Truly Remarkable is True Devotion
Over eight consecutive mornings in January 2007, while in the holy city of Navadvip in the Nadia district of West Bengal – birthplace of many lilas of Gauranga Mahaprabhu - Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, considered by many as the descension of Gauranga Mahaprabhu in this age of Kali, delivered a series of discourses elaborating on a devotional couplet he revealed while there on the morning of 4 January:
hari anuraga ho ya govinda radhe, jaga viraga ho, ho mana se bata de
Shri Maharaj Ji comprehensively dispels the commonly held misconceptions and misunderstandings concerning the nature of detachment and attachment, demonstrating that both acts must be performed by the mind alone, as the mind is the sole doer of any action, and that both are to be performed simultaneously, as our fickle mind is unable to remain inactive even for a fraction of a second.
He discusses at length the important role that desire plays in a sadhaka’s journey towards God, clarifying that desire for God is in fact devotion, and this can flourish when one firmly decides that there is no true happiness in this world. Taking the aid of numerous worldly examples, backed up by just as many quotations from a diverse array of sacred texts, Shri Maharaj Ji reveals a profound yet simple solution to the souls of this world who desire the ultimate attainment of God-realisation.
He says, We have to replace our desires for the world with desires for God. It is that simple. This is what is called devotion or bhakti. In this practice, desires remain. You don’t have to eliminate desires, and in any case you are incapable of eliminating desires even if you tried for millions of years.
Bhagavad Bhakti contains the transcripts translated into English of all eight discourses. As each discourse is complete within itself, Bhagavad Bhakti is compelling reading as a series and also as a collection of individual discourses.
