Thus Spake the Divine - Bhakti – The Common Thread for All Religions

Thus Spake the Divine

Bhakti – The Common Thread for All Religions

People follow different religions and philosophies but one connecting thread is Bhakti or devotion to God, says Poojyasri Maha Periyava. In this chapter, Maha Periyava says that one should absorb the Advaita philosophy while espousing Bhakti to God.

All religions on this earth have been founded only with the sole objective of liberating human beings from sorrows and ameliorating their lives. Man is steeped in all kinds of sorrows unlike other living beings. The underlying viewpoint of all religions is that if man makes due efforts, not only will he be relieved of his sorrows, it will also be possible for him to attain exclusive wisdom, which other living beings cannot gain. All religions unanimously suggest that if man surrenders to the Supreme Power that controls entire Universe, he can liberate himself from sorrows. Be it any religion or philosophies like Advaita, Visishtadvaita, Dvaita, Shaivait, (which are sub-sects of Hindu religion) all

philosophies and all religions, including Christianity and Islam, are closely inter-connected with one common thread, which is Bhakti or devotion / adoration to God.

Though Lord Buddha did not propagate Bhakti, Buddhists could not remain without exhibiting the feeling of Bhakti. That’s why there are giant size Buddha statues and Buddhists worship Buddha as God. Of late, many saints and sages insist only on the philosophy of self-inquiry. The followers of such saints, while adhering to their preaching, still worship these saints as personification of God. Bhakti is such an in-born characteristic of man.

The followers of the doctrine of Advaita are of the view that while doing Bhakti, one should abandon the thought that “God and I are different” and absorb the thought that “God and I are one and the same”. Some might say that the devotee who worships God is very vulnerable and less-knowledgeable, whereas God is Omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. In such a scenario, how can both the devotee and God be one and the same? If that question is correct, then, it means that we, the human beings are ‘somebody’ else other than God. If that is the case, had there been other substances other than God, where did they all emerge from? Then, how can God control things that have emerged without His involvement in their creation? With such contemplation, one can comprehend that it is one and only Paramatma, who has absorbed the form of Ishvara (God) as an expansive ocean and manifested into different living beings, like ocean manifests its identity into a pond, pool, well or water in a spoon. There may be differences in terms of supremacy; but fundamentally all are only one substance. We need to understand this basic fundamental crux of Advaita. This is Moksha as elucidated under Advaita philosophy.

Some may say there is no use of such intellectual conversations. Moksha should be experienced in reality. The inclination to seek the Advaita Moksha itself will emerge only with the mercy and benevolence of Supreme Power that controls the activities of this Universe.

Even at the earlier stage, where there appears a distinction between God and the Devotee, one should establish the conviction that “It is that Paramatma who has emerged as God, who has also manifested as the Devotee too”. This will enhance the feeling of adoration and affection towards God. This is because there can be no other substance that we love more than our own selves! Once we start persistently worshipping Him, He will bestow his benevolence on us and draw us closer to Him. He himself will bow down to our Bhakti and divulge to us as to who He is and what His characteristics are. We don’t need to evaluate anything about Him.

Devotees identify the eternal characteristics of Ishvara and start adoring Him, whereas sages and saints identify the root of these characteristics, which is the ‘no-attributes’ state of Brahmam, and get unified with that. Idol worship forms the foundation for this and this has paved way for Ishta Devata, which means “God of our liking”.

All other religions end with proclamation of just one aspect, which is God. It is the Hindu Religion, which is known as our Sanatana Dharma, which is a term used to denote the “eternal” or absolute set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste, or sect. Sanatana Dharma demonstrates different physical forms of that one Brahmam who can be worshipped by different people as per their own personal preferences. All these forms are not just creation of an imagination.

The Paramatma who is that one Supreme Power has manifested Himself into different forms and characters and appeared in front of sages and saints. These sages and saints have literally moved very closely with such different forms of Gods and have extended their Bhakti towards such Gods. Likewise, they have also developed different mantras and codes of worship, performing which one can have the darshan of a specified form of God of his choice.

Whatever be the mode of worship, Bhakti is common to all religions. It is the central pinnacle not only in the worship of God in different idol forms as per our religion, but also in worship of Gods of all religions.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.

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