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Desireless Taintless Unbounded Devotion

नान्या स्पृहा रघुपते हृदयेऽस्मदीये
सत्यं वदामि च भवानखिलान्तरात्मा ।
भक्तिं प्रयच्छ रघुपुंगव निर्भरां मे
कामादिदोषरहितं कुरु मानसं च ।।

nānyā spṛhā raghupate hṛdaye’smadīye
satyaṁ vadāmi ca bhavān-akhilāntarātmā |
bhaktiṁ prayaccha raghupuṁgava nirbharāṁ me
kāmādi-doṣa-rahitaṁ kuru mānasaṁ ca ||
– Rama-charita-mānasa by Tulasidas

Translation:

O Lord of the Raghus, no other desire do I entertain in my heart. I am speaking the truth; also, You are the Inner Self of all (You know my mind). O best of all Raghus, grace me with exclusive devotion and total surrender; make my mind rid of all desires and other taints.

Points for Introspection:

In our life which is full of affliction, anxiety, tension and fear, we feel peaceful and calm when we think of God, sing His name, read or listen about Him or perform and participate in devotional worship. When the mind is full with devotion and sublimity, for some time at least, we forget all our problems and experience holiness, a divine joy.

However, in a short time, the mind gets overpowered again by various disturbing traits which produce affliction and dissatisfaction. Why? Because our aspiration and devotion for God is not wholesome or exclusive! Although we understand that we experience divine bliss when the mind is filled with thoughts of the all-loving, all-powerful God who removes every fear and torment, we still desire various other worldly joys and pleasures. Our love and devotion for worldly enjoyments do not allow our mind to get soaked in exclusive, undivided and all-relying devotion to God.

Every human being is full of desires. He is never satisfied and constantly desires one object or another. When the object of desire is somehow achieved, he feels satisfied and happy. Unfortunately, that happiness loses its freshness very soon, and the desire for a new object arises in the mind, making the mind again restless.

Objects of desire may be material like wealth, property, possessions, etc. or non-material like name, fame, recognition, appreciation, love, sympathy, understanding and consideration from others and so on. As long as desires are there, the mind comes under the sway of various disturbing traits like passion, anger, greed, delusion, pride, envy etc. These impurities of the mind do not allow the mind to become peaceful and happy. Even if desires are fulfilled, the happiness gained is short-lived.

A true seeker or devotee should introspect, discriminate and understand that to get everlasting peace and happiness in this life, one must grow more and more devotion to God. The devotee’s love and devotion for God should become not only intense and wholesome but also exclusive – to the exclusion of all other worldly love and desires. Turning the mind away from the worldly objects, a devotee should turn towards God, the eternal, imperishable, universal Being, the Indweller of all.

How to grow this exclusive devotion for God? How can a devotee rely exclusively on God and nothing else? As a practice, a devotee should ceaselessly think of God and His glory, chant and sing God’s name fondly and zealously. In great earnestness and eagerness, he should pray to God repeatedly to bestow on him singular devotion.

A devotee must also introspect and understand that the hindrances for attaining such lofty devotion are the innumerous desires that lurk in our mind. These desires which generate undesirable traits in the mind like lust, anger, greed, pride, envy, etc. will make the mind disturbed and distracted. His prayer should thus include a sincere cry for God’s help in removing all the impurities, which do not allow him to think of God exclusively and grow one-pointed, singular devotion.

With the growing love for God, the devotee’s mind rests on and relies upon God more and more, and consequently, every other desire in his mind fades away. This devotional reliance brings supreme delight and peacefulness to the mind.

In this śloka, the devotee is crying out to the Lord in intense sincerity: “O God, the indweller of all, I am telling you the truth. I have understood that desires cannot give me peace. But I have one desire in me. May you grant me exclusive devotion at your feet; such devotion by which I will rely on You alone for everything. Also, for the devotion to become wholesome and full of reliance, O God, make my mind rid of all other desires and impurities.”

This śloka, when chanted repeatedly reflecting on its meaning, generates wholesome devotion and complete reliance at the feet of the Lord. Rumination on the meanings of words such as ‘nirbharā bhakti’, one is able to get a glimpse of that supreme devotion and reliance. Moreover, this śloka gives a compulsion to make an effort to get rid of the impurities of the mind.

Word Meaning:

न (na) = no; अन्या (anyā) = other; स्पृहा (spṛhā) = desire; रघुपते (raghu-pate) = O Lord of the Raghus; हृदये (hṛdaye) = in the heart; अस्मदीये (asmadīye) = in my; सत्यं (satyaṁ) = truth; वदामि (vadāmi) = I speak; च (ca) = and; भवान् (bhavān) = you; अखिलान्तरात्मा (akhilāntarātmā) = Self of all; भक्तिं (bhaktiṁ) = devotion; प्रयच्छ (prayaccha) = grant, give; रघुपुंगव (raghupuṁgava) = best or hero of all Raghus; निर्भरां (nirbharāṁ) = exclusive and all-engulfing; मे (me) [मह्यम्, mahyam] = unto me; कामादिदोषरहितं (kāmādi-doṣa-rahitaṁ) = rid of desire and other taints; कुरु (kuru) = make; मानसं (mānasaṁ) = mind; च (ca) = and.

अन्वयः
(हे) रघुपते, अस्मदीये हृदये न अन्या स्पृहा (अस्ति) । सत्यं वदामि; च भवान् अखिलान्तरात्मा । (हे) रघुपुंगव, मे निर्भरां भक्तिं प्रयच्छ । (मम) मानसं च कामादिदोषरहितं कुरु ।

(he) raghu-pate, asmadīye hṛdaye na anyā spṛhā (asti). satyaṁ vadāmi; ca bhavān akhilāntarātmā. (he) raghupuṁgava, me nirbharāṁ bhaktiṁ prayaccha. (mama) mānasaṁ ca kāmādi-doṣa-rahitaṁ kuru.