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Shri Datta Swami

 Posted on 28 Jul 2026. Share

Shri Raajiiva Gita: Chapter-18: The Association of Enquiry of the Essence of Devotion (Verses 43-57)

(Bhakti Tattva Vicāra Yogaḥ)

Verses
1-5 6-42 43-57  
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Sadgurau kalite tasmai,
kuryā darcana mādarāt।
Arghya pādyādibhir bhaktyā,
yasmāt sa Bhagavān svayam॥

[When you happen to go to see the Sadguru, you must do worship of Sadguru with full respect and devotion by giving Arghya (offering water with respect) and Pādya (water to wash the feet). All the sixteen modes of worship must be done to Sadguru. The reason is that He is the ultimate God in human form, descended to Earth to guide devotees in their worldly as well as spiritual lives.]

 

Sāṣṭāṅga vandanaṃ kuryāt,
arcanānte patan bhuvi।
Sevā samarpaṇaṃ bhāvaṃ,
hṛdaye dhārayan sadā॥

[In the end of above-said worship, one must do Sāṣṭāṅga praṇāma by lying down on the floor, putting the face on the earth with full surrender always.]

 

Sadguruṃ svāmivat paśyan,
ādhāraṃ jīvanasya vā।
Krīta dāsa vadālokya,
svātmānaṃ paricaryayā॥

[One must serve the Sadguru as Master and feel that Sadguru is the real support of his life and do all the needed services and must feel himself as a lifelong purchased-slave to the owner-Sadguru.]

 

Kāle gacchati sāmīpyāt,
pravardhita svatantrataḥ।
Sakheva catura prajñā —
vācā taṃ hlādayet sadā॥

[As time passes on, one must become close to Sadguru due to increased intimacy and must act like a friend by entertaining Him with intellectual jokes always.]

 

Antyakāle bhakti tīvraḥ,
loka bandhān parikṣipan।
Tadeka bandha bhāvena,
svātmānaṃ ca nivedayet॥

[In the last days, the devotion must reach climax and all the worldly bonds are to be thrown out. The mind shall feel only one bond with God. In this stage, the devotee shall offer his dedicated soul to God.]

 

Bhāva bhaktiḥ kriyā bhaktiḥ,
dviprakārā samarpaṇe।
Ādyā buddhi mano dānāt,
dvitīyā sarva dānataḥ॥

[The devotion in the context of sacrifice is of two types:- i) Theoretical devotion in which mind and intelligence are sacrificed to God. ii) Practical devotion in which everything apart from mind and intelligence is sacrificed to God so that nothing is left over, which cannot be sacrificed to God.]

 

Bhaktir nirūpyate sarvaiḥ,
ādānena na hi kvacit।
Nagna satya midaṃ sākṣāt,
pravṛttāvapi dṛśyate॥

[Love or devotion is proved by all people through donation only and not by receiving from somebody. This is a direct truth, which is seen everywhere even in the worldly life.]

 

Dānena sthāpyate prema,
na tvadānena kasyacit।
Sadyo jāta śiśurapi,
brūyāt satya midaṃ śrutau॥

[In this worldly life, even a just-born baby can tell that love is proved by donation and not by receiving.]

 

Kecin nāmasahasrāṇi,
paṭhitvā jalamocanam।
Kṛtvā karma phala tyāgaḥ,
iti vakti prahāsakṛt॥

[Some people read the prayer of thousand names of God and leave a spoon of water, telling that they are sacrificing the fruit of that work of recitation of prayer as sacrifice of fruit of work. This is climax mockery of the concept of sacrifice of fruit of work.]

 

Śālicūrṇe karanyaste,
vāyu dhūte parārpaṇam।
Iti brūte sa medhāvī,
daivānugraha kāṅkṣayā॥

[One fellow was walking by holding some rice flour in his hand and suddenly due to a strong wind, the flour got blown away into the air. Immediately, he cried “Let this flour be offered to God”. Even though he does not have any intention to sacrifice the flour to God, he wanted to use this accidental incident of losing his flour to gain the grace of God. This cannot be called as the sacrifice of fruit of work to God.]

