Talks on the Gita — 41: The Integral Yoga: Seeing the Lord Everywhere — 2
Bhakti Means Service without Any Sense of 'I'
The Gita wants every action of ours to be imbued with bhakti. It is good to worship the Lord for half an hour. It is worthwhile to steady the mind and meditate on the Absolute, forgetting the ordinary worldly affairs for a while, at the time of sunrise and sunset. Such good habits must, of course, not be given up. But the Gita is not satisfied with this much only. It wants that all the activities that we do throughout the day should be done in the spirit of worship. While doing everything — be it bathing, dining, sweeping — we should have the Lord in mind. For instance, while sweeping we should feel that we are sweeping the Lord's courtyard. All our actions should thus become acts of worship.
By teaching Purushottamyoga, the Gita is bringing the life of action to fulfillment. The Lord (Purushottam) is the master, I am His servant, and this creation is the means for worship. Once this is realized, what else is needed? Tukaram says: 'Jhalia darshan karin mi seva, aanik hi deva na lage dujen.' ('When I meet you face to face, I shall devote myself to your service; I do not need anything more.')
Then there will be never-ending service. Nothing like 'I' will exist. The sense of 'I and mine' will be completely erased. Everything will be for the Lord. There would be nothing else except wearing ourselves away for the good of others. The Gita is exhorting us repeatedly to remove the sense of 'I' and live a life devoted to the Lord, imbue the life with bhakti.
The Mark of Jnana: Seeing the Purusha Everywhere
Till now, we have seen that bhakti should be combined with karma. But it is also necessary to have jnana (knowledge) fused with them. The Gita is not otherwise satisfied. This does not mean that these three things are distinct from each other. We use different terms for them for the sake of convenience only.
How can we have jnana? The Gita says, "You will have it when you see the Purusha everywhere." The eternal servant is Purusha; the Lord, the recipient of service, the Purushottam, is also Purusha; and the creation which flows continuously, takes different forms and provides different things for worship, is also Purusha — all are different forms of Purusha only.
What is implied in having this outlook? It implies an attitude of perfect and flawless service to all. If your sandals squeak, oil them. Keep them in good condition. The Lord is present in them too. The spinning wheel is a means of service. Lubricate it regularly. Otherwise it will refuse to let you spin. It too is Purusha. It should be kept neat and clean and in working order. The whole creation should be seen as full of consciousness; do not look upon it as inert. Nothing is inert; nothing is devoid of His presence.
On the Pola day (a festival, particularly in rural Maharashtra) we worship the oxen, shedding our pride. This is not an ordinary thing. In fact, we should always have the Pola spirit in mind while taking due work from them. An ox too is a form of the Lord. How grand this vision is! Worship does not mean offering flowers to the idol; keeping anything neat and clean and tidy is its worship — be it a lamp, a scythe or a door hinge. Divine consciousness pervades everything.
The Essence of All the Vedas Is in the Palm of My Hands
This is the essence of all the Vedas. The Vedas are many; but Purushottamyoga is their short and sweet essence. The Vedas — the spiritual wisdom — are not hidden in a book; they are there in the whole universe for everybody to see. Shakespeare has spoken of 'books in the running brooks, sermons in stones.' The Veda is not made up of words, it is not in some book; it is in the creation around us. Devote yourself to service and it will be revealed to you.
'Prabhate kar darshanam' — one should behold one's palms in the morning. The Veda is there in those palms. They ask you to serve. See whether your hands have toiled yesterday, whether they are ready to toil today, whether your palms carry marks of labour. 'Prabhate kar darshanam' implies that when your hands work tirelessly, that which has been ordained for you by Providence will become clear.
What is the point in asking, "Where is the Veda?" The Veda is not somewhere else; all of us have received it when we are born. We are the living embodiment of the Veda. We are the consummation of a long tradition. We are the fruit of the tree that has sprouted from the Veda-seed. Within this fruit, there are seeds of innumerable Vedas.
The essence of the Veda is in our hands; it is for us to realize it. It means that life has to be built on the foundation of service, love and knowledge. The Lord is saying, 'The Vedas know Me only; I am the Purushottam, the essence of all the Vedas.' The Gita's teaching is fully revealed here. This Chapter contains the essence of the Gita. Everybody should strive to follow this ceaselessly.
[Reproduced with kind permission of Paramdham Publication, Pavnar, from Chapter 15 of 'Talks on The Gita' by Sant Vinoba Bhave, 16th edition, January 2005]
"The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Science brings men nearer to God." — Louis Pasteur
"It seems to me that when confronted with the marvels of life and the universe, one must ask why and not just how. The only possible answers are religious." — Arthur L. Schawlow, Nobel Prize in Physics
"Religion and science, then, in my analysis are the two great sister forces which have pulled, and are still pulling, mankind onward and upward." — Nobel laureate Robert Andrews Millikan