time table bhakti

Today, Swami discussed the 12th chapter, Bhakti Yoga. Here is one shloka;

'tesham aham samuddharta, mrtyusamsara sagarat,
Bhavami na cirat partha, mayyaveshita cetasam.' 12.7.

The Lord tells Arjuna, 'For those devotees who surrender all actions to Me, intent on Me, with one-pointed devotion, I rescue them from the ocean of death, this Samsara, in no time at all, when there minds have entered Me.'

Here, Swami said some interesting points. One is that we are studying the Shankara Bhashya, by Sri Shankaracarya. This shloka is a promise to the devotee, that 'I will save you from Samsara, I will liberate you.' This means that devotion alone is enough, when it is firm and one-pointed in the Lord. And, in some places, Shankara explains 'bhakti,' as 'atmanusandhanam,' identification with the Self. However, in this circumstance, Shankara comments as saguna bhakti, devotion to the Lord with all great qualities.
This is important, because many so-called followers of Advaita say that Shankara refuted bhakti to the forms of God, that he only advised self-contemplation. That's not what is said here. Instead, it says that by bhakti to the saguna aspect of the Lord, one will be freed from this Samsara. These people give speeches on Advaita and write tons of books, but they have never studied these things. In the name of Advaita, they make all kinds of blunders, like this.
However, if one has pure devotion, one is freed, at once. That's why it says 'na cirat' - this means, 'right away.' This doesn't mean what we consider as 'bhakti.' Our bhakti is 'time-table bhakti.' We have bhakti in the morning while chanting Sahasranama, then the bhakti is gone during the other times. This bhakti is 'ananya,' constant and unshakable. With this bhakti, one is immediately freed.
If we consider this, if we are not free, if we are bound in samsara, it means we don't have bhakti. If we had bhakti, we would be freed. If we say that we have 'bhakti,' and are not free, then that is not bhakti. Instead, if we have bhakti as the Lord describes it, then 'na cirat,' in that instant itself, the soul is liberated.

Piyush,
July 6, 2007