God’s Love for His Devotees is Limitless

Bhakti leads man to his ultimate goal of life; It destroys his malady of worldliness. Bhakti fosters man’s yearning for Divinity. And helps him to attain liberation.

(Sanskrit Verse)

Part I

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Embodiments of Love! Students – Boys and Girls!

This land of Bharat has been spreading through the ages the message of Bhakti (devotion) to the entire world. Devotion does not merely mean the observance of rituals or the performance of penance and meditation. Devotion really means intense love for the Lord. it implies pure and steady love, untainted by any selfish desires. Such love knows no boundaries and is beyond all regulations. The spontaneous outflow of selfless love from man to God is true devotion. Love combined with worldly desires cannot be called devotion. The only desire one must have is for God, and all worldly desires must be set aside. Nothing should be allowed to come between oneself and God. The love coming from the devotee’s heart must flow unimpeded to God. Love for God must be totally impervious to the ups and downs of life, like pleasure and pain, gain and loss, etc.

Constantly Meditate on the Lord

Dharmaraja, the eldest among the Pandavas, is one example of a person who was able to achieve this kind of one-pointed devotion. He remained unruffled even when his wife Draupadi was being subjected to extreme humiliation in the royal court. Similarly, when Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, was slain in battle, Dharmaraja accepted the verdict of destiny with perfect equanimity. He remained equally calm when Aswatthama, the son of Dronacharya, mercilessly slaughtered all the Pandava children. Nor was he bothered when he and his brothers had to spend long years in exile in the forest, foregoing all the royal comforts they were used to. All this was possible for Dharmaraja because his mind was constantly absorbed in the contemplation of Krishna to the exclusion of all other thoughts, and he was chanting His Name at all times.

Dharmaraja was not alone in such one-pointed devotion. His wife Draupadi also thought of Krishna incessantly and chanted His Name constantly. After the gruesome massacre of the young Pandava children, Arjuna tracked down Aswatthama, the perpetrator of the atrocity, and dragged him before Draupadi. Instead of cursing the evil doer, she fell at the feet of Aswatthama and said: "It is at the feet of your father, Dronacharya, that my husbands have learnt all that they know. Being the son of Dronacharya, was it proper for you to kill my children? How could you have the heart to kill them, who were unarmed, young, quietly asleep, were not having any grudge against you, and were not contemplating any harm to you?" (Telugu Poem) When Draupadi was praying like this, Bhima could not bear to see this. Here was Aswatthama who had to be dealt with severely for his dastardly act, and Draupadi was trying to reason with this evil monster! Exploding in anger, Bhima roared: "This Draupadi is a stupid woman, for she pleads for this wretch’s freedom. She feels no anger against this murderer of her sons. This assassin Aswatthama is not a Brahmin. Do not release him but kill him. If you do not do that, I myself will hammer his head with my powerful fist, for you to see!" (Telugu Poem)

Consumed with fury, Arjuna was about to attack Aswatthama. Draupadi raised her hand and asked him not to kill him. She said: "O Partha! It is not righteous to kill a person who is afraid or has lost courage, who is asleep or intoxicated, who seeks refuge or is a female. You should not kill Aswatthama, for he is your preceptor’s son. (Telugu Poem)

Arjuna paid heed to Draupadi’s advice, and as a token punishment shaved Aswatthama’s head and set him free. This is how Draupadi reacted to the situation; she did not have the slightest hatred for one who mercilessly wiped out all the Pandava off-spring. Among the Pandavas, Dharmaraja and Draupadi were two precious gems. It was their constant contemplation of Krishna that enabled them to face all odds with equanimity and display magnanimity as well as forbearance under the most trying circumstances. Draupadi always extolled Krishna’s Divinity and constantly chanted: Kleem Krishnaya Govindaya Gopijanavallabhaya Swaha! This sacred chant has a deep significance. Kleem stands for Prithvi (earth), Krishnaya means Jala (water). Similarly, Govindaya refers to Agni (fire). Likewise, Gopijana-vallabhaya and Swaha refer respectively to Vayu (air) and Akasha (ether). In short, the words of this sacred chant refer to the five basic elements. Through this chant, Draupadi proclaimed her belief that Krishna was immanent in all the elements, and was in fact the embodiment of all these. This was the profound way in which both Dharmaraja and Draupadi meditated on Krishna. No matter what the circumstance, Dharmaraja never blamed Krishna at any point of time and worshipped Him with one-pointed devotion. Such are the shining examples of devotion available to us in Bharatiya culture.

(to be continued in January, 2007 issue)

© "Sanathana Sarathi" (April, 2001) published by Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publications Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam, 515 134. Website: srisathyasai.org.in. Reprinted with permission.

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