Talks on the Gita — 40: The Integral Yoga: Seeing the Lord Everywhere — 1
The Way of Bhakti is Not Different from the Way of Efforts
Brothers, in a way we have today reached the end of the Gita. In the Fifteenth Chapter, all the ideas put forward in the Gita reach their consummation. Chapters 16 and 17 are in the nature of appendices, and there is summing up in Chapter 18. Hence the Lord has termed this Fifteenth Chapter 'a shastra' (science). The Lord says so not because this is the concluding Chapter, but because the elaboration of the principles of life and the revelation of the spiritual wisdom is complete here. The essence of the Vedas is contained in this Chapter.
The very function of the Vedas is to make man aware of the realm of spirituality. In the Thirteenth Chapter we saw that the Self should be separated from the body. In the Fourteenth Chapter we saw how efforts could be done in this regard. And Self-realization is possible only through bhakti.
But the way of bhakti is not something different from the way of making efforts. To suggest this, the samsara has been compared, at the beginning of the Fifteenth Chapter, to a great tree. This tree has enormous branches that are nourished by the three gunas. It is said right at the beginning that this tree should be cut down with the axe of detachment and dispassion.
There are three brothers in the Ramayana: Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Bibhishana. Kumbhakarna is the embodiment of tamas, Ravana that of rajas and Bibhishana that of sattva. The drama of the Ramayana with these three characters is being continuously enacted inside our body. In this drama, Ravana and Kumbhakarna ought to be killed. Only the Bibhishana-principle, provided it takes refuge at the feet of the Lord, may be nurtured, as it can help our progress.
The Gita is thus placing before us the ideal of the lotus flower. In the Indian culture, the best and the noblest things in life are described using the simile of the lotus. It is clean and pure and remains unsoiled by the mud around. Sanctity and detachment are its distinguishing characteristics.
Bhakti Makes the Effort Easier
I cannot cut up life into pieces. I just cannot conceive that karma, jnana and bhakti are disconnected from each other; and they are really not so. Let us take the example of cooking. If a man does not know cooking, he would make a mess of it. But even if a man knows cooking, he would still not be fit for the job if he has no love or devotion for the work; if he does not feel, "This food is meant for my brothers, that is, for the Lord Himself. I should prepare it as best as I can." Thus, cooking needs knowledge as well as love. Food would not be tasty unless there is bhakti in the heart while cooking. That is why nobody can cook better than the mother. Cooking needs hard work or penance as well. It is thus clear that love, knowledge and effort, all three are needed for any job. All the activities in life are supported on this tripod. If one of the legs of the tripod is broken, it cannot stand. Jnana, bhakti and karma — that is, ceaseless effort — are three legs of the tripod of life.
Even though this is true, it does not mean that bhakti has no special merit of its own. If bhakti enters into any work, that work appears easy. Not that it ceases to involve toil, but that toil does not then appear to be toil; it becomes a labour of love. Bhakti, like water, makes easy the voyage of our life.
The Triad of Service
We see countless objects in the world. They are to be divided into three categories. When a bhakta gets up in the morning, he has only three things in mind. First, he remembers the Lord. Then he makes preparations for His worship. The bhakta is the servant, while the Lord is the one who should be served. The rest of the creation is the means of worship. It exists to provide flowers, incense and sandal paste for the worship. This is the triad of service.
The Lord who is to be served is Purushottam and jiva, the servant, is the akshar purusha. Both are imperishable, but the creation around us, which provides the means for service, is perishable — and its perishability has profound significance. It is not a defect; it is rather a good quality. It is because of this that the creation is ever new. Yesterday's flowers will not do for today's worship; every day you can have fresh flowers. That the creation is perishable is a great blessing. It adds to the glory and splendour of service.
Today's moon is not the same as yesterday's; tomorrow's moon will also be different. It exudes a different kind of charm every day. The new-moon night celebrates freedom in its fullness. The moon on that night merges into the Lord — into the Sun from whom it receives its luminosity. The form of the moon is ever-changing; but that is, in fact, a source of ever-new delight. It is its mutability that makes the creation perennial. Nature is itself a great teacher.
In short, the perishability of creation implies newness in the means of worship. Thus we have creation endowed with creative energy to create endlessly new means, the eternal and ever-ready servant and the Lord. With the coming together of these three, let the game go on. Purushottam, the Supreme Person, is giving the bhakta different means of worship and taking from him service that springs from love.
[Reproduced with kind permission of Paramdham Publication, Pavnar, from Chapter 15 of 'Talks on The Gita' by Sant Vinoba Bhave, 16th edition, January 2005]
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