What is Bhakti Yoga?
Bhakti derives from the Sanskrit root word “bhaj” – which means loving by service and loving relationship and Yoga in Sanskrit means “to join”.
Bhakti yoga means connecting with God in a loving spirit. Bhakti yoga brings the Bhakta(devotee) closer to the almighty God. He wants to love God and takes shelter under him, devoting himself to god by all kinds of rituals, flowers, fragrances, beautiful temples, and idols, etc. Love is a fundamental and universal emotion. If a person is afraid of death, it means that he loves his life. Bhakti Yoga is the name of connecting with God through selfless service, precious love, which is not selfish.
There are two types of devotion:
- Apara Bhakti – Egoist love
- Para Bhakti – Universal love
The devotee accepts whatever happens to him as a gift of God. There is no desire or expectation, only complete surrender to the will of God. This devotee accepts life-long status as the object presented to him by destiny. There is no harm in this, one of his prayers is ‘God is your wish’.
Bhakti Yoga is the path of reverence and selfless love towards God. Its practice is focused on listening to the stories of the Lord, singing devotional hymns, doing pilgrimage, chanting mantras, and worshiping in temples and home shrines. Better communion and harmony with God as a pleasant experience of Bhakti Yoga, development of qualities that are possible to connect with God – love, selfless sense, and purity – Antateh leads to attainment, destruction of one’s sense of self and Complete devotion to God.
Bhakti Yoga also involves worshiping some form of God. God is everywhere. God resides within us and around us. It is as if we are connected to God through one fine thread – the thread of love. God is world love. Love and divine compassion surround us and flow through us, but we are not conscious of it. The moment this consciousness, this divine love is felt, from that moment one does not want any other thing. Then we understand the true meaning of God’s love.
The best definition of Bhakti Yoga is given in Vishnu Purana (1-20-19): –
Ya Preetirivevekanam Sasteshvanapanayini. Tvamanusamrat: Saa Mey Hridayanamapsamarpatu.
”Oh God! Like the ignorant people, the deep love is laid on the perishable substances of the senses, the same kind of love is in you and may never be far from my heart, remembering you. Provides devotion-arghya – like, creator, follower, omnipotent, omnipresent. Above all, the phrase that can describe God, above all the imagination that man’s mind can accept about God,
The essence of Bhakti Yoga – According to Srimad Bhagwat Geeta
We all have love and devotion but in a dormant state. And there is a simple way to get out of this stage and serve in the service of Param Purushottam Bhagavan. This remedy has been told by Lord Krishna himself in the Bhagavad-Gita, the process of rekindling love from this hibernation not only purifies but also provides self-satisfaction. Chanting or Kirtan, Dance, and Prasad intake are the three main parts of this process.
Bhakti Yoga also expects the devotee to have the qualities of self-control, non-violence, honesty, selflessness because selfless love is not possible without the cleanliness of the mind.
Nine Types of Bhakti Yoga.
As per Puranas(Ancient History) To reach the supreme conscious the devotion is considered as the bestower of worldly pleasures and salvation. It is achievable only by the grace of God. This devotion is of nine types. There is no difference between devotion and perfect knowledge. A person who is engrossed in devotion enjoys perpetual happiness. Perfect knowledge never descends in a vicious person averse to devotion.
The Nine ways to express the love to God in Bhakti are:-listening, eulogizing, remembering, serving, surrendering, worshipping, saluting, friendliness, and dedication.
- Listening: By listening is meant the imbibing of the almighty in form of God stories that bestow worldly pleasures and salvation, with great devotion.
- Eulogizing: After conceiving in the mind the wisdom of manifestations and activities of God, loudly and cheerfully, proclaiming the same in order to eulogize the almighty God is what is called eulogizing.
- Remembering: After realizing God to be all-pervading a feeling of fearlessness is what is called remembering.
- Serving: The service rendered to the godhead commencing at the early dawn, with a mind, speech, hands, and feet is what is called serving.
- Surrendering: Surrendering oneself in the service of the godhead who is worthy of being served and serving with all the sense-organs feeling a hearty sense of elation is what is called surrendering.
- Worshipping: Offering sixteen types of service to God, the supreme soul, in accordance with one’s capacity is called worship.
- Saluting: Meditating in the mind, repeating the mantras, and touching the ground with eight limbs is called saluting.
- Friendliness: The belief-“Whatever god bestows on me, good or bad, is for my welfare”-is the characteristic sign of friendliness.
- Dedication: Dedicating everything, the body, and other possessions, for the propitiation of the godhead and retaining nothing for oneself is called dedication.
These nine adjuncts to the devotion to almighty God, cause perfect knowledge, bestow worldly pleasures and salvation, and are pleasing to the Almighty One.
