Devotion

 

Devotion, in its absolute sense is a state of mind in which the fellow devotee intends to offer all sorts of success, sorrow, gain and loss at the service of the divine master. Such a masterly guiding force makes the ascent of devotee towards a state of completeness possible. There exist different states and degrees of devotion possessing equally competent capabilities suitable for an individual to work out activities meant for fulfilling wishes of the referred master.

Not only that, a devotee can even perform actions without feeling many difficulties. Devotion is the state of mind that makes the union of knowledge, intellect, courage and will power possible. It also makes the devotee fearless by means of nullifying the doubts of success. It also nullifies the feeling of supremacy which hampers the continuous progress of an individual in the path of ascent towards the state of divinity. It also makes the individual competent enough in feeling the essence of following masterly instructions before ascertaining any action as a final one.

We come across the name “Kapidhwaj”, the name coined for the chariot of warrior Arjuna. Once upon a time Arjuna met the legendary character of the Indian Epic Ramayana near Rameshwaram. It was none other than the warrior Hanumana. We may not require any introduction to explain the bravery, courage, will power and devotion that Hanumana exhibited in those days. Arjuna claimed his supremacy and knowledge of Archery a unique one and indulged in a debate with the saintly warrior of courage, will power and devotion. His claim was to prove the strength of a bridge made of arrows a strong one, even stronger than the Adam’s Bridge duly constructed during the period of the invasions of Sri Lanka by Rama and his group of soldiers. While demonstrating so, it was an utter failure for Arjuna. As per the previously finalised deal he had to ignite himself for sacrificing life. Arjuna indulged in such kinds of arbitrary deal with Hanumana without knowing the legendary importance and strength of the warrior and devotee of lord Rama.

Lord Krishna stopped Arjuna from sacrificing himself by claiming that there was no witness to ascertain the deal. The performance of the construction of bridge by using arrows repeated again. This time also Hanumana stepped on to it and it started collapsing. Only a new thing developed this time was some blood shed from the water started moving up. It was none other than the lord himself in the form of a turtle kept on holding the bridge in the middle with an intention of making Arjuna victorious. Hanumana identified his master in other form and agreed in helping them by all means.

Instead of getting directly involved in the struggle of Kurukshetra, Hanumana agreed to accompany them with a condition of having chances of gaining knowledge from his fellow master. That flag with a symbol of presence of Hanumana coined the term “Kapidhwaj” for the chariot of Arjuna and made it quite special amidst the war and turmoil of Kurukshetra. Gita was delivered there in the battle field for fulfilling the desire of Hanumana for having an opportunity of gaining knowledge.

Nine different forms of devotion were also described in the epic Ramayana, and duly exhibited the same through different legendary characters duly presented in it. Hanumana was at the supreme state of such devotion. His devotion to his master was not a blind one. He had a state of intellect, understanding, courage and will power. While moving towards Sri Lanka for the first time he started asking some opinion from his elders and exhibited his higher state of mental contentment. Chances came to establish a hold upon immense potential of wealth. He has preferred bypassing such opportunity and decided to move on. Instead of having enormous power of killing the demon king and bringing Sita back then and there from the captivity of the demon king, he has decided to convey the message of presence of Sita to his master first. Only devotion made him perpetually counted and kept him free from the clutch of ego, anger and boasting attitudes.

It also signifies the essence of devotion in the process of unfolding the skillful mind and making it available for being used. Such an increased horizon of intellect can surely increase the potential of a doer. It can even equip a person with aspirations of maintaining higher state of mind for establishing a perfect balance between memory and intellect. With such a balanced state of memory and intellect one can gain desired potential in stipulated time.