Introduction to Vedanta by
H. H. Swami Paramarthananda Saraswathi
Chapter -7
Bhakti

Today, I will deal with the topic of bhakti. It is a very important topic found in the scriptures and a topic with various shades of meanings in different contexts. Therefore it is a confusing topic also. So we should clearly understand what bhakti is. The word bhakti is used in the scriptures in two different meanings.
The First Meaning of Bhakti

Bhakti means devotion towards God. Devotion is love directed towards a higher principle. Reverential love can be defined as devotion. We talk about matr-bhakti and pitr-bhakti. In our tradition, we look upon the parents as of worship. Similarly, we talk about guru-bhakti, desa-bhakti and Isvara-Bhakti. Therefore, in general, bhakti is love towards a higher principle, especially love towards God.

Three Directions of Love
The topic of love has been very elaborately analysed in our scriptures, both in its general form as love and also in its specific form as love of God. Scriptures point out that all forms of love that a human being entertains are directed towards only three things. The first one is love of goal. Whatever goals or ends we want to accomplish in life are all ends that we love. It is because we love them that we want to acquire them. So I will call it love towards various ends or various goals “End-love”. Then, later to accomplish the ends we have to use various means. Only through means can we accomplish the ends. Since the means are useful to accomplish the ends, we love the means also. Why? Because it is useful to accomplish the end. Therefore, the second direction of our love is, love of the means. I will call it “Means-love”. The third object of love is oneself. Everyone loves himself or herself. I will call it “Self-love”. Therefore all forms of love are only of three categories: “Means-love”, “End-love” and “Self-love”. This is love in general.

Gradation of Love
The scriptures point out that there is a gradation in the intensity of these three forms of love. Love of the means is the least in its intensity. Love of the end is medium and love of oneself is the highest form of love, wherein the love has got the highest intensity. What is the reason? Reason is simple. Love of the means is not for the sake of means itself. It is only for the sake of the end. Once the end is accomplished, the attitude towards the means is completely different. After accomplishing the end, the means is often forgotten. Rich people are loved more than the poor people because they are the means for the end called wealth. As long as the end called the wealth can be accomplished through these rich people they are loved. The moment money goes from them, thereafter, those person is not approached. Elderly rich people are very sincerely served by family members. You know where the sincerity lies, I don’t generalize it. Often, the service is with the hope that they can inherit or get the wealth. Suppose the elderly person gives off all the money before death itself, after getting all the money, the old person is deserted. He advises other old friends never to give the money to the next generation until death.

Yavad vittoparjanasaktah tavannijaparivaro raktah
pascad Jivati jarjaradehe vartam kopi na prcchati gehe”

Most of the time love for people is purely the love for the means to accomplish the end. And often money is the end. Therefore the love for the end is superior to the love for the means. If means is dear to you, the end is dearer to you.
Now, between the love of the end and oneself, which love is superior? If you logically analyse, I love various ends not for the sake of the end itself. I love various ends hoping that they will give me comfort, security, happiness. It is for my benefit, my comfort, my security, my happiness, I love various ends. The moment I see that a particular end does not give me joy, then the end is changed. Even after accomplishing the end, it is disposed off. That is why even marriages break down now-a-days. Couples who choose each other get separated. Loved ones are rejected when they are found uncomfortable for oneself. So, the self is the dearest. The Upanisad says: “Nobody loves the husband for husband’s sake, everybody loves the husband for one’s own sake.” (Na va are patyuh kamaya patih priyo bhavati, atmanastu kamaya patih priyo bhavati) Therefore no end is loved for the end’s sake. Everything is loved for one’s own sake only. Therefore, if you have to grade - “Means-love” is manda, “End-love” is madhyama, and “Self-love” is uttama. This is the general principle regarding human love.

