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Chapter 7
PRAPATTI OR SURRENDER TO GOD
34. Bhakti For Gains Too Has Value
12. Once I was travelling by a train. When it was passing over a bridge across the river Yamuna, a passenger, visibly charged with emotions, threw a coin in the river. A rationalist sitting nearby commented, “The country is poor; still these people waste money in this way!” I said, “You have not understood the motivation of that man. Look at the feelings with which he threw that coin. Are they not worth even a farthing? We may grant that the coin could have been utilized for a better purpose. But this devout man felt that God’s compassion itself was flowing in the form of the river and threw the coin as a mark of sacrifice. Has this feeling any place in your economics? Emotions welled up in that man’s heart at the sight of a river in the country. If you could appreciate this sentiment, I would rate you as a true lover of the country.” What, after all, does patriotism mean? Does it have to do with material betterment only? In fact, it is the height of patriotism to feel impelled to offer one’s entire wealth to a great river in the country. What we call money or wealth—the pieces of yellow and white metal and the so-called precious stones produced from the secretions of the insects—is, in fact, only worthy of being offered to the river. Consider all that wealth as mere dust before the feet of the Lord. You may ask, ‘What is the relation between the river and the Lord’s feet?’ Has God a place in your scheme of things? For you, river-water is nothing but the combination of oxygen and hydrogen; the sun is nothing but a bigger-sized gas burner. You find nothing worthy of reverence therein! Should one then bow only before the bread and butter—things of narrow economic utility? But what is a bread after all? It is nothing but a sort of white clay. Why do you then relish it so much? If divine presence is not felt in the rising sun or in a flowing river, where else could it be felt? The poet Wordsworth laments: ‘ I used to dance at the sight of a rainbow. My heart used to overflow with joy at that sight. Why does this not happen now? Have I lost the sweetness of my early life?’ In short, even bhakti rooted in the desire for gains has great value. The feeling of devotion even in an ignorant man has a value of its own. That is why it can generate great power. No matter what sort of a person one is, whatever may be his worth, once he enters the portal of the Lord’s mansion, he is redeemed. No matter what sort of wood is thrown into the fire, it burns. Bhakti is an extraordinary way of sadhana. The Lord encourages bhakti even if it is accompanied with desires. In due course it will become desireless and move towards perfection. |
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