4 kinds of Devotee

NAME Four Kinds of Bhaktas?

chapter 7 of Bhagavd Gita explains about all these four types of devotees:-

Bhaktas or devotees of God are of four types. Arta, Jijnasu, Artharthi and Jnani.

Arta (the distressed):------

These are the people who are experiencing pain and suffering either at physical level or at mental level. They are very much upset with their lives and have no hope on it. In such a scenario when they are completely broken and shattered with grief from all sides, they still have faith in GOD and He is the only ONE from whose side Hope is yet not gone for them. 

They approaches GOD to get liberated from their pains and hence are called ‘Arta’ Although Artas are not high level of Bhaktas and their devotion to God is the result of their pain, It is still to be understood that in most difficult times of our life , it is not easy to have faith even in GOD. 

And hence if a person is able to keep his trust and faith in GOD even though in tough times- it is a good sign and the person itself is called as one of the devotees of GOD.

Arta is the distressed devotee who is suffering very much and who craves for the grace of God, in order to get himself relieved from pain and sorrow,Draupadi and Gajendra are examples of Arta-Bhaktas. 

When Dussasana dragged her before the court of the Kauravas and pulled her sari, Draupadi cried for Krishna in order to guard her respect. Gajendra called on Narayana when a crocodile was dragging him in water.

Artharti (Devotees with certain wishes) –----

These devotees approaches GOD with the desires of material wealth, kids, name and fame. Although devotion of such people towards GOD is for wealth and specific desires, they are also termed as a Bhakta as because of any reasons they are associated with Artharthi is the seeker of wealth, who longs for earthly possessions, money, land, etc., in order to enjoy a happy life, and who propitiates God to get His grace to amass wealthThe seeker after wealth craves for money, wife, children, position, name and fame. 

Sugriva and Dhruva were Artharthi-Bhaktas.

 Sugriva wanted to drive away Vali and get his kingdom. Vibhishana wanted to put an end to Ravana and get Lanka. Dhruva wanted a kingdom where his step mother would not trouble and ill-treat him.

.Divine.Jigyasu (Knowledge Seeker)------

These are the devotees who have faith in God and want to explore more about Him. They are just curious to know more about Divine and are very much inquisitive about BRAHMAN. They read scriptures and other literature from saints and try to figure out ways and means to discover greater depths of infinite GOD.Jijnasu is the enquirer. He is dissatisfied with the world. There is a void in his life. He always feels that sensual pleasure is not the highest form of happiness and there is yet pure eternal bliss unmixed with grief and pain, which is to be found within.

Uddhava was a Jijnasu. He was dissatisfied with the world and got wisdom from Sri Krishna. This is recorded in the Bhagavata.

Jnani (Self Realised)------

These are the devotees who have finally realized GOD and have true knowledge of Him, His creation and the entire cosmos. They understand Brahman and are liberated from all Karma specific boundations of life. Jnani is the wise, the sage who is satisfied with the Self, who is contented in the Self, who has no desires, who is freed from desires, who has fulfilled all desires, whose only desire is the Self; who considers his own Self as the All-inclusive God.The Jnani is a man of knowledge who has attained Self-illumination. Suka-Maharshi was a Jnani-Bhakta. He was a Brahma-Jnani of the highest type. He realised that everything was his own Self. He taught the Srimad-Bhagavata to Parikshit

Vaira Bhaktas----

.There is another type of Bhaktas, called Vaira Bhaktas. These Bhaktas are negative Bhaktas. They do not have positive devotion for God. They hate God and thus remember Him always. Hatred also requires a constant remembrance of the enemy. So these also are a kind of Bhaktas only. They attain salvation through Vaira-Bhakti. Kansa, Sisupala and others thought of the Lord constantly on account of their deep hatred for Him. Thus they attained Salvation.--SHIVOHAM

Character

What Is Character? Character is what a man is in the dark. Character is who you are when no one is looking. Character is measured by what you would do if you were never found out. Reputation is what men think you are. Character is what God knows you to be. Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it...the tree is the real thing. The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back. There is never a reason to compromise God’s standards in order to maintain God’s blessings.

