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Chapter 12
SAGUNA AND NIRGUNA BHAKTI
63. Complementarity between Saguna And Nirguna: Examples From The Ramayana
23. Young people often say, “We cannot understand all this talk of Ramanama, Rama’s bhakti, Rama’s worship. But we are ready to do God’s work.” Bharat has shown how to do God’s work. He overcame the pangs of separation by immersing himself in that work. To keep doing God’s work and so to have no time to feel the sense of separation from Him is one thing; but it is quite a different thing to have nothing to do with the Lord. To do the Lord’s work and lead a life of self-control is rare indeed. Bharat’s attitude was that of a nirguna bhakta, but saguna continued to support nirguna. Bharat bowed to Rama’s command to go back to Ayodhya and bid farewell to him; but he immediately turned back and said, “Rama, my heart is still not reconciled to your decision. I feel that something is lacking.” Rama understood the state of his mind and gave him his sandals. The respect for saguna thus remained intact. Saguna did soften and brought warmth to nirguna in the end. Lakshman would not have been content with Rama’s sandals; he yearned for much more. Bharat’s standpoint was different. Though he stayed away from Rama and worked from afar, his mind was full of Rama. To him, work was worship; still he did feel the need for the sandals. It would have been difficult for him to carry on without them. He ran the administration deriving his authority from those sandals. Both Lakshman and Bharat were Rama’s devotees. Their standpoints were outwardly different. But although Bharat was committed to his duties and principles, that commitment too needed the reassuring warmth of a symbol. |
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