[Advaita-l] (Advaita) Bhakti vs. Jnana

[shyam Subramanian]

Pranams.
Equating Bhakti with bhajana is like equating love with crooning romantic ballads! Bhakti is not an alternative or a lifestyle to be adopted but is an attitude that defines your very life and the way you live it - it is how you act, how you eat, how you talk, how you work, how you treat others, how you work, - Bhakti is in and through all this - "mayyeva manah adhastva" says Bhagwan Krishna in the Gita. Fix your mind unto me to the exclusion of all else and at all times.  Speaking of bhajana, Meerabai phrases this most mellifluously in one of her many sublime works" Saanson ki maala mein simrun mien Pi ka naam" we normally make use of a rosary or japa mala to fix our mind on God - in Meerabai's case she finds her every breath being a rosary bead unto which her mind resonates with remembrance if the Supreme. Bhakti is not volitional - you do not adopt Bhakti, Bhakti adopts you when your mind is ready. Bhakti then is not a path you choose, but the fuel that energizes and enlivens and ensures the success of whichever path your mind is ready for - be it action karma yoga or renunciation jnana yoga.

Hari OM
Shri Gurubhyo namah
Shyam

On Jun 30, 2011, at 11:27 PM, Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

> It  should be bhakti marga (bhajana) vs. jnana marga (manana on aham
> brahmasmi etc.)? The Lord clearly says that the best is bhagavat
> bhajana. Is it it not?
> 
> On 01/07/2011, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:
>> Pranams. Your title I humbly submit is fallacious. Bhakti without Jnana is
>> incomplete. Jnana without Bhakti is impossible. At their culmination the
>> two are homologous.
>> 
>> praNAms
>> Hare Krishna
>> 
>> I was about to tell this :-))  The subject  line drafted in such a way
>> that bhkti & jnAna are poles apart :-)) bhakti & jnAna is not mutually
>> exclusive paths...Both karma & jnAna (sAnkhya),  which are the two mArga-s
>> as enshrined in the geeta have the blend of bhakti.
>> 
>> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
>> bhaskar
>> _______________________________________________
>> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
>> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>> 
>> To unsubscribe or change your options:
>> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>> 
>> For assistance, contact:
>> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>> 
> 
> -- 
> Sent from my mobile device
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
> 
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
> 
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org