Ponthanam Bhagavat

EVEN LORD SHIVA AND CELESTIALS LOVE TO LISTEN BHAGAVATAM 

Beautiful story from life of bhakta Poonthanam- MUST READ

Once there lived an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna by name Poonthaanam.

He worshipped Guruvayoorappan (Lord Krishna) with all his heart and soul.

People loved him for his beautiful Bhagavatam discourses.

There is a temple in North Kerala called Kottiyoor. The significant deity in the temple is Lord Siva. The temple was kept open only for a few days during a year.

There were no human activities in that place for the rest of the year.

Once Poonthaanam reached the Kottiyoor temple and had a bath in the holy river.

He worshiped the compassionate Lord Siva, felt happy, and stayed there for a few days.

He recited Bhagavatam everyday in front of the deity and several hundreds of people listened to his sweet discourse on the wonderful pastime in the 10th Canto 60th of Srimad Bhagavatam named “Lord Krishna Teases Queen Rukmini.”

The Lord decides to play with His beloved wife Queen Rukmini and wanted to listen to Her.

He playfully asks Her why She wanted to marry the Lord when She had better choices like King Sisupala, Salva, Jarasandha, etc.

Hearing this Queen Rukmini faints and Lord consoles Her.

This is the gist of the chapter.

Poonthaanam finished reading this part of the chapter and kept the bookmark at the end of the chapter so that he can continue reciting from the next chapter.

SURPRISE !! BOOKMARK FOUND AT THE BEGENNING OF THE SAME CHAPTER !!! AGAIN AND AGAIN

Next day, to his surprise, he found the bookmark at beginning of the same chapter.

So Poonthaanam read the same part for the second time.

This was repeated for the rest of the days.

It was the last day to close the temple for the year.

Poonthanam finished the discourse and was returning from the temple with the other devotees, but somehow left the Bhagavatam in the temple itself.

Having walked some distance suddenly he remembered that he forgot to bring the Bhagavatam with him.

He hurried back; crossed the river and reached the entrance to the temple, which was closed. He was all alone.

He could hear somebody reciting the same part of the chapter from Bhagavatam inside the temple.

As he looked through the keyhole he saw Lord Siva himself reading from Poonthanam’s Bhagavatam.

Mother Parvati and his other Bhoothaganas were listening.

Their eyes were filled with tears out of devotion.

Poonthaanam stood there motionless and heard the whole recitation.

SHIVA AND PARVATI APPRECIATE POONTHANAM

At the end Lord Siva asked Parvati devi, “Did you like the Bhagavatam recitation”?

Parvathi replied,”Yes, it was nice, but was not as good as Poonthaanam’s”.

Lord Siva replied, “Yes. That is true. I also like to hear Bhagavatam from Poonthaanam. That is why I placed the bookmark again and again at the beginning of the same topic every day.”

Hearing this Poonthaanam who stood outside was shaken up and uttered the holy name of Krishna loudly.

When he watched again, Lord Siva and Mother Parvati had disappeared from his sight.

MORAL OF THE STORY

This pastime clearly explains how all the living entities including the DEMIGODS love this great literature of BHAGAVATAM

Gita 3.13

Gita 3.13. . .(1)

यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो 

मुच्यन्ते  सर्वकिल्बिषैः  |

भुन्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचंत्यात्मकारणात ||

'The good people, living on the remnants of yajna (यज्ञ), are freed from all sins; but those, on the other hand, who cook food (only) for themselves eat only sin.'

Whatever you eat after a sacrifice is called yajnashishta (यज्ञशिष्ट), the remnant of a yajna (यज्ञ). 

This yajnashishta (यज्ञशिष्ट) is also called prasaad (प्रसाद). 

