-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Bhakti (devotion towards God)
- Thread starter ngupta
- Start date
As a Vaishnava, bhakti is ever and always thinking and meditating on Krishna; desiring to be with Him; desiring to do what He teaches. For example:
"One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Mesuch a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me."
"He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me." Bhagavad Gita 12:13-15
"One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Mesuch a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me."
"He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me." Bhagavad Gita 12:13-15
ratikala
Istha gosthi
dear ngupta ,
bhakti ? .... loving devotion to god in his personal form , be that Rama , Krsna , Siva , or any one of the personal forms of the supreme , rather than devotion to the impersonal brahman .
Bhakti yoga ? .... concidered to be the higest form of surrender and worship where by the devotee puts the service of the lord before his own wish for liberation .
Bhagavad gita ,
CH ...12 V ...1
Arjuna asked of Krsna , which are concidered the more perfect , those who properly engage in your devotional service , or those who worship the impersonal brahman ?
CH ...12 V ...2
sri bhagavan said , those who fix their minds on my personal form and who are allways engaged in worshiping me with great and transendental faith are consideredby me to be most perfect .
this without doubt requires faith (shraddha) in the personal form as without true faith it is difficult to develop love and devotion , to my mind allthough vedantic schools vary a little in their understanding of advaita they have a very similar approach to bhakti stressing the personal relationship with the lord .
The Bhagavat purana contains nine facets of Bhakti taught by pralada maharaj , these facets detail ways by which bhakti is expressed ,
shravana ...devotion by way of listening , hearing , enjoying hari katha ( story telling about the passtimes of the lord )
kirtana .....praising the lord , joyfull expression of love through song .
smarana ...remembering , constantly thinking of , or fixing the mind upon the lord.
pada sevana .rendering service to the lord , or to the devotees of the lord .
archana ....worshiping an immage of the lord , (in deity form or as a picture ) the lord manifest in his arcavigraha form manifest personal form to accept the worship of his devotees .
vandana ....by paying homage to the lord and to his servants .
dasya .......by offering servitude to the lord and to the servants of the lord .
sakhya ......by offering friendship , delighting in the company of the lords devotees .
atma nivedana ...by surrendering oneself , placing ones own concerns after those of the lord , deeming service to be more important than ones personal liberation .
bhakta pralada maharaj ...ki jai ....ratikala
Andal
resident hypnotist
Since others have so eloquently described bhakti I will speak to it's place in Vedanta. Vedanta can be divided into Advaita, Vishishtadvaita, Dvaitadvaita, Dvaita, Achinta Bhedabheda, etc. Of this Bhakti plays a paramount role in all traditions with the exception of Advaita. It is still present there however it tends not to have the same role or the same goals as bhakti does in the other traditions.
Aum Hari Aum!
Aum Hari Aum!
K.Venugopal
Immobile Wanderer
Bhakti is love that evokes in us a passion to selflessly merge our identity with the object of our love. In Hindu culture it is considered the most intense and purest form of love and is held up as the acme and summum bonum of spirituality by all schools of thought - including Advaita. [The view generally expressed that Advaita is impersonal in nature is, I think, not altogether true.]
Last edited:
K.Venugopal
Immobile Wanderer
The goal of all paths is indeed to discover the Self. The difference is only in the paths or processes laid out to reach the goal, like Bhakti yog, Karma yog, Jnana yog, Raj yog etc.
Gaura Priya
IRL
Except for Vaishnavas, all the yogas culminate in bhakti yoga. They all eventually merge into bhakti yoga as the easiest and simplest form of yoga for all devotees to follow.
Bhakti always has the idea of the the Beloved, the Lover, and Love. Bhakti essentially can not just be flat-out one reality, but must necessarily be distinguishing in order for its sweetness (rasa) to be relishable by the devotee. It is a reality full of variegatedness and difference, and of overall sweetness and love for the Supreme Lord without any motive.
Sometimes bhakti can be accompanied by philosophical tendencies (jnana-mishra-bhakti) or with philanthropic activities (karma-mishra-bhakti), but pure loving devotion to the Lord (shuddha-bhakti) is jnana-shunya-bhakti, love devoid of philosophical speculation. It does not even seek Moksha, for she can not give both the personal presence and sweetness of absence of the Lord Himself.
It is everything, and the ultimate religion, above artha, kama, dharma and moksha.
