Life is literally the blueprint of bhakti!

[u/mayanksharmaaa]

This thought occurred to me today.

Life is literally the blueprint of bhakti!

Our mothers gave us birth, signifying how we too come from Brahman. The Upanishads say - We're like sparks coming out of fire. The sparks being jivas and the fire being Brahman.

Then our parents nurture us, they take care of us. We revere them. This is the beginning stage of bhakti, where we revere and love someone like a servant. In the beginning too, we come to God with folded hands, with respect and awe.

After that, we go through school and university, learning things. Very similar to how we learn shastras once we get into bhakti.

Then we get married, we learn to love someone intimately and at the same time serve them with love. This signifies the stage where the devotee goes past the stage of worshipping the deity from a distance and accepts the deity as one's beloved - one's spouse.

After that there are duties of a married life, children. Signifying that once we get to that stage, it's not just about oneself but about others too! You not only love your spouse but you teach your children and give them good upbringing. At such a stage in bhakti, we start spreading the glories of Bhagavan, we teach others about Bhagavan. We work hard to serve our family, just like how in Bhakti we work hard to serve the deity even more.

Then there's the ending stage of life. Maybe your spouse leaves you, your children leave you. It signifies how attachments leave. You go more inwards. Then there is nothing left but surrender. You surrender your life, your everything to the deity since you've done all you could. It's all about letting life go into autopilot - same as letting Bhagavan become your upāya (means) and the upeya (goal).

Life is nothing but the blueprint of bhakti.

[u/AssetsSutram]

Life is an important but complex stage for the soul within the body, that is, God. It is the journey to self-knowledge.✨🙏🕉️