Whatever is a prasaad (प्रसाद) is holy food; what is not prasaad (प्रसाद) has no elevating power for the human system. 

In the social context, you earn, you pay your taxes, what remains is your wealth to enjoy; by trying to avoid paying taxes through all sorts of tricks, society suffers; you also suffer. 

This idea we have to imprint upon the mind of everyone, that you can't get peaceful social order without paying for it. Tax is what we pay for making a stable society. 

Those who avoid paying taxes, and adopt all sorts of tricks for it, they are not citizens, they are only IN the nation, but not OF the nation, and not FOR the nation; they are not fit to live in an ordered society. 

They are fit to have a life of their own separately in some unpopulated island; but then, without human company, they will not often develop humanness.

 Kilbisha (किल्बिषा) means sin and evil.  

Then comes the statement: Bhunjate te tvagham pap ye pachanti atmakaranaat (भुन्जते ते त्वघं पाप ये पचन्ति आत्मकारणात). 

This is a very profound idea. 'One who cooks only for oneself (and eats separately without caring for others), eats only that much sin.'That is the language. 

Agham (अघम) means sin; pap (पाप) also means sin; ye pachanti (ये पचन्ति), 'those who cook'; atmakaranaat (आत्मकारणात), 'only for oneself'. 

I am cooking only for myself; I don't care for others. 

That attitude is extremely bad. Therefore, very often, in our traditional Hindu houses, they follow what is called bhuta-yajna (भूत-यज्ञ), the setting apart of a small portion of food after the cooking is over. 

That is given to any beggar, or birds. They keep it separate; only the rest they utilize. The idea behind it is what this verse expresses. 

In the Gita, the Mahabharata, and the Manu-Smriti this idea is expressed:

 Agham tu kevalam bhunkte ye pachanti atmakaranaat (अघम तु केवलम भुंक्ते ये पचन्ति आत्मकारणात). 'one who cooks for oneself, eats only that much sin'. 

That self-centredness is not appreciated at all. So, this is one important idea. Don't eat sin; eat virtue; 

FOOD BECOMES VIRTUE WHEN IT BECOMES A PRASAD (प्रसाद). You have given something to other people and you used for yourself what remained; that is beautiful. 

The yajna (यज्ञ) value is manifested there. This very teaching is given also by Isa Upanishad's (इशोपनिषद) first verse: tena tyktena bhunjitha (तेन त्यक्तेना भुन्जीथा), 'ENJOY LIFE THROUGH RENUNCIATION'. 

Then only you get the best of life. You care only for your own life; by that you will never enjoy the best of life.  So, in verses 14 and 15, you find mention of Chakram (चक्रम्) or ‘wheel of chain of life’.    

Source: 'Universal Message of the Bhagavad-Gita', Pub. Advaita Ashrama, Vol. 1, pp. 273-274)

Who is poor

A rich man looked through his window and saw a poor man picking something from his dustbin ... He said, Thank GOD I'm not poor.

The poor man looked around and saw a naked man misbehaving on the street ... He said, Thank GOD I'm not mad.

The mad man looked ahead and saw an ambulance carrying a patient ... He said, Thank GOD am not sick.

Then a sick person in hospital saw a trolley taking a dead body to the mortuary ... He said, Thank GOD I'm not dead.

Only a dead person cannot thank God. 

Why don't you thank GOD today for all your blessings and for the gift of life ... for another beautiful day.

*What is LIFE*?

To understand life better, you have to go to 3 locations :

*1. Hospital*

*2. Prison* 

*3. Cemetery*

🏥 At the Hospital, you will understand that nothing is more beautiful than HEALTH.

🔐 In the Prison, you'll see that FREEDOM is the most precious thing.

💐 At the Cemetery, you will realize that life is worth nothing. The ground that we walk today will be our roof tomorrow.

*Sad Truth* :  We all come with *Nothing* and we will go with *Nothing* ... Let us, therefore, remain humble and be thankful & grateful to God at all times for everything. 

