O God ! What Should I Call You ?

There is a beautiful abhanga/अभंग composed by Sant Dnyaneshvar Maharaj, which answers all the querries regarding the nature of the God.

“तुज सगुण ह्मणों कीं निर्गुण रे ।
सगुण-निर्गुण एकु गोविंदु रे ॥१॥

अनुमाने ना अनुमाने ना ।
श्रुति ‘नेति नेति’ ह्मणती गोविंदु रे ॥२॥

तुज स्थूळ ह्मणों कीं सूक्ष्म रे ।
स्थूळसूक्ष्म एकु गोविंदु रे ॥३॥

तुज आकारु ह्मणों कीं निराकारू रे ।
आकारुनिराकारु एकु गोविंदु रे ॥४॥

तुज दृश्य ह्मणों कीं अदृश्य रे ।
दृश्यअदृश्य एकु गोविंदु रे ॥५॥

तुज व्यक्त ह्मणों कीं अव्यक्तु रे ।
व्यक्तअव्यक्त एकु गोविंदु रे ॥६॥

निवृत्ती प्रसादें ज्ञानदेवो बोले ।
बाप रखुमादेविवरू विठ्ठलु रे ॥७॥”

In this abhanga, Dnyaneshwar Maharaj talks with the Paramatma/Govinda and with himself too. In the 1st line, he asks question to the Paramatma and in 2nd line, he himself answers the question.

तुज सगुण म्हणों की निर्गुण रे ।
सगुण निर्गुण एकु गोविंदुरे ॥१॥

Q.What should I call you;  Saguna or Nirguna ?

A. I see Saguna and Nirguna, both as one and the same Paramatma/ Govinda.

अनुमाने ना अनुमाने ना ।
श्रुति नेति नेति म्हणती गोविंदु रे ॥ध्रु०॥

There is no anumanas/ means of knowledge which can  help to know you directly, hey Govinda! Even the vedas/ shruti uses neti neti/method of negation and then leave  one to know you by oneself as there is no direct means to know you, hey Govinda!

तुज स्थूळ म्हणों कीं सूक्ष्म रे ।
स्थूलसूक्ष्म एक गोविंदुरे ॥२॥

Q. What should I call you; gross/स्थूल or subtle/सूक्ष्म?

A. I see gross and subtle, both as one and the same You..Govinda!

तुज साकार म्हणों की निराकाररे ।
साकारु निराकारु एकु गोविंदुरे ॥३॥

Q. What should I call you; साकार/with form or निराकार/without form?

A. For me,  sakaar and nirakaar are one and the same and its  You..Govinda!

तुज दृश्य म्हणों कीं अदृश्यरे ।
दृश्यअदृश्य एकु गोविंदुरे ॥४॥

Q. What should I call you; दृश्य/visible or अदृश्य/invisible?

A. You are visible as well as invisible, one and the same you…Govinda!

तुज व्यक्त ह्मणों कीं अव्यक्तु रे ।
व्यक्तअव्यक्त एकु गोविंदु रे ॥६॥

Q. What should I call you;  व्यक्त/manifest or अव्यक्त/unmanifest?

A. I see manifest and unmanifest; both as one and the same, You… Govinda!

निवृत्तिप्रसाद ज्ञानदेव बोले ।
बाप रखुमादेविवरु विठ्ठलुरे ॥५॥

With the grace of the guru Sant Nivrutinath;  Dnyaneshwar sees  you/ Govind as ‘Vitthal’,  the father (Baap),  who is the वर/ husband of Rakhmadevi.
(Sant Nivruttinath  was the elder brother and guru of Sant Dnyaneshwar maharaj. Rakhmadevi is the consort of Lord Vitthal. And Dnyaneshvar maharaj considers Lord Vitthal as his father/ guardian)

Sant Dnyaneshvar Maharaj is the Realised Master/ Atmajnani. He knows that Saguna Sakar ( Paramatma with qualities/ gunas and forms) and Nirguna Nirakar ( Non dual Sat Chit Anandam Brahman) are not different….but one and the same. He calls Him as ‘Govind.’

Ordinary people and the devotees in initial stages of bhakti path who don’t have the Self Knowledge worship the God/Paramatma in only Saguna Sakar form. They cannot comprehend the Nirguna Nirakar Brahman as It is beyond the reach of the five senses, mind and intellect.

