Thus Spake the Divine - Karma And Bhakti

Thus Spake the Divine

Karma And Bhakti

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava succinctly says that Karma and Bhakti are inter-twined and not independent of the third path, Jnyana. Periyava quotes Sopana-Panchakam of Bhagavadpada as the basis for His stand.

When Sri Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada Acharya was about to leave his body, all his disciples prayed to him, “You have provided supreme interpretations of Vedas. But we could not understand many of their aspects. Please give us an easy and simple way to liberate ourselves from this worldly life”. Acharya presented five Shlokas from his Sopana- Pancakam or Sadhana-Pancakam, which is a classic text on spiritual practices.

Sopana-Pancakam starts with the following directives for attaining Moksha. They are: May you study Vedas daily; diligently carry out duties ordained by Vedas; perform all actions/duties as worship to the Lord; give up desire-driven activities; uproot the multitude of sins.

There are still people, who are diligently performing their duties or Karmas as ordained by Vedas. There are also people who perform well-structured Poojas, Bhajans and other such rituals. The perception of these people about those engrossed in their Karmas is: “What is the use of doing all these Karmas without worshipping God with Bhakti?” Whereas people engaged in their Karmas say, “People who worship God with the so-called Bhakti have the least commitment in completing their Karmas. It is not really worth to merely display Bhakti with Pooja and Bhajan.” In his Sopana-Pancakam, Acharya clearly mentions that Karmas should be performed with a dedication to Ishvara. This means that Karmas must be carried out while simultaneously having Ishvara in one’s thoughts. Such state of the mind is of a very high elevated level. It is extremely difficult for an ordinary individual or common man to do Karmas diligently and at the same time, without any attachment to Karmas, dedicate results of the Karmas to Ishvara Himself.

When ordinary human beings get into their daily Karmas, their attention towards Ishvara diminishes automatically. Therefore, they should practice and learn to perform both Karmas and Bhakti separately as also together. That way, man will gradually attain the higher state of doing Karmas as part of his Bhakti to God. Even one’s worship to God on a consistent basis can equal the person’s Karmas completely. Or eventually, both Pooja and Karmas may come to a halt when man reaches the state of Samadhi (State of Dispassion) in which he attains the absolute bliss.

Here are some questions. Will God be pleased with Karmas performed by a person or with the Bhakti offered by the person? For example, two servants are working under a Master. One servant continues to adore the Master and the other persistently completes his tasks with utmost commitment, without exhibiting any affinity or compassion towards the Master. In this case, it would appear that the Master would be pleased only with the person who keeps on praisin

g him. But if the Master is knowledgeable enough, he would be pleased only with the person who performs his duties with focus and commitment.

God is of course judicious. Just because a person keeps on worshipping Him, He will not bestow His benevolence upon that person. He is compassionate towards those who are performing their Karmas as ordained under the Shastras. However, if the performer of Karmas mechanically performs his duties without compassion in his heart, then he too cannot fully enjoy the pleasure of God’s love.

But a person will be able to do so if he imbibes the following thoughts and feelings: “This Universe is the creation of God. We are all citizens of the King of this Universe. Therefore, we are all one under the rule of this King. Apart from being the King, He is our Father and Mother. We are all His children and hence we are all brothers. With the objective of global wellbeing, Vedas have distributed various duties among us based on our capabilities. We all should carry out those duties (Karmas) as ordained by the Vedas”.

Only under such circumstances will the essence of Bhakti towards Ishvara reflect in our actions. Before making Karmas a part of Bhakti towards Ishvara, it is important and necessary that one should exclusively engage in Poojas and Bhakti as well as in prayers to God.

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.