In this excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism Swami Lakshmanjoo makes clear that “Everybody can achieve Him with bhakti, devotion, love.” And he goes on to explain what is love really…

Love is the answer and the key!

DVD 8 (1:03:00 )

परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्यो व्यक्ताव्यक्तः सनातनः  ।

यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति  ॥२०॥

अव्यक्तोऽक्षर इत्युक्तस्तमाहुः परमां गतिम्  ।

यं प्राप्य न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम  ॥२१॥

पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया  ।

यं प्राप्य न पुनर्जन्म लभन्ते योगिनोऽर्जुन  ॥२२॥

यस्यान्तःस्थानि भूतानि यत्र सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितम्  ।

parastasmāttu bhāvo’nyo vyaktāvyaktaḥ sanātanaḥ  /

yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati  //20//

avyakto’kṣara ityuktastamāhuḥ paramāṁ gatim  /

yaṁ prāpya na nivartante taddhāma paramaṁ mama  //21//

puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyastvananyayā  /

yaṁ prāpya na punarjanma labhante yogino’rjuna  //22//

yasyāntaḥsthāni bhūtāni yatra sarvaṁ pratiṣṭhitam  /

This para bhāva (para bhāva means Bhairava bhāva) is anyaḥ, absolutely different from all of these [individuals].284 Vyaktāvyaktaḥ sanātanaḥ, you may call it manifested or you may call it un-manifested. It is very ancient. Yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu, if the whole world is naśyatsu (destroyed), na vinaśyati, He is not destroyed. And this is the real state of His being; yaṁ prāpya na nivartante, taddhāma paramaṁ mama, that is the real residence of Mine. And that puruṣa (individual) who is residing in Parabhairava state285 . . . .  That can be achieved. That is not impossible for anybody to achieve. Everybody can achieve Him, but with what, with what element, with what weapon? Bhakti, devotion. If he undergoes intense devotion towards Parabhairava, he will reach in My nature.

JOHN: So devotion is more important than jñāna or anything?

SWAMIJI: Devotion, yes. Nothing is . . . jñāna is nothing before devotion. Yasyāntaḥsthāni bhūtāni yatra sarvaṁ pratiṣṭhitam [comm. vs. 22]. And this is the basis of all beings. What? The state of Parabhairava. And that state of Parabhairava can be achieved by anybody, any disgusted being, by bhakti, by devotion, by love. You know love? What is love?

DEVOTEE: What is your definition of love? What is love from your point of view?

SWAMIJI: Love is just one-pointed, love is always love, love cannot remain without love. You cannot remain without love. Love is . . . in waking state there is love, in sleeping state there is love, in walking state there is love. He can weep, at any moment he can weep, tears are always in his eyes, tears are always there when he is laughing in a dream, tears are always in him. He is filled with tears, everywhere. When he is urinating, he is filled with tears. You can’t imagine what is love. Oh, love is just blind! And he does not know what love is. He himself does not know what is love. Love is the greatest element which is created in the body of Parabhairava.

DEVOTEE: You said that in that Practice and Discipline,286 “Love is the answer and the key.”

 

SWAMIJI: And the tea?

DEVOTEE: And the key.

SWAMIJI: Yes.

DEVOTEE: It is the answer and the key.

SWAMIJI: Yes.

DEVOTEE: It is both things.

SWAMIJI: Yes.

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284  Why? “The reality of God, the reality of Śiva, is kāla-saṁkalanā-vivarjitaṁ, is beyond the circle of time.” Bhagavad Gītā (1978).

285  “Yaṁ prāpya, and once you achieve that supreme state of being, which is avyakta, which is un-manifested, na nivartante, you have not to come again; you will never leave that state again.” Ibid.

286  Swami Lakshmanjoo, Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism, 2.49.

(source: Chapter 8, Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, by Swami Lakshmanjoo)

All Content is subject to Copyright © John Hughes.

The post “Love is the answer and the key” – in Kashmir Shaivism appeared first on Lakshmanjoo Academy, Kashmir Shaivism.

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