The exile of Krishna in Brindavan created devotional religion (for before there was only meditation and worship) – Sri Aurobindo
Love is one of the four aspects of the Supreme Purusha's manifestation in the material Prakriti. Devotional religion promotes transformation of the human love by directing it towards the Divine and helps us to realize and love all in the Divine and the Divine in all.
"…bhakti of ecstatic love is at its roots psychic in nature; it is vital-emotional only in its inferior forms or in some of its more outward manifestations" Essays on Gita page 284.
The Vedic and Upanishadic periods in Indian history were enlightened with the lore of great Rishis who had retreated themselves to the sylvan Ashrams, some of them after fulfilling their Dharma as Grihastas (house holders), and totally dedicated to yogic Sadhana by concentrating upon the knowledge aspect of the Supreme Purusha. They opened themselves to psychic consciousness through mental transformation and complete control of their vital being and its sense organs.
Sri Krishna planted the seeds of love for the Divine on the path of Karma and Bhakthi and showed us to transform the vital emotions of human love into love for the Divine. We often hear about the mystic anecdotes of his Divine adventures amid the rural folk of Brindavan. It is another aspect of the Divine statesman who gave the gospel of the Bhagavad Gita in the battle field of Kurukshetra. He also preached to Arjuna to pursue selfless action with unconditional surrender to the Supreme's will and become its conscious instrument.
We may recollect the childhood of Sri Krishna filled with divine charisma permeating in the rustic beauty of Brindavan (situated near Mathura - 200 km from New Delhi), the originator of devotional religion among the naive and innocent folk leading a life of transparent simplicity. Until then the guiding force behind spirituality in India was based on the growth of higher mental faculties and wisdom.
It was this devotional under-current of our Sanatana Dharma that has provided water to the drying fountain of Indian spirituality during its difficult periods of political and economic degradation, foreign invasion (Islamic, British rule) wherein the country was completely demoralized, fragmented and suppressed under the yoke of local feudal governance when even minimum education was inaccessible to the masses and knowledge of scriptures was confined to a few in the higher strata of the society (8th to 20th century).
The foundation stones for the devotional religion are the episodes of Sri Krishna's life in Brindavan passed on to generations by oral narration. There is a strong belief that the Gopis of Brindavan attained spiritual salvation as a result of their unconditional love for Sri Krishna. The mutual attraction of the embodied soul for the Divine from whom it is separated is depicted in the love of Radha (human soul) and Sri Krishna (incarnate Divine) by the rhythmic expressions of the inspired poets across all corners of India.
“The Gita brings in bhakti as the climax of the Yoga, sarvabhutasthitam yomam bhajati ekatvamasthitah (this may almost be said to sum up the whole final result of the Gita's teaching - whoever loves God in all and his soul is founded upon the divine oneness, however he lives and acts, lives and acts in God.” Essays on Gita page 246
From Kashmir to Kanya Kumari (North to South) and Dwarka to Puri (West to East) on the cloudy and stormy sky of India, there repeatedly appeared twinkling seer poets or Vibhutis (direct sparks of God in human form) who sang and composed immortal poetry in their local vernacular languages mostly comprehensible to the illiterate or semi literate common folk and reinterpreted the profound truths of Vedanta in practical and direct terms easily adaptable for all.
For deeper understanding of the immortal statement of our Master Sri Aurobindo, we need to browse the annals of the cultural history of India from 8th to 20th century and pay homage to all those seers of Devotion who have made our literature, art and music eternally self regenerating itself without which there would hardly exist anything that we can call Indian cultural heritage today.
The Acharyas (philosopher teachers) Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarka, Vallabhacharya, Ramananda walked across Indian soil recommending everyone the path of Bhakthi as the shortest means to attain union with the Divine. Even Adi Shakara the great philosopher of Advaita (Non dualism) gave due importance to Bhakthi for it transforms the most powerful and resistant vital being into a Divine instrument by slowly triggering the dissolution of individual ego by the attraction for the personal God.
