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The right path

Chennai: Both bhakthi and ‘karamanushtanams’ are necessary, if we are to realise God. They are but two sides of the same coin. Bhakthi alone is not enough. If there is a master with two attendants, one of whom constantly sings his praises, without doing his duty, while the other does his duties, then whom will the master like? Obviously, he will like the one who does his duties. Similarly, if one merely sings God’s praises, without doing one’s nitya karmas, then He will not be pleased.

At the same time, we should not think of karmas as the be-all and end-all of life. Adherence to karmas is prescribed only as an upaya, an intermediary step. We must not forget God in our enthusiasm to adhere to prescribed karmas. That too should be guarded against. The importance of bhakthi has been shown by saints like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Bodhendra Swami. Thus both bhakthi and ‘karamanushtanams’ are important, said B. Sundar Kumar in a lecture.

One can worship God in any form that one likes. How is one to know which form to worship? Suppose a person is driving a car, and suddenly it is hit by a speeding vehicle, and he is unable to control his car. Then he panics and cries out the name of God. The cry is not conscious but involuntary. The God, whose name we call out involuntarily in moments of crisis, would be the one we should worship. This could be a rough guide to determine which form of God to worship. God has a satva swaroopa. If one has seen God’s swaroopam, one will not want to see anything else.

When Nilakanta Dikshitar lost his eyesight, he sang verses in praise of Goddess Meenakshi. His thoughts were of Her, and he was in a state of bliss. We want to see a lot of things in this world, because we have not seen God. Once we see God, we will have no desire to see anything else. Seshadri Swami and Ramana Maharishi stayed in Thiruvannamalai, with no desire to go anywhere else, for they had realised God, and had no desire to go anywhere and see anything.

Things that we see in this world stimulate our desires and excite us and cause an upheaval in our minds. But God’s darshan gives us peace and bliss.

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