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Spiritual practices

CHENNAI: The schools of Vedanta erect the edifice of their philosophy by an analysis of the three fundamental principles: the soul (Jiva), God (Iswara) and the manifold universe. All of them excepting Advaita posit the reality of these three; Advaita states that they are the appearances of one non-dual consciousness, which is the Absolute Reality (Brahman). It is due to the adjunct of Maya that Brahman is called Iswara.

For all practical purposes the spiritual tradition gives paramount importance to the worship of God because man in bondage cannot relate directly to the Absolute, and has to evolve only step by step.

In his discourse, Sri N.Veezhinathan said the Bhagavata Purana stated that the mind could be purified only by devotion to God. Just as a person has to draw a mark on his forehead if he wishes to see it in his image in a mirror, so also should a person who wishes to control his mind in order to meditate engage in devotional practices (for the mind to become pure) for it to reflect the divine nature.

After Lord Krishna blessed Arjuna with the vision of His cosmic form and taught devotion as the sole means to the realisation of His universal form, Arjuna was naturally curious to know which was superior: meditation on the formless Absolute (Nirguna) or worship of God with form (Saguna). Before endowing him with this vision Krishna had, during the course of His teaching in the Bhagavad Gita, taught both the practices.

In the context of hailing the man of wisdom as extremely dear to Him, Krishna had taught Nirguna worship: “In the very last of all births the enlightened soul worships Me, realising that all this is God. Such a great soul is very rare.” Later when Arjuna was overwhelmed while beholding His cosmic form, Krishna withdrew it at his request and told him in order to reinforce that this was not to be attained easily, “Neither by study of the Vedas nor by penance, nor again by charity, nor even by ritual can I be seen in this form as you have seen Me.”

It is apparent from this that these practices (Nirguna and Saguna worship) are meant for different seekers according to the level of their spiritual evolution and so important in themselves.

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