Devotional religion began with Vaishnava Alwars from 6th century and culminated to perfection in the devotion of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa at Dakshineswar in 20th century India. A large number of Vaishnava Alwars (2nd to 8th AD) and the Shaiva Nayanars (5th to 10th AD) in southern India kept the lamp of spirituality un-extinguished. Jayadeva chanting the Gita Govindam in Orissa, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu singing and dancing in his trance on the pious soil of Bengal, Mira's melodious voice vibrating with love for Sri Krishna quenching the thirst in the sandy deserts of Rajasthan, Goswami Tulasi Das and the Surdas narrating through their couplets the stories of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna imparting wisdom to the struggling plains of northern India, Namdev and Tukaram rendering a strengthening hand in the battling fields of Maharastra, Tyagaraja, Annamayya, Purandara Dasa along the banks of Krishna and Kaveri repeatedly echoing in the households of Andhra and Karnataka, Narsi Mehta fertilizing the arid fields in Gujarat with his Bhajans (songs in praise of god) were some of the philosopher poets who had nourished the continuous flow of devotional religion for centuries. Like the cows in Brindavan responding to the magnetic attraction of the melody of Sri Krishna’s flute, the people from village to village followed them in huge crowds and in search of true Divine love that would be the only healing balm for their daily toiling wounds of life.
Their immortal lyrics were composed by Divine inspiration and psychic experiences and not by rational thinking or intellectual analysis. They mostly were born into middle or lower economic strata of society with limited exposure to the study of Indian scriptures. However their upbringing gave them a realistic approach to life and empathetic heart to sense the suffering of humanity around them. They were indeed born for a higher purpose on this earth. Their ego free hearts were spontaneously opened to Divine grace uninterrupted by any external constraints or prejudices. We would often wonder at the profoundness of their philosophical statements lyrically expressed in simple words. They travelled widely across the breadth and width of the country and became true instruments in spreading the message of love Divine and strewing the flowers of grace on the thorny path of life.
Sri Aurobindo says that it is a common belief that this event of Sri Krishna's exile in Brindavan never actually took place on the physical plane. We cannot understand with our limited physical mind in what level of consciousness this most inspiring event in the history of mankind’s evolutionary growth actually took place.
The path of bhakti or devotion leads to a transformation of the vital, “….illuminations of the heart by love and devotion and spiritual joy and ecstasy…” Life Divine page 908
Love is one of the four aspects of the Supreme Purusha's manifestation in the material Prakriti. Devotional religion promotes transformation of the human love by directing it towards the Divine and helps us to realize and love all in the Divine and the Divine in all.
"…bhakti of ecstatic love is at its roots psychic in nature; it is vital-emotional only in its inferior forms or in some of its more outward manifestations" Essays on Gita page 284.
The Vedic and Upanishadic periods in Indian history were enlightened with the lore of great Rishis who had retreated themselves to the sylvan Ashrams, some of them after fulfilling their Dharma as Grihastas (house holders), and totally dedicated to yogic Sadhana by concentrating upon the knowledge aspect of the Supreme Purusha. They opened themselves to psychic consciousness through mental transformation and complete control of their vital being and its sense organs.
Sri Krishna planted the seeds of love for the Divine on the path of Karma and Bhakthi and showed us to transform the vital emotions of human love into love for the Divine. We often hear about the mystic anecdotes of his Divine adventures amid the rural folk of Brindavan. It is another aspect of the Divine statesman who gave the gospel of the Bhagavad Gita in the battle field of Kurukshetra. He also preached to Arjuna to pursue selfless action with unconditional surrender to the Supreme's will and become its conscious instrument.
We may recollect the childhood of Sri Krishna filled with divine charisma permeating in the rustic beauty of Brindavan (situated near Mathura - 200 km from New Delhi), the originator of devotional religion among the naive and innocent folk leading a life of transparent simplicity. Until then the guiding force behind spirituality in India was based on the growth of higher mental faculties and wisdom.
It was this devotional under-current of our Sanatana Dharma that has provided water to the drying fountain of Indian spirituality during its difficult periods of political and economic degradation, foreign invasion (Islamic, British rule) wherein the country was completely demoralized, fragmented and suppressed under the yoke of local feudal governance when even minimum education was inaccessible to the masses and knowledge of scriptures was confined to a few in the higher strata of the society (8th to 20th century).
