Deivathin Kural Series - 116

Om Namah Sivaya.
Deivathin Kural # 116 of 14 of Dec 2006.
1. To-day's title is 'Kaaranam Illada Bakthi', that is, 'Devotion Sans Purpose', occuring in pages 521 to 523, in Volume 1 of Deivathin Kural, Tamil version, published by Vanady Padippagam, Chennai.
2. In my last message, I had given six reasons why we should have Bakthi towards God. The best amongst them is to be devoted to God, so as to be relieved of what binds us to worldly life. Sri Sankara and other 'Adwaita', acharyals hold the view that, 'direct Mukthi is obtained by Gnana, and not by being devoted'. What is 'Mukthi'? To be relieved from being bound. To be released from harness, is itself the destination or 'Veedu'. What is the harness? What ever is keeping us bound, in the cycle of endless repetition of birth and death, is the harness. Instead of this harness, to reach or realise, our permanent true identity, is 'Mukthi or Veedu'.
3. Our being bound, is due to the fact that we have something known as Mind. If this mind is not there no one will be bound. Disapperance of mind is 'Nirvana or Moksham'. All the differentiation of colour, creed, shape, qualities, names, tones, temperature, state, stage...etc..is due to mind being there. While thinking of God, our mind does get the pleasure of thinking about the salubrious qualities of God. In the state of Bakthi, one does feel the whole range of sensations such as, happiness, sadness, seperation, weeping, and so on. 'Kadalagi kasindu kanneer malgi', says one poet, that is to, 'melt in love with tears flowing'. When the mind itself melts in it's source, all differentiation comes to an end. Changeless peaceful state of 'Moksha', prevails. To locate that source of the mind, which is also the source of Atma, or Jeevan or Prana, is the Gnana Marga or Path of Awareness. For that, the mind is to be trained, not to run after various thoughts, but remain rivetted to find the answer to the one and only question of, 'who am I? or what is Atma?' When the answer to this question, becomes known; simultaneously, mind is no more! You do not mind anything any more! That is, 'Atma satchathkaram or realization or mukthi!'
4. But Gopala Krishna Barathiyar sings, 'through bakthi you can get mukthi'! (In Tamil, 'bakthi pannik kondirunthal mukthi peralame'.) He is not talking in the same vein as some people who say that, Mukthi is to go to the Heavens, such as Vaikundam for Vaishnavites and Kailasam for Saivites. The Dwaities and Visishta-Adwaities, will promptly agree with that Mukthi. But even there, Baktha remains Baktha, and Easwara remains Easwara. With Easwara / God, Baktha / Devotee, differentiation; Baktha will retain his mind with all the concommittent oscillations. Adwaita Mukthi is different from this, as all become one. Gopala Krishna Barathiyar was a confirmed Adwaitin and still he claims that mukthi can be attained through bakthi!
5. Not only him, even Adwaita Parama Acharyal, Sri Sankara who said that Gnana is the path of mukthi, has gone to many temples and sang thousands of devotional slokas! He has established the six pointed, 'shan madha sthapana', of Ganapathyam, Saivam, Saktham, Souram, Vaishnavam and Koumaram, by which daily pooja is done to Vinayaka, Siva, Sakthi, Surya, Vishnu and Karthikeya. As his direct followers, we are also involved in hours of daily rituals. Why has he emphasised this way of Bakthi with devothinal rituals, though we as the Heads of Sankara Mata, are supposed to be renunciates!
6. This mind of ours does not know what Atma looks like, though this mind itself is a sprout of Atma only! How can this mind measure or assess the Atma? When the mind is dead or disappears; Atma shines brilliantly! But this mind of our's is all the time running helter skelter, in all directions. So the first thing required to be done, is to make this mind uni-directional or one-pointed. Bakthi is needed for this. World affairs have a shattering effect on the mind. But when we keep thinking of God only, the mind focusses on Him, with the consistancy of the flow of oil. Thereby mind looses its natural proclivities and so ceases to be mind! That is why, Sankara kept Bakthi as a stepping stone for Gnana.
7. 'Atma Satchathkaram', or Mukthi, is not something to be obtained from somewhere after death. There is never a time that the 'Atma' is not. Without the Atma, where can the body go? So the Atma has to be experienced, while still in the body only. Those greats, who have attained to this experience while living in the body, are the 'jeevan mukthas' or 'Brhma Gnanis'.
8. Even amongst such, 'jeevan muktha brhma gnanis', there has been some devotees. Their love for God, is the 'kaaranam illaada bakthi', or 'devotion sans purpose'. There is nothing more to be gained by such jeevan mukthas. They remain steeped in their devotion for God in some form, such as Krishna or Rama or Muruga. They have nothing to lose or gain. They are all the time lost in their adoration of their God, in all the forms, in all the colours, in all the ragas, in all its splendour and beauty. Their Love is unconditional. They Love to Love God. This love is known as, "Ahaithukee bakthi". Suka, who was a born Brhma Nishta, has coined this word, 'ahaithukee bakthi'. 'Hethu' means, for so and so, reason. Reasonless is 'ahaithukee'. This is devotion after attainment. This is Bakthi after Mukthi! This is Love for the sake of Love!
Sambhomahadeva.