95-Importance of Bhakti in Offerings to God | Swami Tattwamayananda

Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

Summary:
9th chapter: verse 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
23rd and 24th verse: “Depending upon our own mental makeup, we evolve our ideas of God. Those who worship other gods with shraddha – not for highest enlightenment but for material prosperity – in reality, they are worshipping Me, although they are using the wrong method and are not aware of it. To whichever god we pray, the prayer goes to Brahman. Fulfillment also comes from Brahman.”
25th verse: “The votaries of different deities, they reach those deities. The one whom you worship, you reach him.”
There are two ways that we can think about Absolute Reality. In the early stage, we may look upon it as the presiding deity, as the creator god, that decides the destiny of creation. As we evolve and get closer to the divine within, we develop a higher, universal outlook. At the highest level, we see Absolute Reality as the source of everything.
In the Bhagavata Purana, there is a dialog between King Nimi and the Nava Yogis. In answer to the King’s question: “Who is an ideal devotee of God?”, one of the sages gives the following answer: “The one who sees the presence of God in all beings, and who sees the presence of all beings in God.“ This ideal devotee sees the entire creation as one spiritual family.
26th verse: “If you offer with bhakti (devotion) even a leaf or flower or fruit or water – I accept it as the devout gift of the pure-hearted devotee.”
Bhakti is defined as the spontaneous, natural flow of love towards God. It is not for God’s sake that we love God. Spirituality is the manifestation of higher qualities present in us. When they are developed, our minds naturally turn towards God.
Bhakti and purity of heart are what is important – it is what compels the Lord to accept the offering. A big ritual is in no way superior to a leaf offered with a pure heart. What we are offering is not a leaf or flower – we are offering ourselves and our own heart, which is what the Lord cares about.
The story of Lord Krishna and Sudama illustrates that the Lord only cares about the bhakti with which the offering is made. Sudama carried ordinary, parched rice as a gift for Lord Krishna – he was hesitant to even offer it to him. But Lord Krishna accepted it with great delight, exclaiming how wonderful the gift was. Lord Krishna’s acceptance (of the gift) returned to Sudama as prosperity in an invisible way.
In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, there are contrasting illustrations of bhakti. One example is of a person offering the choicest items to God, but with elaborate display and splendor. This is rajasic bhakti – it is not the most sublime. Another example is of a person who lives in a humble hut, offers fruit or water, but spends his time in meditation. This is sattvic bhakti. The third type of bhakti is tamasic bhakti, which expresses itself as laziness, indifference, and ignorance.
When we are evolving spiritually, we should have a sense of value for what we offer to God. We should offer something that we consider as precious, not something insignificant. When we reach a stage where the mind naturally flows to God, then we can mentally offer our hearts to God.
Shankaracharya, in one of his verses, gives a beautiful description of the spiritual psychology of a devotee of the highest type. He feels “O Lord, you are my Atman. My friends are my own pranas. My body is your holy shrine. Everything I do – all my actions and interactions, in thought, word and deed – are my puja (offerings) to you.”
For such a devotee of the highest type, his whole life becomes spiritualized. Every thought becomes a meditation, every word becomes a mantra, every action becomes an act of worship, every travel becomes a pilgrimage, every movement becomes a circumambulation around the deity, and the whole life becomes an offering to God.
27th verse: “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever gift you give to others, whatever austerities you practice – do that as an offering to Me.”
This is the highest state of a spiritual person, where every secular activity becomes spiritualized. Every secular activity becomes puja. The difference between work and worship disappears.