Taskaranaam Pataye Namo Namo - Salutations to the lord of thieves (Rudram)

My salutations to the lotus feet of the Lord who steals unholy thoughts from the hearts and minds of his devotees.

I found a rather interesting article on how an dacoit from UP decided to erect a statue for himself (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/UPs-ex-dacoit-to-put-up-own-statue-/articleshow/4913201.cms). The 59 year old dacoit did not have a fairly tale rise in the field of politics after an rather dull career as a dacoit. To quote the ex-dacoit (sounds fancy like ex-MP, ex-MLA, though the JD is rather similar), Jagannath Bind, "If people can erect statues of themselves, why not me?".

What attracted my attention was a slightly different point in his reasoning. Jagannath Bind was inspired by Valmiki to turn a new leaf. Now, I am not sure how much of this is true, but that is certainly inspiring. How many of us actually look upto inspiration from the history to turn a new leaf in life? I cannot talk on behalf of anyone else, but personally, I have a long way to go to reach my own personal ethical/moral benchmarks and have never corrected myself inspite of having read about many of these mahapurushas. My biases are intact; my mind is wavering and deceitful; my senses are not under control; lack of discipline; superficial bhakti; and the list is unending.

How inspiring the story of TulsiDas (http://www.ramcharitmanas.iitk.ac.in/manas1/html/tulsim.htm), whose love of worldly life was switched into love of Rama in a second. Yogi Vemana (http://www.manmaking.com/Chastity/Stories.html#_Toc441557047) saw the dawn of intense vairagya by the blessings of Lord Shiva. I can only hope that the Lord shows his mercy on my fickle mind.

Now on the point on how I can make an effort to develop Bhakti, I want to highlight a lecture by Periyava (Voice of God, "The third way"), in which he talks about 3 ways in which we can approach the Love of Lord based on our mental capabilities. 2 of them are मर्कट किशोर न्याय (Markata Kishore Nyaya) and मार्जार किशोर न्याय (Maarjara Kishora Nyaya).

The cat family (including the tiger) have very sharp teeth. Inspite of their ferocious teeth, they are able to carry their kittens with utmost care, holding them by the same sharp teeth that can shread the toughest of their prey. Hence, the kitten (मार्जार किशोर) are effortlessly carried by their mothers without the slightest harm. Such an approach to, Bhakti in which devotees the Lord in their hearts and leave it to AmmaiAppan (the lord who is their father and mother) to carry them safely in this tumultuous world, is called Markata Kishora Nyaya.

Another approach to Bhakti is like that of a baby monkey (मर्कट किशोर), which clings to its mother's abdomen. The mother monkey does not have to bother about the baby monkey even when it jumps across branches.

Adi Shankara has the antidote for our minds in the Kali Yuga. He says in the SivanandaLahiri

"Me hridayakapim athyanatha chapalam
Dhridham bhaktya bhadhva Shiva, bhavadh aadhinam kuru Vibho"

Which translates to, "O Lord, my mind/heart, which is like a monkey, is very fickle. Please bind it firmly by the rope of bhakti and make it subservient to you.

Reflecting on it, these are days of scientific temper. We do not have the capacity to "let go" and leave ourselves to the flow of affection from the Lord. We also do not have the determination to "cling on" to the bhakti marga. Adi Shankara BhagavatPada seems to have understood our inability to follow wither of these. Hence, suggested that we pray to the Lord and request him to take control our our lives, putting the responsibility on our beloved Lord to take control of our mind and lives. A classic example in this case is how Sundarar asked the Lord that he take control of his life just when he is likely to get carried by the waves of Maya.

What I take solace is the world is full of instances of people reforming by looking at examples from our glorious spiritual past. I pray that, just as the decoit changed his ways by seeking inspiration in Valmiki, let me be inspired, by all these saints, to tread the sweet path of Bhatkti.