 

Kaleḥ pūrvaṃ narākāraḥ,
pūjitaḥ Kṛṣṇavad vibhuḥ।
Tyāgaḥ kriyātmako noktyā,
navanīta nivedanam॥

[Before the beginning of Kali age, people worshipped God in human form like God Kṛṣṇa with practical sacrifice of fruit of work such as butter. The true love to God was expressed by sacrifice of physical energy like pressing the feet (Karma Saṃnyāsa) and offering the fruit of work (Karma Phala Tyāga), both together called as Karma Yoga.]

 

Ādhyātmikārtha śāstrasya,
lobhād vṛddhir mahatyabhūt।
Naivedyaṃ nara rūpasya,
parihartavya mapyabhūt॥

[Since the Kali age started, spiritual economics has progressed very much. Avoiding practical sacrifice to human incarnation became a necessity due to greediness in people.]

 

Eṣaṇātrayadāt lobhāt,
martyāvatāra ujjhitaḥ।
Citra pratimā naivedyaṃ,
kuṭumbāhāra vartitam॥

[Gradually, the attachment to the three strongest worldly bonds (bonds with wife, children and wealth) increased very much and hence, the food offered to human incarnation of God is cleverly avoided by leaving the worship of human incarnation. In the place of human incarnation, the statues and photos of God are placed and the offerings were done to those inert statues and photos so that the offerings are not taken by God and later on, those offered items can be eaten and enjoyed by them along with their families.]

 

Naivedyadāna vibhrāntiṃ,
kalpayitvā phalaṃ Prabhoḥ।
Ādātuṃ rājakīyaṃ tat,
veśyā bhakti riti smṛtā॥

[These people want materialistic boons from God, but actually, they do not want to perform real sacrifice or charity of any materialistic item to God or to a beggar in the name of God. But cleverly, they want to create a false impression in the mind of God as if they have sacrificed materialistic item to God. Based on this prostitution devotion, they want to cheat God and attain benefits from God. This is prostitution devotion in which a prostitute appears as if she has immense love on the customer and get materialistic gifts from him.]

 

Asti vā nāsti vā Daivaṃ,
iti śaṅkā hṛdi sthitā।
Kalpayet kalpanām evaṃ,
vinā naṣṭaṃ sa lābhadhīḥ॥

[For these people, in their hearts, there is a doubt whether God exists or does not exist. Their idea is that in case God does not exist, the offering of any materialistic thing becomes a loss. They want to get the benefit from God without the possibility of loss of their materialistic items. Hence, these people have discovered and adopted this trickish policy.]

To be continued…


Chapters:

Chapter-1: The Association of Enquiry of Correlation of Three Vedantic Philosophies

Chapter-2: The Association of Enquiry of the Difference Between God and Soul

Chapter-3: The Association of Enquiry of the Difference Between God and World

Chapter-4: The Association of Enquiry of the Incarnation

Chapter-5: The Association of Enquiry of the Monism and Dualism

Chapter-6: The Association of Enquiry of the Difference Among Three Divine Philosophies

Chapter-7: The Association of Enquiry of the Analysis of the Three Divine Philosophies

Chapter-8: The Association of Enquiry of the Qualified Monism

Chapter-9: The Association of Enquiry of the Fundamental Component of Creation

Chapter-10: The Association of Enquiry of the Saamkhya Accepting God

Chapter-11: The Association of Enquiry of the Power of God

Chapter-12: The Association of Enquiry of the Devotion to God

Chapter-13: The Association of Enquiry of the Salvation of the Soul

Chapter-14: The Association of Enquiry of the Great Vedic Statements

Chapter-15: The Association of Enquiry of the Correlation of Secondary Scriptures

Chapter-16: The Association of Enquiry of the Plays of God

Chapter-17: The Association of Enquiry of the Sacrifice

Chapter-18: The Association of Enquiry of the Essence of Devotion

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