The necessity of bhakti – Suppose someone is told about a powerful medicine. If they think they are not sick, they won’t care much about that medicine. They need to be educated how they are vulnerable to or may even be victimized by a terrible sickness, which can be cured by that medicine.
We too need to be similarly educated about the most potent spiritual practice of bhakti-yoga. The Bhagavad-gita (09.20-33) explains the glories of the bhakti-yoga in terms of its eternality, simplicity, potency and universality. Still, many people think of bhakti-yoga as an optional activity that doesn’t interest them. They need to be explained why bhakti-yoga is a universal necessity. The Gita (09.33) points to the malady that affects everyone – even those who are socially considered highborn such as the brahmanas and the saintly kings, and even those who are devoted: They all are in material existence which is characterized by misery and mortality. Even if they are presently in relatively comfortable positions, misery will come sooner or later and mortality is always an inescapable reality.
While such a characterization of material existence might seem pessimistic, it is actually realistic. This Gita statement is like a hospital’s reminder to patients: they are in a hospital, even if they are in a comfortable private ward with television, broadband internet and air conditioning. They are still sick and need to focus on taking the treatment, without letting their circumstantial comfort delude them into a belief of physical wellness. Similar is our predicament as eternal souls longing for eternal love who are presently caught in temporary existence. Only when we direct our love toward the eternal object of love can we find enduring fulfillment. And bhakti-yoga is the best process for such necessary redirection.
One-sentence summary:
To better appreciate the glories of bhakti-yoga, we need to understand its necessity.
Think it over:
- Why do people not appreciate the glories of bhakti-yoga?
- How is the Gita’s assessment of the nature of the material world not pessimistic?
- Why is bhakti-yoga necessary for all of us?
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09.33: How much more this is so of the righteous brāhmaṇas, the devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me.
To know more about this verse, please click on the image
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