188. In Tune with Existence

Krishna says, "To whom praise and insult are the same, who is silent, content with anything, who is not attached to a place of stay, stable-minded; those devotees who follow this nectar of wisdom (dharma) declared here, endued with shraddha (trust), regarding Me as supreme -are exceedingly dear to me" (12.19 and 12.20). At its core, the game of praise and insult is the play of ahankaar which gets elated with praise and hurt with insult. When we are centered in the self which Krishna earlier called atmavaan, praise and insult lose their ability to affect us. This concludes the 12th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita titled 'Bhakti Yoga (yoga of devotion). For easy adoption, a nine fold path for Bhakti is given in Ramayan by Lord Rama to his devotee Sabri. These include Satsang (company of saints), Katha (listening to stories of Paramatma), Sewa (service), Kirtan (singing), Japa (chanting) etc. These are relevant and practiced even today. This chapter starts with the question of Arjun as to whether formless devotion or devotion to form is more suitable. Krishna advises him to pursue the path of form as the path of formless is very tough for embodied beings. Then Krishna gave a hierarchical sequence to pursue this path. In the end, Krishna gives the attributes that are dear to Him which include dropping hatred, not getting agitated and not agitating others, maintaining equanimity, transcending polarities, being content etc. In the lonely path of self discovery these attributes can be used as milestones. Though, there is a chance that some of these attributes are likely to be viewed as weaknesses, but in reality, it is about being in tune with the all powerful existence. It is realising that these qualities are dear to Paramatma and celebrate when we inculcate them in us.