17 Nov 2020
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on October 24, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Swāmi, You have said that developing devotion (bhakti) happens spontaneously, without any effort, if our effort in attaining correct knowledge is perfect and complete. During another satsang, You also said that singing bhajans helps us develop devotion. But is singing bhajans also not a kind of effort? Swāmi, please clarify my confusion. Also, can there be any right sense in which one could ask God for devotion?]
Swāmi replied: Devotional songs on God also contain spiritual knowledge, in the form of their meaning and hence, many a time, knowledge and devotion are interlinked. Knowing the meaning of the song which gives the details of the divine personality of God attracts and inspires the mind. Such inspiration is devotion. Hence, devotion or attraction only comes from knowledge. If you are attracted to a song, without the knowledge or understanding of its meaning, you are simply attracted towards the musical sound. The attraction to the mere sound of the words, without knowledge, is the path of the atheistic Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas. You can ask anything from God, but you should never ask God to give you devotion. It is a horrible insult of God, in My view. If a girl says to her lover that she is not able to love him, is it not an insult to the lover? She is indirectly saying that the lover is not lovable. Love should be spontaneous and natural, even without any effort. It is not something you should ask from the person you love. In fact, when the devotee develops extreme love for God, God creates obstacles to test the devotee’s love. The true devotee overcomes even those obstacles. This is the state of true love.
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