chapter 8 – bhakti yoga

 

Swamiji introduces the topic of bhakti by explaining that the word is used in the scriptures with two distinct meanings:

  1. Devotion or reverential love directed towards bhagavan or a higher principle.
  2. A complete course of discipline designed to accomplish the ultimate spiritual goal.

the three forms of love To deeply understand devotion, Swamiji first analyzes human love in general. All forms of love entertained by human beings can be classified into three categories, each with a different level of intensity:

  1. Love of the means (manda): This is the least intense form of love. Means are loved only because they are useful for accomplishing a specific goal. No one loves the means for the sake of the means itself; once the end is achieved, the means are often dropped or ignored.
  2. Love of the ends (madhyama): This represents a mediocre intensity of love. We love various ends—like wealth, comfort, or relationships—not for their own sake, but hoping they will bring us security and happiness. Swamiji quotes the Upanishad to illustrate that all ends are ultimately loved for one’s own sake: न वा अरे पत्युः कामाय पतिः प्रियो भवति, आत्मनस्तु कामाय पतिः प्रियो भवति। … न वा अरे सर्वस्य कामाय सर्वं प्रियं भवति, आत्मनस्तु कामाय सर्वं प्रियं भवति। na vā arē patyuḥ kāmāya patiḥ priyō bhavati, ātmanastu kāmāya patiḥ priyō bhavati | … na vā arē sarvasya kāmāya sarvaṁ priyaṁ bhavati, ātmanastu kāmāya sarvaṁ priyaṁ bhavati | Meaning: Nobody loves the husband for the husband’s sake; everybody loves the husband for one’s own sake. Nobody loves anything for the thing’s sake; everything is loved for one’s own sake.
  3. Love of oneself (uttama): This is the highest and most intense form of love, because every human being naturally loves themselves the most.

bhakti as devotion to bhagavan Applying this general principle of love to bhagavan, the intensity of a person’s bhakti depends entirely on how they view bhagavan:

  • manda bhakti: The majority of people look upon bhagavan merely as a means to accomplish various worldly ends. This is a conditional love; if bhagavan does not fulfill their worldly conditions or prayers, the person may become angry and reject the devotion.
  • madhyama bhakti: Mature seekers look upon bhagavan not as a means, but as the ultimate end or goal of life. They recognize that bhagavan represents the true peace, security, and happiness that everyone is seeking.
  • uttama bhakti: The rarest and most intense form of love occurs when the seeker views bhagavan as non-different from themselves (soham asmi). Because bhagavan and the self are identical, love for bhagavan becomes equal to self-love, reaching the highest possible intensity.

bhakti yoga as a course of discipline The second meaning of bhakti is as a comprehensive spiritual discipline. Swamiji clarifies that bhakti yoga is not an exclusive, fourth yoga separate from karma yoga, upāsana yoga, and jñāna yoga. Instead, it is the common name for the entire three-fold course of discipline. Swamiji references the Bhagavad Gita to show how the suffix yoga indicates a course of discipline:

मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते। स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान् ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते॥१४.२६॥ māṁ ca yō ‘vyabhicārēņa bhakti-yōgena sēvatē | sa guņān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpatē || 14.26 ||

All three disciplines are collectively called bhakti yoga because bhakti is the essential atmosphere in which they must be practiced:

  • In karma yoga, every action is performed out of devotion as an offering to īśvara (īśvara arpaṇa bhāvanā), and every result is accepted as a sacred gift (prasāda bhāvanā).
  • In upāsana yoga, the mental disciplines and meditations (such as mānasa pūjā and mānasa japa) are entirely soaked in devotion to bhagavan.
  • In jñāna yoga, the pursuit of self-discovery is fundamentally the discovery of bhagavan.

understanding the nature of īśvara To truly love bhagavan, one must first understand who bhagavan is. The scriptures provide three progressive definitions of īśvara based on the intellectual maturity of the seeker:

  1. jagat kartā īśvara (Creator): Just as any purposeful, well-designed product requires an intelligent creator, the highly ordered universe requires an intelligent being behind it. At this beginner stage, bhagavan is viewed as a personal creator endowed with a specific form (eka rūpa īśvara).
  2. jagat kāraṇam īśvara (Material Cause): As the intellect matures, the seeker asks what raw material bhagavan used to create the universe. Since nothing existed before creation except bhagavan, bhagavan must be the very material out of which the world is made—just as a spider creates a web out of its own body. Thus, bhagavan did not just create the world; bhagavan became the world. At this stage, the seeker sees the entire universe as bhagavan, worshipping bhagavan in all forms (aneka rūpa īśvara or viśvarūpa īśvara).
  3. jagat adhiṣṭhānam īśvara (Substratum): The highest and toughest definition addresses whether bhagavan literally became the ugly or evil aspects of creation. The scriptures reveal that bhagavan does not literally become the world; rather, bhagavan appears as the world while transcending it, remaining completely unaffected by its forms. bhagavan is the ultimate reality and substratum behind all creation. Swamiji quotes the Katha Upanishad to describe this formless reality: अशब्दमस्पर्शमरुपमव्ययं तथाऽरसं नित्यमगन्धवच्च यत्। अनाद्यनन्तं महतः परं ध्रुवं निचाय्य तन्मृत्युमुखात् प्रमुच्यते॥१५॥ aśabdamasparśamarupamavyayaṁ tathā’rasaṁ nityamagandhavacca yat | anādyanantaṁ mahataḥ paraṁ dhruvaṁ nicāyya tanmṛtyumukhāt pramucyatē || 15 || Meaning: bhagavan is formless (arūpa īśvara), eternal, and transcends all properties and attributes of the material world.

Swamiji emphasizes that advancing to the higher, formless understanding of bhagavan does not invalidate the previous forms. A jnani can appreciate the formless absolute while still happily worshipping a specific form, as higher knowledge simply adds a new dimension without displacing the previous ones.

the nine forms of bhakti Swamiji concludes by consolidating the nine forms of bhakti discussed in the chapter:

  • Based on the intensity of the attitude (bhāvanā dṛṣṭyā bhakti trayam): manda bhakti, madhyama bhakti, and uttama bhakti.
  • Based on the course of spiritual discipline (sādhana dṛṣṭyā bhakti trayam): karma yoga rūpa bhakti, upāsana yoga rūpa bhakti, and jñāna yoga rūpa bhakti.
  • Based on the understanding of the deity (devatā dṛṣṭyā bhakti trayam): eka rūpa bhakti, aneka rūpa bhakti, and arūpa bhakti.