UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE NATURE OF DEVOTION:

IS BHAKTI REALLY DUALISTIC?

Bhakti (Sanskrit: ) is devotional worship directed to a chosen deity (ita-devata) or to

one Supreme Lord. It is natural to think that bhakti is dualistic since it involves the bhakta
(devotee) and the chosen object of worship (bhagavan).

Does bhakti really involve duality? In order to understand the depth of this question, let's take an
example of a devotee who is worshiping Lord Rama.

The worship of Lord Rama can be invoked or conceived in many forms by the devotees, such as:

Rama who was the son of king Dasharatha.

Rama who was the husband of Sita.
Rama who was the brother of Lakshamana and Bharata.
Rama who went to a 14 years exile, banavas.
Rama, the wielder of bow, who killed Ravana in the war.
Rama who was upholder of righteousness, maryada purushotama Rama.
Rama as a Cosmic Being (vishva-rupa) who dwells (Ramana) in every atom--

and finally,

Rama who is the very Self (atma) of all and everything.

As we can see, all the forms listed above except the last one (where the Lord Rama is viewed as
the very Selfatmaof all), will involve seeming duality.

Based on the past impressions (samskaras) of the devotee, when s/he will meditate on Rama,
s/he will invoke a particular image/view of the Lord Rama in mind.

Bhakti essentially means love. Narada defines bhakti as of the nature of Supreme Love:
parampremarupa.

So, it all depends upon a devotees state of mind (bhavana) at the time of worship whether the
bhakti is dualistic or not.

Adi ankara in Vivekachudamani, the Crest Jewel of Wisdom, defines bhakti as follows:


mokakraasmagry bhaktireva garyas |
svasvarpnusandhna bhaktirityabhidhyate || 31||
Among all the means conducive to Liberation (mos ka), devotion (alone) is supreme. To seek
earnestly to know ones true nature (svasvarpa) is called devotion (bhakti).
For a downloadable complete pdf of ankaras Vivekachdmai, please see:
http://realization.org/down/sankara.vivekachudamani.chaitanya.pdf

THREE GRADATIONS OF BHAKTI

Swami Paramarthananda ji, a modern Vedanta teacher, explains bhakti in 3 different stages,
as follows:
1. Aneka-Rupa Bhakti: Worship offered to the Lord in many forms of deities, to ones
chosen ita-devata.
2. Eka-Rupa Bhakti: Worship offered to one Supreme Being
3. Arupa Bhakti: Formless Devotion which is directed toward Pure Consciousness, the
ever present Awareness (e.g., meditating on Om, the symbol of Brahman)
Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji used to say that in Hinduism, we do not say there is only one
God. We say there is God Only!
Vasudeva Sarvam (B.G. 7.19)
So, it all depends upon ones state of mind.
In the epic Ramayan a, we find that Sri Rama asked Sri Hanuman-ji a question in the
assembly: O Hanuman, what do you think of me in relation to yourself?

Tears were rolling down Hanumanjis cheeks. Full of devotion and suffused with jnana, the
wisest of the beings said, O Lord
1. From the standpoint of the body, I am your servant (deha-buddhya tu dsaham)
2. As an individual, I am a part of you (jiva-buddhya tvad akah)
3. But as the pure Self, we are One (atma-buddhya tvam-evaham )

This is my firm conviction (iti me nicaya matih).

Grace Notes: This answer represents the whole journey of the individual entity to the
universal Self. These three viewpoints in fact represent three different stages of the
spiritual evolution of the aspirants. When one thinks oneself as a body, then, the Lord is
the Almighty and one is Lords devotee. When one thinks of oneself as the jivatman, the
embodied self, then one is a part of the Lord, being a part of the manifestation. When one
realizes ones true nature to be the inner Witnessing-Consciousness (Brahman), the Self
and the Lord are one only.
BHAKTI AND PARA-BHAKTI IN THE GITA
In chapter 7.16, ri Kr sn a explains that there are four types of devotees: the seeker after
worldly possessions, the distressed, the seeker after knowledge, and the wise person. Then, in
 the next verse B.G. 7.17) ri Kr sn a states that of these four, the best is the wise person:1 I
am extremely dear to the wise person and the wise person is extremely dear to Me. Such a
person is exceeding dear to the Lord.
ankara, in his commentary on B.G. 7.17, explains why a wise person is exceedingly dear to
the Lord as follows: Since I am his very Self, I am excessively dear to the wise personit is
well-known to all in this world that the Self is dear to everyone. And the wise person is
My very Self and is therefore very dear to Me. (Alladi Mahadeva Sastrys trans., p. 215).
Finally, in the next verse, B.G. 7.18, the Lord states definitely that although all four types of
devotees are dear to Me, but the wise person (jnani), I deem to be My very Self: jn
tvtmaiva me matam . ankara further explains
why the wise person is so dear to The Lord: It is My conviction that the wise person is the
very Self, not different from Me.
Thus, devotion to the Lord as the inner Self of all, is the spoken of as the highest devotion in
the Gita. And such a devotionthat is, devotion to the wisdom of the Self or Absolute
Reality (Brahman)is called , the Supreme Devotion, in B.G.18.54.
In summary, when one worships the Lord as ones very own Self, there is no subject-object
duality involved.
At several place in the Gita, we find the Lord reiterating the fact of the One Self that resides
in the heart of all beings, such as:
aham tm gudkea sarvabhtayasthita:
B.G. 10.20
I am the Self seated in the hearts of all beings. 2
ketraja cpi m viddhi sarvaketreu bhrata
: B.G. 13.2
Do know Me as the Knower in all fields. [that is, I am the Witnessing-Consciousness in all
beings]
sama sarveu bhteu tihanta paramevaram
13.27 3

1
The wise person is one who knows the Lord in reality in the true sense.
2
Sri Ramana Maharshi used to regard B.G. 10.20 to be the essence of the whole Gi ta.
3
This is perhaps the most important single verse in the entire Gi ta. It not only tells us that the Ultimate Reality
dwells in all beings (as the inner Self of all) but also provides the methodology to realize It in our own direct
experience. How? By seeing the Imperishable amidst the perishable (vinayatsv avinayanta). Only he who sees
ones own Self as the Changeless Consciousness amidst the ceaselessly changing phenomena of body, mind, and the
world, truly seesdeclares the Gita. According to ankara, realizing the immutability of ones own inner Self
constitutes Liberation, moks a. ankara points out that the devotion of Knowledge (jnana-nis tha) consists in an
intent effort to establish a continuous current of idea of the inner Self (pratyagatma). (See ankaras commentary on
B.G.18.55, Sastry, trans., p. 494)
The Supreme Lord dwells alike in all beings.
vara sarvabhtn hddeerjuna tihati
18.61: The Lord
dwells in the heart of all beings.
It is important to remember that, in the Gita, wherever ri Kr s n a has used the word mama to
refer to Himself, the word has been used in the technical sense to mean the Universal Self
that abides as the inmost Self of all beings.
True bhakti consists of surrendering to the Divine that dwells within all.
This is the final message of the Gita.