Bhaga vad Gita
Since this will be the last write up from me on Bhagvad Geeta for this year, I would like to jump to chapter 7 which is titled Gyana Vigyana yoga ( Yoga of knowledge and experience) and discuss a few verses which are more frequently quoted. This chapter is exclusively on Bhakti or devotion and prayer. we look at Bhakti as knowledge of the true nature of God and experience with God instead of just belief and love of God. You can love some one only if you know that some one.We all have acertain image of God like Lord Vishnu floating on the ocean in a sleeping pose with Sri mahalakshmi at his feet( thanks to movie serials like Vishnu Puran). Such an image is helpful initially but we need to think outside the box as we mature. God is not an individual. God is the intelligence of the laws that govern the Universe and more. No intelligence in this universe is random. It is God's design and manifestation. This is the perfect and relevant time to discuss this topic of prayers as we are all geared to offer our prayers to Goddess Lakshmi. In the following verse Lord krishna talks about 4 kinds of Bhaktas and he praises all of them.
Sri Krishna says
" Chatur vidhaa bhajante maam jana sukrino Arjuna, Arto jignyasur artharthi gnyani cha Bharatharshabha."
There are 4 kinds of devotees who pray to me.
1. The Arta - Such a person prays only when he is in trouble. Lord Krishna still praises him for at least thinking about God during distress.
2. The Arttharthi- Such a person prays for material wealth and success. He is better than Arta since he prays more often and knows that fruits of his efforts depends on God's will.
3. The Jignyasu - Such a person does not pray for material wealth but prays to God to lead him in the right path. He is more evolved than the Arta and Artharthi.
4. The Gnyani - The enlightened person who knows God and sees only God every where. So he is always relating to God non stop. He prays to God to express his gratitude and how blessed he is because of knowledge of God. Such a person has no binding desires and does not think of any hardship as a problem. So he only sees divinity in every one. He is the dearest to God.
Bhagvan says
" Bahuunaam janmanaam ante jnaanavaan maam prapadyante, vaasudevah sarvam iti, sa mahaatmaa su-durlabhah"
After many births and deaths some rare persons become enlightened due to their good spiritual deeds in those births . Such an enlightened person discovers that every thing is nothing but God ( Sarvam vaasudevaah. here Vaasudevah does not only refer to the man with the flute , but the only God who is worshipped in different names as vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Christ or Allah). Such a person has over several births, evolved from Arta to Artharthi to Jignayasu to Gnyani. we should not be discouraged about the many births we have to take to reach this stage. May be we are already on our way. Because of our good deeds in our previous births we are this stage among the best people. we are fortunate for 1. to be born a Human being 2. To have Desire for spiritual growth 3. Access to great teachers. ( we are superbly blessed in this generation with modern internet technology). These are the 3 great and rare boons according Sri Adi sankaracharya.
Bhagvan continues
" yo yo Yaam yaam tanum Bhaktah, sraddyaarchitum icchati, tasya tasya achalaam shraddhaam, tam eva vidadhaamy aham"
The Lord says "Whoever wants to seek and please any presiding deity(the word tanum) of the natural forces ( like Sun, wind and fire) for the welfare of the people I will make their faith very strong and steady so that they can devote themselves completely to that deity". In those days (about 3000 years ago) the Rishis knew the sun, the wind and water affected our lives immensely but did not understand how. Their intuition led them to believe that each one was controlled by its presiding deity like Varuna deva for rain and Aditya for Sun. They were seeking these deities for the welfare of the people. In modern times with advance of science and technology scientists are studying these forces and Bhagvan says he will help all seekers to carry on with their endeavour with full concentration, like blessing them with powerful intellect. This is a mature way of interpreting this verse by Swami Tadathmananda as compared to some biased interpretations.
Conclusion inspired by Sri Tadathmananda:
Prayer is very important in our lives. When we pray we relate to God. The way we relate to God is similar to the way we relate to our parents. when we were young we asked for things from parents. As we mature we outgrow these desires and we relate to the parents with gratitude , and we want to care for them. The same way our prayers to God also evolves with maturity. Initially we want material happiness and later we outgrow them and seek his blessings for following the right path and ultimately we reach the level of the enlightened and only feel gratitude for God's blessings. we in this community are very blessed to have prosperity and be among good people seeking spiritual growth. we should thank God for all this and pray for the less fortunate ones who are separated from families fighting in the war zone, those who are displaced by natural calamity as in California now, people who are starving in remote places on this earth without any help and many more.
References
Lectures by Swami Tadathmananda of Arsha Bodha from web site at http://arshabodha.org/ab/wcms/en/home/teachings/index.html
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is by Swami Prabhupada
Note: There is a book titled "Bhagvad Gita , A lyrical Translation for singing, chanting and recitation" by Swami Tadathmananda. It is in English. You can get it from Arsha Bidha center whose site is given above. It is very good for chanting in English so that you know the meaning and specially good for youngsters. It is abridged and set in the same poetic meter as the main Sanskrit version.