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Mon, 28 Nov 2005 06:48:56 -0800 (PST)

Sameera D scorpionbeauty2000

Kamukhi Bhakti by B.V.N.Swami

scorpionbeauty2000

KAMUKHI BHAKTHI

BY (B.V.N.SWAMI)

 

The subject, Vyree Bhakthi, (i.e., devotion through

intense hatred) should naturally be followed by

Kamukhi Bhakthi, its exact opposite. Kamukhi Bhakthi

may be rendered as Devotion through sexual attachment.

Many may be horrified at the intrusion of lust or

sexual attachment in dealing with God. Where is

regarded as wholly Impersonal and Formless, sexuality

cannot be attributed to Him. It is in the cases of

Religion with form, developing especially Avatars,

Polytheism and mythology that sexuality arises. God

and Gods confused together are given sex relations

with goddesses, human beings . The introduction of

Personality can only be on the footing of personality

as understood by the worshipper. Man conceives of God

as having a self like himself and establishes

relationship with him as a dependant praying and

obtaining help from a superior self by praises,

prayer, offerings &c. God is treated as having

appetite for food, need for sleep and rest. These are

extensions or reflection, of the human personality in

the Divine idea. Having gone so far, some transfer

other human traits also to God. Sex is of necessity a

prominent part of human personality. So God is

conceived by the early male thinkers and founders of

rudimentary Religion as a male. The female worshippers

most naturally inserts the feminine element and either

wants goddesses as annexed to God, or treats God as a

female. Mythology thus begins with the elementary

needs of the human personality and soon grows a rich

harvest of tales of gods with all human passions,

jealousies, vices &c. Some reformers rose up in almost

every religion and started their systems with a strict

monotheism excluding sex-relationship from God, though

mostly they treat God as a male, “Father of All”.

Other reformers more philosophically bent rooted out

Personality from their system and declared that all

Personality in God is a Maya, added on account of

human weakness and that the real truth in Religion is

a Absolute, Impersonal, Formless and of course

sexless. The strict monotheists were often intolerant

of Polytheism e.g. when the Mahamdans settled in India

as conquerors. The result was an attempt from outside

and inside to make Hinduism more purely and strictly

in conformity with such monotheism. How little or how

far this attempt has been successful is known to

students of the history of Hinduism. One of questions

they had to deal with is whether the sex idea and

sexual; relations of God with human or divine beings

is necessary or essential to Hinduism and is

consistent with Truth or can stand the pragmatical

test.

 

The introduction of sexual aliments and godhead so

natural to polytheism, strangely enough did get

prominence till a late stage. Taking Narayana’s

Dasavataras for instance, the sexual relation as

amounting to Bhakti is introduced for the first time

in the Eighth Avatara Krishna and is found in no other

Avatar. Some historians may try to find local causes

for this particular development. It is with the

Krishna for the first time, sexual carvings are said

to become virtuous Bhakti. Surpanakha’s passion for

the body of the Avatars Rama and Lakshmana is not

dignified into Bhakti. But Kubja’s passion for the

Krishna body is held up for approval and reverence,

though the animal urge is the same in both cases.

Tantric worship and Vamamarga Puja carry this

“lust-worship” into the practice of thousands who thus

use wine, woman, flesh and fish for gratifying the

animal urges under forms of Religion. But they have

not used the term Kamukha or Kamukhi Bhakti to justify

their practices. So We may take the Bhagavata alone

for discussing this, “Kamukhi Bhakti” which renders it

a virtue of lust after the body of God or God-men.

 

Declaration as a general principle, that lusting after

bodies of God or Godmen is a virtue, is Bhakti, is

sufficient in the view of many to condemn it. Has God

a body in the first place? Who are the Godmen lusting

after whom is a virtue? Innumerable persons have

claimed to be God or God-men. Lusting after their

bodies, innumerable persons have been degraded. It is

to the great credit of Sri Sai Baba that he never had

sex relations with anyone. He is the modern Sukha.

