there are
fondness for legends of the Lord
a taste for hearing leelas, nectar-like stories
stories of the guru or personal deity...
It is possible to serve the image of God in idols
and better still, taking the whole humanity as God.
This is Padasevana.
Padasevana is service of the sick.
Padasevana is service of the poor.
Padasevana is service of the whole humanity at large.
The whole universe is only Virat-Svarupa.
Service of the world is service of the Lord.
singing of Lord's glories
chanting the name of the guru or the deity
with love and devotion
The devotee is thrilled with Divine Emotion.
He loses himself in the love of God.
He gets horripilation in the body due to extreme love for God.
He weeps in the middle when thinking of the glory of God.
His voice becomes choked, and he flies into a state of divine Bhava.
In the Kali Yuga, iron age, Kirtana alone is the best Yoga.
This is the prescribed method of devotion for this age...
He becomes Sattvic and pure at heart.
"chanting mystic name"
remembrance of the Lord at all times.
Continuous remembrance of the divine in any form, above all the Guru.
The devotee is ever engaged in Japa of the Lord's Name
and describing His glories to one and all.
Wherever he goes, he begins to sing the praise of God.
He requests all to join his Kirtana.
He sings and dances in ecstasy.
He makes others also dance
Smarana is remembrance of the Lord at all times.
This is unbroken memory of the Name and Form of the Lord.
The mind does not think of any object of the world.
But is ever engrossed in thinking of the glorious Lord alone.
The mind meditates on what is heard
about the glories of God and His virtues, Names, etc.
And forgets even the body and contents itself
in the remembrance of God, just as Dhruva or Prahlada did.
Even Japa is only remembrance of God,
and comes under this category of Bhakti.
Remembrance also includes hearing of stories pertaining to God at all times,
talking of God, teaching to others what pertains to God,
meditation on the attributes of God, etc.
Remembrance has no particular time.
God is to be remembered at all times, without break,
so long as one has got his consciousness intact.
Right up from his getting up from sleep in the morning,
until he is completely overpowered by sleep in the night,
a person is to remember God.
He has no other duty in this world except remembrance of God.
Remembrance of God alone can destroy all worldly Samskaras.
Remembrance of God alone can turn away the mind from sense-objects.
Generally the mind runs extrovert.
But remembrance of God makes it introvert
and does not allow it to run to particular objects of the world.
Remembrance of God is a very difficult method of Sadhana.
It is not possible to remember God at all times.
The mind will cheat the person.
He will think that he is meditating on God,
but actually he will be dreaming of some object of the world
or something connected with name and fame.
Remembrance is equal to concentration or meditation.
All the qualities which a Raja Yogin prescribes for the practice of meditation
should be acquired by a Bhakta who wants to practise Smarana-Bhakti.
Smarana is swimming against the forceful current of the river of Maya.
Smarana leads to exclusive meditation on God, as is done in Raja Yoga.
Ritualistic worship and offerings.
Worship can be done either through an image or a picture
or even a mental form.
The image should be one appealing
to the mind of the worshipper.
Worship can be done either with external materials
or merely through an internal Bhava or strong feeling.
The latter one is an advanced form of worship
which only men of purified intellect can do.
Worship should be done according to the rules
laid down in the Varnashrama-Dharma.
Or in the case of advanced devotees
worship can be done in any manner they like.
The purpose of worship is to please the Lord
to purify the heart through surrender of the ego
and love of God.
Bandaram,
the mental worship of everyone and everything
as the form of divinity.
Humble prostration, with faith and reverence,
before a form of God.
Or prostration to all beings,
knowing them to be the forms of the One God,
and getting absorbed in the Divine Love of the Lord
is termed prostration to God.
Lord Krishna says to Uddhava:
"Giving no attention to those who laugh in ridicule,
forgetting the body and insensible to shame,
one should prostrate and bow down to all beings,
even to the dog, the ass, the Chandala and the cow.
All is Myself, and nothing is but Myself."
The ego or Ahankara is effaced out completely
through devout prayer and prostration to God.
The Divine Grace descends upon the devotee
and man becomes God.
Love of God through servant-sentiment.
Das(i)-yam is being the servant of guru or God.
Dasya-Bhakti is the love of God through servant-sentiment.
To serve God and carry out His wishes,
realising His virtues, nature, mystery and glory,
considering oneself as a slave of God,
the Supreme Master is Dasya-Bhakti.
Serving and worshipping the Murtis in temples,
sweeping the temples, meditating on God,
and mentally serving Him like a slave,
serving the saints and the sages,
serving the devotees of God,
serving the poor and the sick people who are forms of God,
is also included in Dasya-Bhakti.
To follow the words of the scriptures,
to act according to the injunctions of the Vedas,
considering them to be direct words of God,
is Dasya-Bhakti.
Association with and service of love-intoxicated devotees
and service of those who have knowledge of God is Dasya-Bhakti.
The purpose behind Dasya-Bhakti is to be ever with God
in order to offer services to Him
and win His Divine Grace
and attain thereby Immortality.
~bron~
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