ENLIGHTENMENT – THROUGH DEVOTION & WORSHIP
Bhakti comes from the word “Bhaj” which means ‘to be attached or devoted to’. It is pure unselfish love mixed with reverence.Bhakti is the basis of all religious life. Bhakti destroys Vasanas and egoism. Bhakti elevates the mind to magnanimous heights. Bhakti is the master-key to open the chambers of wisdom. Bhakti culminates in Jnana. Bhakti begins in two and ends in one.
Those who fight on the point: “Which is superior Bhakti or Jnana?” are groping in darkness. They have not understood the real Tattva. Para Bhakti and Jnana are one. Bhakti or devotion in the form of Anuraga or attachment to the Lord leads to the highest good or the attainment of God-realisation. The stronger the attachment, the quicker the realisation. It is easy to have a thing that is beautiful. God is Beauty of beauties. God is the source for all beauties. God is an embodiment of undecaying beauty. So it is very easy to love God. If you are attached to a finite, perishable object as wife or son, you become miserable when your wife or son dies. But if you are attached to God you get eternal, infinite Bliss and peace.
A Bhakta aspires, therefore, to something imperishable and infinite. Without love man’s life is empty. Without love man lives in vain. Love is vital. It is all-pervading. Love is a great power. Love is the sap of life. Give love. It shall be given unto you. Cultivate this love through service, Japa, Satsanga and meditation. Devotion is the seed. Faith is the root. Service of Bhagavatas is the shower. Self-surrender is the flower. Communion with the Lord is the fruit. This is the path of Bhakti Yoga.
In Bhakti Yoga, no learning, no deep erudition of Vedas is needed. What is wanted is a devotional, sincere heart. Anyone can sing or repeat His Name. Tukaram was an illiterate peasant. He could not even sign his name. Through devotion and grace of Lord Krishna he had super-intuitional knowledge. His famous Abhangas or songs are texts for M.A. students in Bombay University.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also was an illiterate. When he lived in Dakshineshwar temple, he got divine knowledge through the Grace of Mother Kaali and Advaita Guru Sri Swami Totapuri