very loves, emotions or Bhavas

could be transferred, transmuted, sublimated and divinised by directing them

towards God, thus

Santa Bhava :

the attitude of self-controlled and serene love or goodwill.

Some regard this as the, highest and cite the great Jnani Bhishma as the

exemplar.

It is the attitude of a devotee who has, so to say, realised, God.

Some others, however, regard it as the lowest of love, comparing it with the

attitude we have towards the man-in-the-street, passive, unemotional and

therefore peaceful (Santa).

Chaitanya regards it as intellectual love - where the true love has not

begun to manifest and operate!

We shall not indulge in judging which is right.

But it is interesting to note however, that even among devotees of Lord

Jesus, these two (emotional and intellectual) types have prevailed.

A Christian seeker (Mrs. Gerda Straubb) writes : "In Europe the Bhakti cult

in Christianity is very noticeable.

The northern races are mostly Protestant peoples who are ruled more by their

head than by their heart (generally speaking, of course), not at all

emotional by nature, more naturally reserved and not showing too much of

their feelings.

The Latin races on the other hand - especially the Italians and Spaniards

(almost exclusively Roman Catholic), are very ardent and highly emotional,

ruled completely by the heart.

Their need is most beautifully answered by Roman Catholicism.

While in Protestantism there is very little, the emotional aspect of worship

almost completely done away with, and thus it gives little scope to people

of emotional nature."

(b) Dasya Bhava:

the attitude of a good servant towards the master he loves and serves.

It is not the attitude of the factory worker!

But, it is the attitude of a domestic servant, for instance, who would often

stake his life to save his master's.

The devotee regards God as his master, and sees God in his own master.

Hanuman is cited as the exemplar of this Bhava.

© Sakhya Bhava:

is the attitude of true friendship.

"A friend in need".

This is characterised by unselfishness and desirelessness, and also by great

joy at the prospect of union and re-union.

The devotee who adopts this Bhava regards God as his friend, does not pray

for gifts, and looks forward to meeting Him in meditation, worship, etc.

He loves his friends, too, for the sake of God, thus sublimating friendship

into spiritual relationship.

Arjuna had such an attitude of friendship towards Sri Krishna.

In recent times, one of the Nayanar (South Indian) saints had such an

attitude; Lord Siva was his "friend"!

(d) Vatsalya Bhava:

is parental (mostly maternal) affection for the Lord.

Regard Him as your child.

The unique feature here is that even the possibility of a selfishly

motivated approach is avoided.

The mother does not expect anything from the child and her love is,

therefore, absolutely selfless.

Regard all your children as the manifestations of God and love them for His

sake, thus sublimating human relationship which can at times, lead to great

misery.

(e) Madhurya Bhava:

is the lover-beloved relationship.

It is regarded as the highest and the most difficult of cultivation, towards

an intangible Object of Love like God.

The devotee becomes God's beloved.

God is the supreme lover.

There is total self-surrender.

The Gopis had this sort of love.

It is not a physical attraction but a spiritual yearning.

Lord Gauranga had this Bhava towards the Lord.

Saint Mira of North India and Sri Andal of the South also entertained this

supreme Bhava towards the Lord, and lived in actual communion with Him all

their life.

This is the culmination of devotion and involves total surrender.

It leads to union with Him.

You have experienced these love-relationships in ordinary life.

The worldly object has to be replaced by God, and the worldly object has to

be sublimated into divine.

Suppressing emotions is a double loss.

The emotion itself is loss of energy - and more energy is lost in

suppressing it.

Devotion and selfless service utilise the first part itself and there is no

loss at all!

The energy generated by the emotion is utilised in service and the factor

that generated the energy is turned towards God.

Thus, the devotee sublimates the love of his heart in these five ways.

God Himself is regarded as the master, friend, child and lover - and the

corresponding human relationship is also sublimated.

What we call "love" in worldly parlance is passion or infatuation when the

magic wand of God-love touches it, it is at once transmuted into divine

love.

The woman who has inordinate attachment for her only child loves God as her

child, and God in her child.

Gradually the infatuation wears out and she truly loves her child, for the

sake of God.

Even if there is physical loss here, she is no longer tormented, for the God

in the child is Immortal.

These five Bhavas effect a twofold miracle :

(a) we are always thinking of God; and

(b) the worldly attachment is cut and the torture machine is made

inoperative.

It is necessary to remind ourselves of the difference between "kalpana"

(imagination) and "bhavana" (visualisation or innermost feeling with

conviction).

Bhavana must enable us to experience His Living Presence in that towards

which it is directed.

Service rendered with Bhava reaches Him.

Worship performed with Bhava pleases Him.

The idol must not be felt as stone or wood, but as His Living Presence.

It is then possible to extend the Bhava to other objects and eventually to

everything.

This is possible only for the Yogi or to one who has united his inner self

with God.

Hence, Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita : "Na cha ayuktasya bhavana"

(The man who has not achieved Yoga cannot have the right Bhava).

Hence it is that even Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras insists that the sacred

Pranava, Om, should be repeated with Bhavana.

In the Gita, Lord Krishna commands (XVIII. 62) us to resort to God with all

the Bhavas : regarding God as our father, mother, friend, relative and

lover, and loving these earthly relations for the sake of the Indwelling

Presence which is unmistakably experienced as a fruit of the practice of

Yoga.

It is needless to emphasise that this Bhava is reflected in physical

behaviour and certain physical practices augment it.

We know it is true in human relationship.

The mother cannot long profess to love her child without touching it,

cuddling it and suckling it, as the proper manifestations of her Bhava.

Thus we see in the case of those devotees who have treated the Lord as their

child, actually doing all these to the idol which, as the Bhava is

intensified and perfected, "comes to life" and accepts such services.