The foundation stones for the devotional religion are the episodes of Sri Krishna's life in Brindavan passed on to generations by oral narration. There is a strong belief that the Gopis of Brindavan attained spiritual salvation as a result of their unconditional love for Sri Krishna. The mutual attraction of the embodied soul for the Divine from whom it is separated is depicted in the love of Radha (human soul) and Sri Krishna (incarnate Divine) by the rhythmic expressions of the inspired poets across all corners of India.
“The Gita brings in bhakti as the climax of the Yoga, sarvabhutasthitam yomam bhajati ekatvamasthitah (this may almost be said to sum up the whole final result of the Gita's teaching - whoever loves God in all and his soul is founded upon the divine oneness, however he lives and acts, lives and acts in God.” Essays on Gita page 246
From Kashmir to Kanya Kumari (North to South) and Dwarka to Puri (West to East) on the cloudy and stormy sky of India, there repeatedly appeared twinkling seer poets or Vibhutis (direct sparks of God in human form) who sang and composed immortal poetry in their local vernacular languages mostly comprehensible to the illiterate or semi literate common folk and reinterpreted the profound truths of Vedanta in practical and direct terms easily adaptable for all.
For deeper understanding of the immortal statement of our Master Sri Aurobindo, we need to browse the annals of the cultural history of India from 8th to 20th century and pay homage to all those seers of Devotion who have made our literature, art and music eternally self regenerating itself without which there would hardly exist anything that we can call Indian cultural heritage today.
The Acharyas (philosopher teachers) Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarka, Vallabhacharya, Ramananda walked across Indian soil recommending everyone the path of Bhakthi as the shortest means to attain union with the Divine. Even Adi Shakara the great philosopher of Advaita (Non dualism) gave due importance to Bhakthi for it transforms the most powerful and resistant vital being into a Divine instrument by slowly triggering the dissolution of individual ego by the attraction for the personal God.
Devotional religion began with Vaishnava Alwars from 6th century and culminated to perfection in the devotion of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa at Dakshineswar in 20th century India. A large number of Vaishnava Alwars (2nd to 8th AD) and the Shaiva Nayanars (5th to 10th AD) in southern India kept the lamp of spirituality un-extinguished. Jayadeva chanting the Gita Govindam in Orissa, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu singing and dancing in his trance on the pious soil of Bengal, Mira's melodious voice vibrating with love for Sri Krishna quenching the thirst in the sandy deserts of Rajasthan, Goswami Tulasi Das and the Surdas narrating through their couplets the stories of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna imparting wisdom to the struggling plains of northern India, Namdev and Tukaram rendering a strengthening hand in the battling fields of Maharastra, Tyagaraja, Annamayya, Purandara Dasa along the banks of Krishna and Kaveri repeatedly echoing in the households of Andhra and Karnataka, Narsi Mehta fertilizing the arid fields in Gujarat with his Bhajans (songs in praise of god) were some of the philosopher poets who had nourished the continuous flow of devotional religion for centuries. Like the cows in Brindavan responding to the magnetic attraction of the melody of Sri Krishna’s flute, the people from village to village followed them in huge crowds and in search of true Divine love that would be the only healing balm for their daily toiling wounds of life.
Their immortal lyrics were composed by Divine inspiration and psychic experiences and not by rational thinking or intellectual analysis. They mostly were born into middle or lower economic strata of society with limited exposure to the study of Indian scriptures. However their upbringing gave them a realistic approach to life and empathetic heart to sense the suffering of humanity around them. They were indeed born for a higher purpose on this earth. Their ego free hearts were spontaneously opened to Divine grace uninterrupted by any external constraints or prejudices. We would often wonder at the profoundness of their philosophical statements lyrically expressed in simple words. They travelled widely across the breadth and width of the country and became true instruments in spreading the message of love Divine and strewing the flowers of grace on the thorny path of life.
Sri Aurobindo says that it is a common belief that this event of Sri Krishna's exile in Brindavan never actually took place on the physical plane. We cannot understand with our limited physical mind in what level of consciousness this most inspiring event in the history of mankind’s evolutionary growth actually took place.
The path of bhakti or devotion leads to a transformation of the vital, “….illuminations of the heart by love and devotion and spiritual joy and ecstasy…” Life Divine page 908
- Sundari
No comments:
Post a Comment