Bhakti always has the idea of the the Beloved, the Lover, and Love. Bhakti essentially can not just be flat-out one reality, but must necessarily be distinguishing in order for its sweetness (rasa) to be relishable by the devotee. It is a reality full of variegatedness and difference, and of overall sweetness and love for the Supreme Lord without any motive.
Sometimes bhakti can be accompanied by philosophical tendencies (jnana-mishra-bhakti) or with philanthropic activities (karma-mishra-bhakti), but pure loving devotion to the Lord (shuddha-bhakti) is jnana-shunya-bhakti, love devoid of philosophical speculation. It does not even seek Moksha, for she can not give both the personal presence and sweetness of absence of the Lord Himself.
It is everything, and the ultimate religion, above artha, kama, dharma and moksha.
K.Venugopal
Immobile Wanderer
Bhakti is indeed the ultimate. What does a bhakta want but to merge into the lotus feet of Krishna? What is this but Advaita?Except for Vaishnavas, all the yogas culminate in bhakti yoga. They all eventually merge into bhakti yoga as the easiest and simplest form of yoga for all devotees to follow.
Bhakti always has the idea of the the Beloved, the Lover, and Love. Bhakti essentially can not just be flat-out one reality, but must necessarily be distinguishing in order for its sweetness (rasa) to be relishable by the devotee. It is a reality full of variegatedness and difference, and of overall sweetness and love for the Supreme Lord without any motive.
Sometimes bhakti can be accompanied by philosophical tendencies (jnana-mishra-bhakti) or with philanthropic activities (karma-mishra-bhakti), but pure loving devotion to the Lord (shuddha-bhakti) is jnana-shunya-bhakti, love devoid of philosophical speculation. It does not even seek Moksha, for she can not give both the personal presence and sweetness of absence of the Lord Himself.
Gaura Priya
IRL
We don't want to merge into Krishna, that's the thing.
But I come from a Vaishnava standpoint; we will always remain distinct and personal, and keep our individual personages in Krishnaloka.I follow: Achintya-bheda-abheda-tattva, or it closest relative, vishishtadvaita-vedanta.
We don't want to merge into Krishna, that's the thing.
I follow: Achintya-bheda-abheda-tattva, or it closest relative, vishishtadvaita-vedanta.
Despite what I said in another post about trying not to overthink what school I belong to, I do find myself leaning towards Vishishtadvaita, with a pinch of Advaita. When I was deist, what I now know to be Advaita was what I believed. I can't quite shake that.
At any rate, something I wonder about regarding Achintya bhedAbheda tattva is this: through all our lives and incarnations and interacting with other jivas' incarnations and lives, will our jivas know each other? That is, in this life I know who my parents were as material bodies. We may or may not encounter each other in other lives. Despite the possibility of let's say one million lives will our jivas know each other? Or is it immaterial because we will be fixed on Krishna? Of course, I might be anthropomorphizing this too much.
Vrindavana Das
Active Member
I think you are right in saying that it really does not matter. We will be fixed in Krishna consciousness.
As for the jivas knowing each other. My understanding is that all individuals - our brother, sister, parents, friends, relatives; they all are souls whom we owe a debt from our some previous life & vice-verse. As soon as their debt is settled with us, we part ways. Something like a river in which logs are flowing. They come together for some time, travel together and then again they go their separate ways. Our souls do not know each other, but the Supreme Lord in all our hearts - Parmatma, knows them.
chinu
chinu
The another name for bhakti is love with god.
zenzero
Its only a Label
Friends,
As understood:
Bhakta is one who does every action with bhakti/devotion.
The inner being of a bhakta is devotion or personal attention in every act.
Not only when praying to an image of a personal god and next instance shout when the wife or daughter has not placed the small plate or offerings/prasad properly.
One who finds consciousness in every being and devotes his life in service of that consciousness but through personalized form eg. Mother, father, personal God, son/daughter, friends, country, etc.
Love & rgds
As understood:
Bhakta is one who does every action with bhakti/devotion.
The inner being of a bhakta is devotion or personal attention in every act.
Not only when praying to an image of a personal god and next instance shout when the wife or daughter has not placed the small plate or offerings/prasad properly.
One who finds consciousness in every being and devotes his life in service of that consciousness but through personalized form eg. Mother, father, personal God, son/daughter, friends, country, etc.
Love & rgds
chinu
chinu
Not very unique and inrteresting, it's acerbic truth.Very unique and interesting!