The Gita according to Gandhi -Mahadev Desai
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BHAKHYOGA
(Discourses 9-11)
For, although he may have wasted his substance in riotous living, he returns to be as one of the Father's hired servants. "He was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found."[1] Therefore, he is accepted right royally even as a saint. 'Rest assured, oh Arjuna, My bhakta perishes not.' The highest goal reached through bhakti is not the monopoly of caste or creed, race or sex, rank or station. The unlettered woman, and the petty shopkeeper, and the labourer going through "the narrow avenue of daily toil for daily bread", nay even those who are hated and despised as of foul birth, may through bhakti storm the gates of Heaven. Only let them dedicate their worship, their sacrifice, their mind and all their attachment to Him (IX. 26-34). Vedas are of no avail, neither austerities, nor costly gifts, nor sacrifices. Only exclusive and unwavering devotion can avail to secure a knowledge of Him. "He who does My work, who makes Me his goal, who is My devotee, who has cast off all attachment and shed all ill- will comes to Me" (XI. 53-55). To do His will, to live in Him—that is all the bhakta knows. St. Paul summed up bhakti, the bhakti that was his life and meat, in a word : 'For me to live is Christ.'[2] |
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