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Today I will delve on my most favorite topic. Bhakti. Being a rebel in my household who never followed any set rituals of showing Bhakti I was always a concern for my mother. Her problem didnt end with me not saying morning prayers, I have aversion for ghee, butter and raw milk. This made me not eat most of the prasad except Chundals or aval. Will not take theerth, will not put sandalwood paste tilak or turmeric tilak my problems related to normal Bhakti were multitude in childhood.
Her only solace was I went with my uncle to community temple for evening prayers, enjoyed being part of Bhajans and was active in all temple activities like Gita class, to organizing function to chanting Gita verses and my avid love for mythology. The only religious activity people saw me perform. Ardently read Ramayan, Mahabharath, Srimad Bagavatham and anything and everything I could find on mytho.
And another interesting problem of mine was I had my favorite temples. I will only go there and I never liked standing in long queues to see God. I will say cant I worship in that nearby temple.
So my weird activities in a deeply religious home made my mom tell that she is a person who believes in herself, doesnt have faith in God. And when my marks didnt come as expected for SSLC the much told reason was this lack of Bhakti from my side.
Now my part. Did I lack faith in supreme power. Answer is no. I had faith in supreme power. But not the conventional way. Deeply touched by the relation of Arjun-Krishna as a young girl itself and knowing from the person who taught me Gita that God can be worshipped in Sakha Bhav or as a friend, God became a friend to this girl from the age of 8 and Krishna became her favourite deity. I treated him the way I treated my best friend. And over the years I have understood my friend. I always got protection from my friend when I needed him the most. And if I failed somewhere, even in that failure protection was there and a life lesson.
My lack of expected marks in 10th was not lack of Bhakti. It was fear of failure. Carrying the burden of expectations of not only the household and immediate family, but also that of the entire neighbourhood who kept on chanting day in day out she is going to be a rank holder. I was worried about results and the 15 year old couldnt take the pressure and I didnt trust my friend enough to take me through.
My friend has never spared me if I took any decision on selfishness or to satisfy my ego. He has ensured I walk the hard path, realize the mistake, make amends and move forward. So Bhakti for me has been a journey of self realization with my friend.
But even today conventional Bhakti has eluded me. I never feel connected to rituals. I love to listen to Bhajans. Alaipyuthe Kanna, Kausalya Supraja, Radha Sametha Krishna, Sarva Mangala Mangalye sloka and many more. So I still dont know whether I am a Bhakt or not. Only know that I believe in supreme power and its miracle.
But the problem faced today is rituals taking the centre stage. Bhakti categorized. In many famous temples normal devotees are kept on queue if VIPs visit. Are they greater Bhakts than normal man. Many temples have 1 queue for people paying a certain amount, another for free darshan. Free darshan takes longer. So doing favours like does rich Bhakt becomes special.
Some years back I have read and incident in newspaper that has happened in Puri Temple. That because a foreigner entered the entire Prasad was buried in the ground. It seemed that could have fed atleast 100-300 people. In a country where people are dying of hunger what happened is Bhakti. It is termed as Bhakti as the entry of foreigner had made the Prasad unsuitable for consumption by God.
Another article I read told about a Bhakt donating a saree worth 4.33 crores. In a country where education is denied to many, clean drinking water is denied to many is it Bhakti.
Wealth is stored in all religious places in crores while common man die in the roads of hunger. Are we Bhakts.
Today Lord Shiva said this sad part of the assumption of being Bhakts. When we do costly things to deity we assume the deity is pleased and will shower us with the blessings. Will the deity be more pleased with the expensive saree or a diamond studded crown. Will it not be more pleased if the money used for expensive gifts was better utilized in providing meal for a poor family. Supporting a student's education. Building a house for the destitute or saving a life by providing medical expenses. Every religious scripture teaches us to serve the humanity. Service the people in need. It says by servicing the people in need we are servicing God.
Do visit temples, do poojas, havans everything as per your faith. But along with God please look into the vast expanse of humanity also that needs help. Along with the offering to God, do some noble offerings to alleviate the suffering of your fellow humans. Understand that if you bring a smile to someone in need today , God will surely bring someone to help you when you are in need irrespective of whether you have showered him with expensive gifts or not.
Understand God, understand what Bhakti means to him. One handfull of Aval was enough for Krishna to bless Kuchela with all the wealth. One small curry leaf in the Akshyapatra of Draupadi was enough for Krishna to help her with Durvasa and his disciples hunger. What he expects is samarpan, humility and understanding his vision for this universe from you. You can give it doing rituals, you can give it without doing rituals also. But your Bhakti will be much more dearer to him.
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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