All the worldly / material knowledge can be gained with the help of the five senses, mind and the intellect. But these very instruments of knowledge cannot function without the enlivening principle which is non other than the Nondual Self/ Brahman/Paramatma. Everything other than this Principle is the matter.
This Brahman/ Paramatma/ Govinda is the only subject to be known. But how can this life principle/ sentient being be known with the help of  insentient matter? ( body, mind, intellect, pranas, sense organs, karmendriyas all are the insentient matter only.)

The Sun is selfeffulgent. The Moon doesn’t have its own effulgence. Had there been no Sun, Moon would not have reflected the light as it borrows that light from the Sun.
( Sun does nothing.  It shines by itself. The light of the Sun only gets reflected from the Moon. And it seems that the Moon is giving light.)

Can the light of the Moon help to see the sun?
Can the light of the lamps help to see the sun?
No….
Sun gets revealed itself. It doesn’t need any other light to get revealed.
In the same way,
Paramatma doesn’t need anything else to get revealed. It is the Nondual Pure consciousness, which gets reflected in the antahkaran and gives the sentiency to all matter. It gets revealed to the one whose antahkaran is the pure. He is called ‘Atmajnani,’  who always abides with his own essential nature of Sat Cht Anandam.
Sant Dnyaneshwar maharaj was  ‘Atmajnani’, 

Saguna Brahman is the visible ( drushya), gross ( sthul), with form ( sakar) and manifest ( vyakta).
Nirguna Brahman is invisible( adrushya), subtle( sukshma), without form( nirakar) and unmanifest ( avyakta)
Atmajnani realises  the oneness and the sameness between them. This is how, Dnyaneshwar maharaj could see gunas in nirguna, visible in invisible, form in formless, gross in subtle, manifest in unmanifest.
But still he used to get immersed in Vitthalbhakti.

Among the three paths( karma, jnana and bhakti);  bhakti is more appealing. You will notice, all the saints; although Self Realised, were seen engrossed in devotion/ bhakti of the Lord.
Unlike jnana path, there are no dry mountains of logic and reasoning in bhakti. Bhaktiras is cool yet has the capacity to melt the mountains of logic and reasoning.

In Valmiki Ramayana, it is said that, even the Rhishis, already Self realised ( mantradrashtar),  were waiting for the Lord Rama to take avatara just to get the glimpse of His saguna roop. They were astonished and got contented while looking at the Lord Rama…That essential ‘tatva’ in a beautiful saguna form.

I have read somewhere in marathi literature that, some devotees were so much in love with the saguna form of God that they used to pray not for the liberation/ moksha, but to get  births after birth; in any form; so as to get the darshana of their beloved God in their every birth.  They were ready to become even a stone of the temple of their beloved God.
I don’t think this as an exaggeration.
If you don’t mind, I would like to share a joke regarding the madness in worldly love ( for a man or woman), which is relevant to this topic of extreme bhakti.

One boy was loving a girl very much. But she was not reciprocating it. She was having a pet parrot, whom she was loving very much. That boy was so eager to meet her that he once said, ” kaash…mai uska tota/ parrot hi hota….I would get fondled by her..”
Joking apart, the bhakti/ devotion is nothing but the love towards the God. If one can be so crazy for the limited jiva, what about the intensity of craziness in love for that all compassionate God?
We know many bhaktas in our puranic stories, who got liberated by the God’s grace; because of their intense love for Him. ( Shabari got liberated by the grace of Lord Rama because of her intense love/ bhakti for Lord Rama). Thus bhakti has tremendous shakti.

Many mentors say that the machine works best when it is oiled regularly. That means the recipe of jnana ( dry),  with tadka of bhakti ( like oil or ghee)  tastes the best.

I experienced and accepted this fact- ” कुछ तो बात है भक्ती में, which makes tough jnana to get digested and assimilated smoothly. ‘

Dnyaneshvar maharaj considers  jagat/manifest form of the unmanifest/ Parabrahma more appealing.
Gold is lustrous…shiny…and liked by all. But the ornaments made from gold are more decorative and attractive and liked and adored by all.
Dnyaneshwar maharaj says, the world is nothing but the manifest Brahman.
Brahman/ Paramatma is beautiful…. So how can the jagat/ manifest form of Brahman be less beautiful?
He sees Paramatma / Govind /Nirguna Nirakar everywhere, in everything, everytime…. but loves to  see Him as ‘Vitthal.’ His beloved Lord.

So, when you will see a gold necklace, how will you converse with it?

“O necklace! What should I call you; Gold or necklace?”

” I see  gold and necklace both as one and the same you….!”

As gold is beautiful, so is the necklace….

As Paramtatva is beautiful so is the jagat.

Everything is beautiful in this jagat because it’s source, the paramatma is beautiful.

   Hari Om !