అన్ని నీవనుచు అంతరంగమున,  తిన్నగా వెదకి తెలిసికొంటినయ్య…
Anni neevanuchu antharangamuna thinnagaa vedaki thelisi kontinayya…

Realized that “you” are everything by directly probing my inner recess (of the body-mind-intellect complex)    –
                                                                                   Thyagaraja, a 18th Century poet.

Pretty much this kriti (song) summarizes everything that Krishna taught so far, and will teach Arjuna through the rest of the way about bhakti_/\_   This is also the final realization everyone will reach on this path.  It is the “everything” aspect that makes this an ultra difficult proposition for our judging mind to accept.  It’s very difficult to see the connections between things – that’s what makes this poet start off this kriti with “marugu-ela-ra?” meaning, why this veil (between things including him and his personal god)? 

 Let’s go back to Arjuna-Krishna story, and circle back to this.  So, Arjuna fell short on the first attempt, which is that he could not withstand the onslaught of the full Kundalini experience.  He could not get past the subject-object duality. That leads Krishna to coach him on the missing aspects:

1.  This universal form that you saw is a very rare one, and hence remember me by that form also, and strive to merge.
2. This form cannot be guaranteed by any of the normal rituals (they get us on the right track though)
3. …even “gods” (devas) long to see this form!  (Gods? Them too?)
4. The path to get to this form again (when you are ready) is “ananya” bhakti.

The first two points are self-explanatory, based on previous notes.  Krishna wants Arjuna to remember the comprehensive, universal form, and not just his anthropomorphized human form.  It takes practice – the fractal and holistic aspect of “god”.   That’s Krishna’s first point, and this is very instructive for us too.  Yogis’ advice is for us to slowly transition from “personalized” form to “universal form”.  The first symptom of this transition is compassion towards everything.  This is what’s expressed by Thyagaraja also…  Why all this secrecy and the veil…?  Maya.. The veil between us and the “tat” has to be lifted (“marugu”)  for us to see the unitive perspective, “tat” in everything.

For the second point about “lower” knowledge-based practices, Krishna is more direct:

न वेदयज्ञाध्ययनैर्न दानै- र्न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रै: |
एवंरूप: शक्य अहं नृलोके द्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर|| 11.48||
na veda-yajñādhyayanair na dānair na cha kriyābhir na tapobhir ugraiḥ
evaṁ-rūpaḥ śhakya ahaṁ nṛi-loke draṣhṭuṁ tvad anyena kuru-pravīra

Not by study of the Vedas (scriptures), nor by the performance of yajnas, rituals, or charity, nor even by practicing tapas, has any mortals ever seen what you have seen, O Arjuna. (11.48)

What’s the point of all these practices, then?  Yogis say that they are to put us on a path.  They by themselves are not the end-points, but part of the process, rungs in the ladder.  Never to get stuck at one point; just like an asana, it’s a journey and not a state.  This is a key distinction – state-based Vs. process-based.  This is one reason why early Quantum Physicists are some of the first kind of scientists to explore Vendanta – we will pick that thread up some other time.  Krishna knows that Arjuna has been performing these, actually very well, and he is coaching him to take the next step.

The third statement is very surprising – even Gods long for this?  Is there a hierarchy among gods?  Not really if you look at it from a yogic stance – godhood is a state dictated by the process until that point.  No one is bestowed with anything, nor is anyone denied anything a priori.  It’s a choice that everyone makes as to which “state of consciousness” that s/he wants to “dwell” in.  

These fourteen “states of consciousness” are called “lokas” or “bhuvanas”.  The consciousness states corresponding to the seven higher chakras – Satya, Tapa, Jana, Maha,  Suva, Bhuva, Bhu (earth), and then the seven going further down – atala, vitala,  sutala,  rasātala,  talātala,  mahātala, pātāla.  Humans choose to stay in the “bhu” state of consciousness.  We can climb the up ladder or even go down!  “Gods” stay in the Satya loka, or the state of consciousness.  This is also why the gods are typically shown as meditating, because it is dhyana/samadhi that keeps them in that state. And it is this theory that allows humans to reach such heights, with effort.

Hence, the “gods” are also in this constant effort to stay in that state.  Also, in a lot of stories, when a rishi does something emotional, like cursing someone, immediately s/he recedes into forests to meditate, in order to get back to the original neutral state. 

Hmm… Emotions, instinctual actions, can drop you from that state?  We will pick this up later – this is about the wave-theory of Consciousness (spanda)!

Finally, Krishna tells him that it’s the unalloyed devotion (bhakti of ananya-type)) alone can tat be seen for what it is, standing in front of you.  That’s what leads into union with tat. 

bhaktyā tva ananyayā śakya aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna 

By single-pointed devotion alone, am I accessible (in the universal form you have just seen), O Arjuna…

It is now, after 11 chapters, that Krishna ventures to explain Bhakti Yoga to Arjuna; because Bhakti as a concept is very sophisticated and intricate.  In a lot of modern expositions, this word has been vastly misinterpreted, and given a very narrow definition.  Not that there’s anything wrong with practicing anything, but thinking that that’s all there is to Bhakti has caused some serious damage to the crux of Bhakti philosophy.  We will pick this up next…  This wraps up our “Īśvara” part of the fifth Niyama, and transition us into the the second word – praṇidhāna.

May we all be blessed with a “contemplative and devotional” mind_/\_/\_/\_