Gita concept of Bhakti

[gokulkr]

Gita concept of Bhakti:

 

Gita is known as Bhakti-Sastra. Gita repeatedly stresses that the prescribed duties should be performed with devotion to God. Performing one’s duties is not merely an ethical concept. It has a theistic foundation. One’s duties are dharma only when performed with dedication to God and with devotion to him. Therefore, bhakti or devotion has an important place in the Gita scheme of performing one’s duty.

 

Bhakti is not merely love or admiration of the object concerned I.e. God. It is not merely an emotional attraction. It is loving God realizing his supreme nature. 'mAhAtmyajnAna pUrvaka sudrDhasnEha' (29).

 

 

(29) mAhAtmyajnAnapUrvastu sudrDhah sarvatO adhikah |

snEhO bhaktiriti proktah tayA muktirna chAnyathA ||

 

 

Sri Krishna states that

'priyo him jnAnino atyartham aham sa cha mama priyah' He who knows my supremacy loves me and I love him. The devotee who loves God has to have the knowledge of the supremacy of God. God loving devotee means his bestowing grace on the devotee. Thus, the knowledge and love are two essential ingredients of Bhakti.

 

Bhakti is essential to acquire the parokSha and aparokSha knowledge of Gita. It is required to solicit the grace of God at each stage. Even after aparokShajnAna, bhakti has

to continue. Its intensity is increased at every(30) stage. It is named 'bhakti','pakvabhakti',

'paripakvabhakti' and 'atiparipakvabhakti' to indicate its increase in intensity.

 

At all these stages, it is called sAdhana bhakti. Even after Mukti or liberation, bhakti has to continue. At that stage, it is called sAdhyabhakti as it strengthens the realisation of bliss in the liberated stage. Deve loping bhakti is a continuous process from the initial stage of seeking knowledge to the highest stage of spiritual attainment. The relation between God and Jiva is that of bimba and pratibimba. In the liberated stage, bimba i.e., God is revealed to the pratibimba i.e., Jiva.This is made possible by bhakti. Sri Krishna declares in Gita that

'the Supreme God can be known only by bhakti' (VIII-22).

'I will take care of those who are devoted to me alone' (IX-22).

'I love those who love me' (IX-29).

'He who is devoted to me,though not of a good conduct initially, will improve soon. My devotee will never perish' (IX-30, 31).

'You fix your mind on me,be devoted to me, worship me. You will surely attain me'(IX-34, XVIII 65).

'I shall give my aparokShajnAna for those who are devoted to me' (X-10).

From these, it is clear that bhakti leads to the knowledge and grace of God.

 

In connection with bhakti and bhakta, Gita makes another important contribution. It is already pointed out that bhakti is not merely an emotional state, but it is to have the foundation of Knowledge. It is love with knowledge but not mere love. That is why Gita repeatedly states 'jnAni mama priyatamah' and 'jnAninah aham priyah' Jnanin is bhakta and Bhakta is jnAnin according to Gita. There is one more point that is equally important. It is high conduct that is laid down for a bhakta in Gita.

 

A bhakta should not have hatred for anyone. He should have friendly feelings towards all. He should have compassion. He should have no ego. He should ha ve tolerance and

should have a balanced attitude in pleasure and pain. He should always be contented. He must be determined. He should always be absorbed in God (XII-13,14).

 

None should be afraid of him. He should not be afraid of any.He should not be affected by the joy, anger, fear and any other tension. He should not long for anything other than God's grace.He should be clean, capable of his task, impartial and free from regret. He should not undertake anything that is not intended to obtain the grace of God. He should not have any likes and dislikes, he should neither covet nor regret. It is only a devotee

of such a high conduct whom I love (31). (XII-15,16,17).

 

Thus, Gita concept of bhakti is a synthesis of emotional, intellectual and ethical aspects. Bhakti is not a blind emotional attachment without knowledge and conduct.