🙏 Could you please share this with someone else, and let them know that God loves them?

Shankar Acharya search for needle

One night Sri Adi Shankaracharya, 

the great Advaita master, was desperately searching for something on the street outside his small hut. When his pupil returned from his errand, he saw this and curiously asked the Master, “Aacharya, what are you looking for here on the street at this hour?”

Shankaracharya  replied, “I lost my needle, I am looking for it.”

The pupil joined him in the search, but after searching for a while, he asked, “Can you try and recollect where you might have dropped it?”

Shankaracharya  said, “Of course, I remember. I dropped it near the bed in the hut.”

The pupil, utterly astonished at the strange answer, said,  “Aacharya, you say you lost it inside the house, then why are we looking for it outside?”

Shankaracharya  innocently replied, “There is no oil left in the lamp, so it is pitch dark inside the house. Hence I thought of searching for it outside, since there is enough street light here.”

While holding back his laugh, the pupil said, “If you lost your needle inside the house, how could you even expect to find it outside?”

Shankaracharya simply smiled back at the pupil and the pupil got the message behind the acharya's puzzling act. 

Isn't that what we do? We run to far away temples and walk up mountains to search for what we have lost inside ourselves. We are all seeking outside what we have lost inside us. Why? Just because it is pitch dark Inside. 

Silly, aren’t we?!

Light the lamp inside you and find your lost treasure right therein...

Bamboo

*SURRENDER*

This is a beautiful story about  Krishna 's flute..

Everyday Krishna would go in the garden and say to all the

plants, “I love you”.

The plants were very happy and responded saying “Krishna,

we love You too”.

One day Krishna rushed quickly into the garden very

alarmed.

He went to the bamboo plant and the bamboo plant asked,

“Krishna, what´s wrong?”

Krishna said “I have something to ask you, but it is very

difficult”.

The bamboo said “Tell me: if I can, I will give it to you”.

So Krishna said “I need your life. I need to cut you”.

The bamboo thought for a while and then said “You don´t have any other choice. You don’t have any other way ?”

Krishna said, “No, no other way”.

And it said “OK” and gave himself up.

So Krishna cut the bamboo n made holes in it, and each time, he carved the holes, the bamboo was crying in pain ...

Krishna made a beautiful flute out of it n this flute was with him all the time.

24 hours a day, it was with Krishna. Even the Gopis were jealous of the flute.

They said, “Look, Krishna is our Lord, but yet we get to spend only some time with him.

He wakes up with you, He sleeps with you, all the time you are with him”.

Gopis asked the bamboo, “Tell us your secret. What secret do you have, that the Lord treasures you so much ?”

And the bamboo said “The secret is that, i gave myself up, and he did whatever was right for me, in the process i had

to undergo a lot of pain.

And the Lord does whatever he wants with me, whenever he wants with me and however he wants with me. I have just become His instrument”.

So this is complete surrender: where God can do whatever

He wants with you,u whenever He wants, as He wants.

Trust Him completely and have faith in Him and always think you are in His hands ... what can go wrong ??

This is Samarpan or Surrender.

Woodcutter

🔨THE STORY OF A 🔨

🔨WOOD CUTTER🔨

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. 

_____

The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

___

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!

_____

”Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. ____

The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees.

____

Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

____

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought.

____

He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

____

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

_____

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

😌Reflection:

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”.

__

In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever.

___

Why is that?

Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”?

___

There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work but we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like 

👉our personal lives, 

👉taking time to get close to our God the  Creator.

👉giving more time for our family,

👉taking time to read the Bible, spiritual material etc.

_____

We all need time

💥to relax,

💥to think and meditate on God's word. 

💥to learn and grow spiritually. 

🍃🌺🍃🌺🍃🌺🍃🌺🍃🌺

If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

😀🌺🌺😀🌺🌺😀🌺🌺😀

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