Hari Om.
In Kaivalyopanishad (कैवल्योपनिषद), the student Asvalayana asks the teacher Lord Paramesthi to teach him the highest Brahma Vidya (the Science of Reality). The teacher starts the teaching with one powerful and significant statement as below:
“श्रद्धा भक्थि ज्ननयोगात अवैहि”
‘Sraddha Bhakthi Jnanayogat Avaihi’ – Know (the Bramha Vidya) yourself through Sraddha, Bhakti and Meditation.
What is Sraddha (श्रद्धा) and Bhakthi (भक्थि) ?
Sraddha is Faith infused with knowledge. It is not a blind faith on the words of the master. The student has to understand the import and reasons of the knowledge taught and intellectually understand and comprehend them. Gurudev Chinmayananda explains it as follows: ‘Faith is the faculty of the human intellect by which it can reflect and understand the deeper imports of the scriptural declarations and thereafter assimilate those ideas into the very texture of the intellect’ .
Bhakthi is devotion to the ideals that is understood through Sraddha. Devotion is higher than just love – it is love combined with respect to a higher entity or statement. We love our pets but we do not say we are devoted to it. However we are ‘devoted’ to our parents and Gurus and their teachings. Devotion makes a person attached and dedicated to the higher ideal.
Sraddha is the function of the intellect and Bhakthi is the function of the heart. They are the two wings of Dhayana (Meditation) that uplifts a person to higher plane of consciousness. Both the wings are needed to fly upwards. Sraddha without Bhakthi would be mere ‘theory’ with no practical applications. Bhakthi without Shraddha will be blind faith with no knowledge. Infact, nowadays we see more of blind faith with no effort to gain the knowledge through the scriptures (such as the priceless Vedas or Bible etc.). People visit places of worship to search for GOD externally and petition to that GOD ! Without knowledge, such individuals do not see the universality of GOD in every living being in this plant and this result in disrespect for each other and other living beings.
We all need to develop the faculties of Sraddha and Bhakthi and this harmonized head and heard develop in themselves a power of subjective perception called ‘Intuition’ which is needed for Spiritual awakening.
At His Service,
Hari Om.