Three Grades of Devotion
Now let us apply this in the field of God. If a person loves God, what will be the intensity of that love? Scriptures point out that the intensity of love depends upon how you look upon God, because different people see God in different ways. The way you look upon God will determine the intensity of love. Majority of people look upon God only as the means for various wordly ends. “If I go to this temple, I will be able to accomplish this end” - this is my approach. As long as you look upon God as a means, that love is called manda-bhakti (inferior devotion). That is why such people get angry with God also. Last week only a lady came and said, “I am angry with God. I asked Him to get my daughter married. But He didn’t accomplish that. Therefore, I have stopped worshipping Him and I have thrown all my prayer books into the waste paper basket. “Why? Because it is a conditional love. If the condition is fulfilled, I love. If the condition is not fulfilled, I allow God to go. I reject. Therefore, such a bhakti is called manda-bhakti and this is the prevalent one.

The next set of people is still rare. They don’t look upon God as a means for various ends. They are mature enough. Their understanding of God is clearer. They are able to choose God as the end of life. The end of life means the goal of life. They know God represents security. God represents peace. God represents happiness. They know that everyone is seeking security, peace and happiness alone. Naturally their love of God is as the end and therefore it is more intense than the previous one. Therefore, this bhakti is madhyama-bhakti.

You can extend this further and find out what will be uttama-bhakti. What should be uttama-bhakti? What is third and rarest form of love which is the most intense form of love? It is a love in which I look upon God neither as the means nor even as the end. The Lord and the Self being identical, God-love is equal to Self-love. Since self-love is the most intense love, that form of love is called uttama-bhakti. For manda-bhakta God is dear. For madhyama bhakta God is dearer and for the uttama-bhakta God is the dearest. Krsna beautifully elaborates this in the seventh and the twelfth chapters of the Gita. Therefore what is bhakti? Love in the form of manda, madhyama, and uttama-rupa. This is the first meaning of the word bhakti.

The Second Meaning of ‘Bhakti’
Now, we will come to the second meaning of the word bhakti. Bhakti is the course of discipline meant to accomplish the highest goal of life namely ‘moksa’ or freedom. To convey this idea of bhakati as a course of discipline, the word yoga is added. So, when bhakti means a course of discipline, we use the word bhakti-yoga. Therefore, the suffix yoga indicates bhakti as a course of discipline.

Bhakti-Yoga, The Three-Fold Spiritual Discipline
The next question is what is bhakti-yoga? What course of discipline is indicated by the word bhakti-yoga? If you remember our previous talks, we have dealt with the three-fold course of discipline for attaining purusarthas, the human goals. While talking about the three fold course of discipline we talked about karma-yoga, upasana-yoga and jnana-yoga. We never talked about bhakti-yoga. So the question is what do you mean by bhakti-yoga as a course of discipline? Is it a fourth yoga? Our answer is : bhakti-yoga is not an exclusive or separate course of discipline at all. But bhakti-yoga is the name of the entire group of discipline consisting of all the three. It is not a fourth one. But it is the name of the entire three-fold course of discipline known as karma-yoga, upasana-yoga and jnana-yoga. If you want you can say that the first stage of bhakti-yoga is karma-yoga. The second stage of bhakti-yoga is upasana-yoga. The final stage of bhakti-yoga is jnana-yoga. It is one consisting of all these three. So karma-yoga + upasana-yoga + jnana-yoga= bhakti-yoga.

Then the next question is : why do you call all these three commonly as bhakti-yoga? Why don’t you treat it as a separate fourth yoga? The answer is: bhakti-yoga is the common name for all the three because bhakti is the common atmosphere in which all these three yogas are practised. Karma-yoga has to be imbued with bhakti, upasana-yoga should be soaked in bhakti and jnana-yoga must float in the syrup of bhakti. In karma-yoga the attitude that one enjoys is that of dedicating all actions to the Lord and accepting, without resistance, all the consequence of the actions. How can there be karma-yoga without Iswara-arpana-bhavana and prasada-bhavana. Therefore a karma-yogi should necessarily have bhakti. In Upasana-yoga I have to meditate upon the Lord for developing mental discipline and integration. How can I meditate the God if I do not have bhakti? Manasa-puja, manasa-parayanam and manasa-japa are part of upasana. So upasana-yoga also must take place in the atmosphere of bhakti alone. What about jnana-yoga? Jnana-yoga also involves bhakti. The study of scriptures is started with some prayer or the other and we end with a prayer. Not only that. In jnana-yoga, we are enquiring into our own real nature discovering the identity of our real nature with the nature of God. Hence, jnana-yoga involves self-discovery which is none other than God-discovery. Therefore, jnana-yoga also involves bhakti. So, the second meaning of bhakti is the entire course of spiritual discipline.

