| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| BHAKTI : SAGUNA AND NIRGUNA |
| Without nirguna saguna too has defects 13. Just as I said that saguna worship is easy and safe, I can point to similar advantages in nirguna bhakti too. In nirguna, there is a discipline, a restraint. For example, we start institutions for various kinds of service. Each of these is built round an individual; he is its main support. In the beginning, the institution rests on a personality. But as it grows, it should derive its strength not from an individual but from a principle. If such fidelity to a principle does not develop in it, the moment the founder and inspirer dies, it is filled with darkness and fall into ruin. Let me give an illustration I am fond of. When the belt of charkha snaps, not only are we prevented from spinning any more, but we cannot transfer the sun yarn to the spindle. This is what happens to the institution. When the man dies - it is orphaned. But this does not happen when fidelity to a person has been replaced by fidelity to a principle. 14. Saguna, the personal, needs the help of nirguna, the impersonal. Now and again, we should learn to get out the personal, the visible. The Ganga sprang from the Himalayas, the matted locks of Siva, but she did not stop there. It was only when she emerged from them, and crossing mountains, valleys and forests, began to flow on the plains, making music, that she was useful to people. In the same way, an institution should be ready to stand on the pillars of principle even after the personality behind it is removed. |
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