 

Nothing contained herein should be considered as

reflection on Srimad Bhagavata (that has justify been

termed a Bhakti Sastra) or upon the scriptures of any

community. But without attacking these one may be

permitted to refer to the excesses of people

professing to pursue the Madhhuri Bhava or the Tantric

(Panchamakara) rituals which necessarily include the

enjoyment of wine, fish, flesh and women by all

participants in the religious (Tantric) ritual. The

best proof that reform is urgently called for is that

the persons above referred to are ashamed of their

proceedings in great secrecy so as to avoid public

scandal.

 

Let us now see what Baba’s answer to the above

question and proposed reform will be. Baba trained by

fakir for five years in Islam and next for ten years

by great guru who had plain simple Bhakti in Sri

Venkatesa and whose purity was patent from his once

poking a needle into his eyes for having once seen the

naked body of some one’s wife with lustful eyes, was

never drawn to Madhuri Bhava or Vama Margas. Simple

plain Bhakti to God and to his Guru whom he identified

with God was his only Sadhana and marga. Throughout

life Baba was perfectly pure and regarded all women as

mothers. There was no intrusion into Shirdi of person

who followed Vama marga or the excesses of Madhuri

Bhava. One person however was carrying on some

practices based on the rule of courting temptations

(sexual or other) and getting stronger by resisting

them, practices which are described as making the frog

dance on the mouth of the serpent. Baba had nothing

but condemnation for these. Baba termed that person a

whore. One of his prayers to God is vague, but it may

have reference to such practices being carried on at

Shirdi (See B.C. & S.p.263, saying 597): - “I have

been considering long and thinking day and night. All

are thieves, but their improvement or removal. But God

delays and does not approve of the (my) attitude and

grant the prayer. I will have what I have been praying

for”.

 

In any case, Baba never himself even thought of sex as

part of God. To him Khandoba (Siva Avatar) and Vittoba

(Vishnu Avtar) were the same. All Hindu Gods were

Allah. Though he styled himself by the names of the

gods or God Avatars. E.g., Rama, Krishna and Ganapati,

he also declared himself to be Mahalaxmi. With Baba,

there is but one God and no sex relations or ideas

enter into that conception. It is pure Monotheism, he

held to, and if it slided into anything else, it is

into Adwaitic Idealism.

 

Baba’s words and practice alike gave no room for the

intrusion of sex relations into Godhead and this is

what may be expected of one who was held in high

esteem by Hindus and Muslims alike. Baba’s example and

precept are great helps to his followers and

worshippers to keep to strict monotheism as far as

possible and in any case to eschew in their practice,

the intrusion of sexuality into Religion.

 

Kamukhi Bhakti is the name given here to the Bhakti

referred to in the Bagavata. If the ideal of the Gopis

is kept up, the name Kamukhi as defined above seems

inapplicable to the Gopi love of Krishna. In the first

place, what is deprecated is lust after the body of a

God-man. The Gopis are set to be burning with desire

to unite with one whom they feel to be and to be also

the Avatara of Narayana come to earth to protect all

at the request of Brahma.

 

If persons plead for their sexual enjoyments in the

name of religion and call themselves Bhaktas following

the examples of Gopis, they can be allowed to plead

so, only if they have like the Gopis the feeling that

they are then seeking contract with the Antaryami, the

Adi Narayana.

 

So far as we can see, even if Gopi’s sex relations

with Sri Krishna be treated as history and not

mythology or mere allegory, the intrusion of physical

sexuality and religions practice can never be

justified especially in the present rationalistic age,

when we insist on calling a spade a spade.

 

Kamukhi Bhakti can exist in modern days if a physical

Krishna of the sort cited in the Bhagavata is present

and perceived by the people. As there is no such

person, it is impossible for us to grant that any

sexual attachment should be styled Bhakti. So, the

safest course for any student of Bhakti Sastra are a

sincere sadhaka, is to act on the footing that there

is no such thing now as Kamukhi Bhakti.

 

(From Sai Sudha May 1944)

www.saileelas.org

 

(On behalf of Mr.Leeladharji)

 

 

 

 

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