THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER NUMBER 09
RAJAVIDYA RAJAGUHYA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE SOVEREIGN SCIENCE AND SOVEREIGN SECRET:
VERSE NUMBER 26
Text in Transliteration:
patram pushpam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktyaa prayacchati
tad aham bhakty upahrrtam
asnaami prayataatmanah
Text in English:
Whoever offers Me with devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I accept that, the pious offering of the pure in heart.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
Metaphysical understanding and material abundance are of no avail to gain access to the Lord. It is pure devotion to which the Lord submits Himself. He who has Bhakti(devotion) gains Bhagavan (God) easily. A leaf and such like things are mere tokens of love.
The gruel offered by Vidura was accepted with pleasure by Sri Krishna. The flattened dry rice hesitatingly brought by Sudama was pulled out from him and partaken of with relish by Krishna. The dried fruits offered by Sabari were graciously accepted and eaten by Sri Rama. Lord Siva accepted the tongue-tainted venison and mouthful of water offered by the hunter kannappa. Bhakti (devotion) is all-in-all to the Lord.
What should the devotee do then? The Lord tells in the next stanza.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
However poor the offering, if it is made with love and earnestness, it is acceptable to the Lord. The way to the Highest is not by way of subtle metaphysics or complicated ritual. It is by sheer self-giving, which is symbolized by the offer of a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water. What is necessary is a devoted heart.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
A gift, however small, is accepted by the Lord, when it is offered with profound faith. The Lord is quite satisfied even with a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water when it is offered with single-minded devotion and pure heart. Was He not satisfied with the little parched rice from the bundle of Sudama and the small berries offered by Sabari? You need not build a golden temple for Him. Build a golden temple in your heart. Enthrone Him there. He wants only your devoted heart. But it is difficult to please Indra. You will have to offer valuable (material) objects to him.
A leaf, a flower or a fruit are merely symbols. The true means of attaining the Lord is pure unflinching devotion. All the objects of the state belong to the king. If the servants of the state offer with devotion some objects to the king he is highly satisfied. Even so all the object of the whole world belong to Him. Yet, He is highly pleased if you offer even a little thing with devotion.
Asnami literally means ‘eat’. The indicative meaning or Lashana Vritti is ‘accept’.
Comments by the blogger:
All the worlds belong to the Lord. All the created things belong to him. Swami Chidbhavananda would say that the Lord laughs on two occasions: first, when a man is seriously ill and the doctor says and assures the relatives that he would save the sick man; second, when two sons of a deceased father partitions the land belonging to the father and draw a line saying, this segment is yours and that segment is mine!
All the worlds belong only to God.
We have already seen that even though God has everything, he does not have self-devotion. So only He craves for pure devotion. Moreover, pure devotion purifies the mind and enables the practitioner of Yoga to enshrine God in his heart.
The great Lord says that whoever offers Him with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water—that, so offered devotedly by the pure-minded, He accepts.
In today’s context, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water may be taken for the whole tree. We can interpret that the Lord wants us to grow trees according to our means and facilities. Everyone should grow at least one tree as an offering to the Lord. We have what is called the carbon responsibility.
In the back of our house, there are at least twelve big trees. They are fifteen years old. But, owing to the financial constraint we are going to sell the house. What would become of the trees can’t be foretold. If the would-be purchaser wants to preserve the trees he would have worshipped the Lord with a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water. But, on the contrary, he might opt to fell down the trees and construct another house on the land. There is enough land available for the purpose.
In today’s context, the tree offering is the highest offering indeed.
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