Relation with Devotees
Sri Krishna said, “Those devotees, who,
however, fix their mind upon Me and worship Me without any other material desire
or want, for these, ever united souls, I Myself bear their burden of acquiring
objects for their livelihood and protecting these objects.”
This
is one of the most important assurances given by the Lord to His devotees. One
who is able to transcend all material desires and rise to that supreme state
where one cannot think of anything other than the Supreme Being, the Supreme
Being Himself provides all sustenance. These devotees make absolutely no effort
in this regard. This is explained beautifully by Sri Ramakrishna - when
a minor assumes the charge of an estate, a special trust takes care of the minor
and his estate. The minor, who is incapable of acting, does not have to do any
administrative task. Similarly for a devotee who is incapable of taking care of
the material needs because of his absorption in God, God Himself makes all
arrangements like food and family maintenance. There are many instances in the
lives of saints and sages for this.
“Kaunteya, Even those
devotees who worship other gods or demigods with sincerity and devotion, they
also worship Me only, albeit in an improper way. I am the Lord of all sacrifices
and also enjoyer of the fruits thereof. These devotees (of other lesser gods) do
not know Me properly and hence degrade themselves.”
This is another great statement pertaining to Universal
tolerance, harmony and unity. All gods and demi gods like Indra, Agni, Varuna, Mitra, are in
effect inferior to the Supreme Being. On the other hand, the Lord of the
Universe Himself is present in the form of these demigods and goddesses. The
same holds good when the Lord is worshipped not as Hari or Narayana or by some other name belonging
to some other culture or country. The worship, in effect, is reaching the Lord
because He is the master of all sacrifices. Therefore all sacrifices and their
fruits will reach Him. As proclaimed in the chapter 7, the devotees worshipping
the lesser gods and goddesses get their desires fulfilled by the Supreme Being
Himself. However these devotees, in their ignorance do not know Him and
therefore are satisfied by the fulfillment of the material desires. The
satisfaction of material desires is a very low outcome as the highest state the
devotees can reach by worshipping the Supreme Being is liberation or freedom
from the bondage or transmigration for reaping the fruits of Karma. However, by invoking the various
gods for material progress and prosperity, they merely degrade themselves as
they fail to obtain the supreme grace of liberation and the associated bliss.
The highest form of devotion is Ahaituki
Bhakti or love for the sake of love, not the devotion for granting any
material desire. As the Lord said in Chapter 7, the devotees are of various
classes like the one who seeks help and divine intervention, one who seeks
profit and material gain, one who seeks knowledge and wisdom i.e. spiritual
minded, and the one who is wise. Among them the most favourite to the Lord is
the one who is Wise. This is because the wise or jnani never possesses any selfish
desire.
“The ones who worship the gods, go to the gods, those who worship
the pitrs or ancestors, go to them,
those who worship the lower forces of nature like spirits, go to them as well.
In the same way, those who worship Me, come to Me. Leaves, flowers, fruits,
water, whatever My devotee offers Me with sincere devotion, I partake such
honest offerings. Therefore Oh Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you
eat, whatever sacrifices you perform and whatever you give as gift unto others,
whatever ascetic practices you undergo, dedicate them all unto Me. By donating
the fruits of all actions, good or bad, you will be liberated from the bondage
associated with such actions. Thus endowed with the spirit of renunciation,
you’ll attain Me and freedom from all acts and their consequences.”
The Lord is satisfied with very little of the material
offerings, if they are offered with absolute devotion. Material offerings sans
devotion do not qualify as a proper gift, fit for giving to the Supreme Being.
Instead a far better offering would be to submit all fruits of all actions at
His feet. These will enable one to be free of all bondage resulting from action.
The perception that “I am the Doer”, the ego, the very thought that we are
responsible for all our actions and fruits, are the causes of bondage. If one
foregoes the ego, if one is able to understand that one is not the doer but an
instrument in the hand of the Lord and if one therefore dedicates all fruits
resulting from action to the Supreme Being as the highest form of offering,
without any desire for any selfish gain, one is sure to be liberated from all
bondages.
“I am equal to every living being, no one is My favourite, nor
anyone is My enemy, however those who worship Me with fervent devotion, i.e. My
best devotees are always in Me and I, too am in them.”
The Supreme Being is indifferent. However that applies only
to the non devotees. He is everything and every being and therefore His apparent
indifference is to enable the different beings to enjoy the fruits of their
actions. He does not hate sinners, nor does He love the virtuous. He is very
close to only His devotees. These devotees through their sincere love for God
get nearer to Him and He cannot stay away from them, just as mother and father
cannot stay away from their children.
“Even if the greatest of the sinners worship Me sincerely with
concentrated mind, He becomes a saint and is treated thus. Very rapidly he
progresses and becomes a sage and obtains eternal bliss. Kaunteya, you may declare this fact that
My devotee never perishes. Whoever is devoted to Me, even if they are born under
a circumstance that is devoid of virtue, women (being deprived of the right to
study the scriptures), vaishyas and
Shudras (being born of lower castes),
will all attain greater state (of spirituality). Therefore what to speak of
virtuous brahmanas and devoted royal
sages. Better worship Me by getting this impermanent unhappy state of being
called the world. Be immersed in My thoughts, be devoted to Me, worship Me, bow
down to Me. You will attain Me by being ever united with Me through constant
devotion.”
The greatest message is that of redemption of
the sinner. However heinous a sin is, if the sinner becomes a sincere devotee
then he or she by the Lord’s grace can become a saint. The history of India
corroborates many such incidents where sinners have turned into great devotees –
like Girish Chandra Ghosh, Jagai-Madhai, sage Valmiki and so on. Many such
sinners with steadfast devotion became saints. A devotee, will not perish or
lost from the Lord, is the declaration of Gita.
The statement concerning women have sometimes being
condemned by liberals as being “anti woman”, because they are named along with
sinners. Same is the case with Vaishyas and Sudras. However this statement is one of
the most profound. It declares unequivocally that even though distinctions may
exist in the worldly affairs among sexes, castes, nature etc. such distinctions
do not exist in the eyes of the Supreme Being. To the soul of all souls there
are only two categorizations – devotee and non devotee. A devotee is certain to
gain the greater state of spirituality. Women who were devoid of the fundamental
rights of studying Vedas and other scriptures were at a disadvantage to
the pious Brahmanas. However that did
not preclude them from realizing God if they were sufficiently sincere.
Similarly the people belonging to inferior castes also could realize God.
Sri Ramakrishna made almost same observation in the gospels, “a devotee
has no caste or other such distinctions.”
The pious Brahmanas and virtuous Kshatriyas had a greater chance of
realizing God because the circumstances were more favorable to them. Therefore
Sri Krishna advised Arjuna to strive for perfection as the
latter was aided by circumstances. Being immersed in the thoughts and works of
God is a way by which the bonds with the Samsara or the world, which is full of
tribulations, can be broken.
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