Thus the first meaning of bhakti is the love of God in the form of manda, madhyama and uttama-prema. The second meaning of bhakti is a course of discipline consisting of karma-yoga, upasana-yoga and jnana-yoga to attain the goal of liberation.

The Object of Devotion
Now I like to include one more topic in this context. Bhakti is love or devotion towards God. Without understanding the principle of God, how can we discuss the topic of devotion? The integral part of love is the object of love. In fact, you cannot develop love towards anyone without understanding who that one is. How can I love an unknown thing or person? That’s why people want to move with a person to decide whether they can love or not. When they decide they can love, they get married. After marriage they understand more and declare, “I understand. That’s why I am not able to love.” So, I cannot talk of love of God without understanding and that’s why knowledge of God becomes necessary. Therefore, we will briefly discuss the nature of God, who is your object of love. Scriptures give three definitions for God depending upon the maturity and intellectual calibre of the seeker. Scriptures are very practical. We will see three levels of definition directed towards people of three levels.

First Definition of God
God is the creator of the universe. In Sanskrit, Jagat-karta Isvarah. We present a simple and easily understandable reasoning. What is that? Any well - designed product must have an intelligent being behind it to design. The more well designed it is, the more you appreciate the designing intelligence. That is why new products are coming with new designs so that you will be tempted to buy. So, if an ordinary product requires a conscious intelligent being behind the creation, what to talk of the most wonderful universe which is well-designed and very purposeful? Some person defined a weed - a weed is a plant whose purpose is not yet discovered. It is not useless but we have not yet discovered its use. That means nothing is purposeless in the creation. If the creation is purposeful and well-designed, there will be an intelligent creator behind it. That intelligent creator (jagat-karta) Isvara. Once identify iswara as jagat-karta you will visualise God as a person because the only intelligent being known to us in the human being. Therefore we imagine a very intelligent personal God who is omniscient and omnipotent. Since we do not see Him around, we safely place Him above the clouds. He is also safe. We are also safe. Let it be he or she, we have got both. This is God as a creator as a personal God with a special form. Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Siva etc. are the personal form of God as the creator. I will call this God eka-rupa-isvara-God with a specific form. This is for the beginner.

Second Definition of God
Once you are grown up sufficiently and capable of thinking further, the scriptures present the next level of Isvara. God is the cause of the world-jagat-karanam Isvarah. Earlier jagatkarta Isvarah and now jagat-karanam Isvarah. How do we introduce that? It is like this. Suppose, I understand God as the creator of the world, the question comes regarding the raw material out of which the world is created. Any creator can create something only with a raw material. Carpenter requires wood as raw material; builder requires iron, wood, bricks etc. as raw material. Therefore, without raw material nothing can be created. If I understand God as the creator of the whole universe, what was the raw material? Nothing else is available because, before the creation of the world, God alone was there, none else. Even space was not there. What to talk of things? Scientists say that before the big-bang we cannot even conceive of time-space. You can talk about them after the big-bang, not before. Therefore, before the creation of time and space and object, when God alone was there, where is the raw material? So scriptures point out that God Himself happens to be the very material also out of which the world is shaped. And we say God is the Karanam-the very material out of which the world is created. The scripture gives the example also. Just as a spider finds the material for its web in itself, God creates out of Himself. We despise a spider but it is a beautiful example useful for Vedanta. It does not take any material from anywhere. Unlike a bird or an ant or a human being, it finds the material in itself. Similarly God is the material cause of the universe. The law material alone becomes manifold product. Since God is the raw material, God alone has become the universe. Therefore, the universe is nothing but God alone. So where is God? The whole universe is God. Since the whole universe is God, every form is God’s form. He is no more a personal God. He is universal God. He is no more eka-rupa-isvara. He is aneka-rupa-isvara or visva-rupa-isvara. To have darsana of God I need not go up. He is available everywhere. In Rudram, Lord Siva is worshipped as the rising sun with different hues. All the different hues of the sun are the complexion of the Lord. This is the second definition.

Third Definition of God
First I say God created the world. Then I say God became the world. Once you are ready for the next level, the scriptures give the third definition. That is, Jagad-adhisthanam Isvarah. This is the highest, the toughest and is the culmination. When we say God has become everything, you will immediately ask-Swamiji, there are ugly things, the diseases, criminals etc. in the creation. Are they also God? Suppose I say yes, no devotion will be there. How can I accept the evil as God? If such a question comes, we are ready for the third definition. God does not become the world. God appears as the world with different forms. He is not affected by any form in which he appears. To put it in another way, God is the very substratum of all the forms. He transcends the entire creation. God is the ultimate substratum behind the creation. But not affected by them. He is Jagad -adhisthanam. Since God transcends all these forms of the creation, no particular form belongs to God. Therefore, God as adhisthana-Isvara is aripa-Isvara, i.e., formless God.

Now, What are the three levels? To consolidate in sanskrit, God is Jagad-karta, Jagat-karanam, jagad-adhisthanam. In English, God creates the world-first stage of understanding, God becomes the world - second stage of understanding, God appears as the world - third stage of understanding. God has one form - eka-rupa-first stage of understanding, many forms-aneka-rupa-second stage of understanding, formless-arupa-third stage of understanding. We have to understand all the levels gradually. In the initial stage, I have to go through eka-rupa-bhakti, in the middle stage my bhakti is aneka-rupa-bhakti. When I reach the final stage, my bhakti is arupa-bhakti. When I talk of three stages, remember that the latter one does not replace the former. Arupa-bhakti has eka and aneka-rupa-bhakti. Arupa-bhakti includes the other two. They happily worship God with any particular form also. They happily appreciate the Lord as beautiful nature also. One does not replace the other. Just as Einsteinian physics does not displace Newtonian physics. Both are valid in their levels. This is the understanding of God that develops in the mind of a seeker as he studies the scriptures.

Summing up all the topics discussed above, we have nine forms of bhakti. The first three are : Manda, madhyama and uttama - bhakti, wherein bhakti is the love of God (bhavana-drstya bhakti-trayam). The next three are : karma-rupa, upasana-rupa and jnana-rupa-bhakti, wherein bhakti means spiritual discipline (sadhana-drstya bhakti-trayam). The last three are eka, aneka, and arupa-bhakti, depending upon our understanding of God (devata - drstya bhakti-trayam). The word bhakti is used in all these meanings and therefore we should understand the context and grasp the meanings. This is a very important topic in the scriptures. With this, I conclude the topic of bhakti.

Paribhasa - Technical Terms
Now we shall see a few scriptural terms and concepts, which are required for studying any scriptural text. We should have an understanding of thesse scriptural terms and concepts. In Sanskrit it is called paribhasa. Paribhasa means technical terms which are unique to a particular science. The science of medicine has its own particular terms. Similarly economics or biology or botany have their own technical terms. In the same way, we have technical terms in Vedanta also.

Here is an interesting incident to make you realize how a technical term needs specific translation. A person in Delhi built a house without a ceiling. He decided to conduct a house-warming ceremony and invited his friends and relatives. When somebody asked him the reason for building a house without a ceiling, he said that he had read a news item that said that the government was going to put a ceiling on all urban properly. He had thought that there was no need on his part to construct the ceiling when the government was offering to help him. He did not realize that this ceiling was different from the first one. Thus, every science has its own jargon. This is true of our scriptural science too. Without understanding those technical words, if I study the scriptures it will not be meaningful. To become familiar with these words, let us look into a text called Tattva-bodha and learn the important terms and concepts.