Skip to main content
राम

पूर्वखण्ड · अध्याय 45

The Rāma-gītā: the gradations of devotion

Global chapter 45 of 51425 passagesSource PDF pages 334336
Chapter context and opening material

The Blessed Lord said:

Passage 1

नवधा भक्तिरुद्दिष्टा श्रुतिसङ्कीर्तनादिभिः। कर्मज्ञानोपासनाभिः प्रत्येकं त्रिविधैव सा॥१॥

“Devotion is taught as ninefold, beginning with hearing and chanting. Each of those nine is in turn threefold through action, knowledge, and worship.

Passage 2

सप्तविंशतिधा भिन्ना गुणैः सत्त्वादिभिः पुनः। एकाशीतिप्रकारेण भक्तियोगः प्रकीर्तितः॥२॥

“It is thus divided into twenty-seven forms, and when differentiated again by sattva and the other guṇas, the yoga of devotion is celebrated as having eighty-one forms.

Passage 3

निर्गुणा त्वेकरूपैव मन्निष्ठा मत्फलोदया। मत्स्वरूपात्मिका नित्यं भूयो मत्प्रेमलक्षणा॥३॥

“Devotion beyond the guṇas, however, is one alone. It is firmly centered on me, bears me as its fruit, eternally has my own form as its nature, and above all is marked by love for me.

Passage 4

न तां ददामि कर्मिभ्यो न ज्ञानिभ्यः कदाचन। नोपासकेभ्यो नाज्ञेभ्यो न चान्येभ्यो मृगेक्षणाः॥४॥

“Doe-eyed ones, I never give it to ritualists, knowers, practitioners of worship, the ignorant, or others merely on account of those identities.

Passage 5

मन्निष्ठेभ्यो ददाम्येनां यथा युष्मभ्यमङ्गनाः। कर्माणि ज्ञानयोगाश्च संन्यासाश्च पृथग्विधाः॥५॥

“Women, I give this devotion to those firmly centered on me, just as I give it to you. The many kinds of action, yogas of knowledge, and renunciations

Passage 6

ते मत्स्वरूपनिष्ठायाः कलां नार्हन्ति षोडशीम्। तस्मात्स्वरूपनिष्ठो यः स सर्वेभ्यो विशिष्यते॥६॥

“do not equal even a sixteenth part of steadfastness in my own form. Therefore one who is steadfast in my form excels all others.

Passage 7

कर्मोपास्तिस्तथा ज्ञानं विहितादितरत्र तु। मत्स्वरूपैकनिष्ठस्य सर्वं प्रेमैकलक्षणम्॥७॥

“Action, worship, and knowledge are prescribed for those situated elsewhere. For one exclusively steadfast in my own form, everything is characterized by love alone.

Passage 8

अहमेव फलं येषां न स्वर्गादि कथञ्चन। स्वर्गादिफलकं काम्यं केवलं ह्याधिभौतिकम्॥८॥

“For such devotees I alone am the fruit, never heaven or anything similar. Desire-motivated action whose fruit is heaven and the like is merely ādhibhautika, directed toward the manifested world.

Passage 9

आध्यात्मिकं चित्तशुद्ध्या ज्ञानैकफलकं प्रियाः। केवलं कर्म मन्निष्ठमाधिदैविकमुत्तमम्॥९॥

“Beloved ones, action whose sole fruit is knowledge through purification of the mind is ādhyātmika, inwardly directed. Action performed solely in steadfastness to me is the highest ādhidaivika, directed toward the divine.

Passage 10

अथाधिभौतिकं ज्ञानं जीवप्रत्यक्षसाधनम्। अक्षरं ब्रह्म साक्षात्त्वहेतुराध्यात्मिकं स्मृतम्॥१०॥

“Likewise, ādhibhautika knowledge is the means to direct realization of the individual living being. Knowledge that causes realization of imperishable Brahman is remembered as ādhyātmika.

Passage 11

परब्रह्मानन्दपददायकं ह्याधिदैविकम्। मत्स्वरूपानन्दभोगहेतुस्तुर्यं तदुच्यते॥११॥

“Knowledge that bestows the blissful state of Parabrahman is ādhidaivika. That which enables one to enjoy the bliss of my own form is called the fourth.

Passage 12

उपासनापि त्रिविधा पूर्ववत्समुदीरिता। जीवब्रह्मपरब्रह्मसाक्षात्कारविधायिनी॥१२॥

“Worship too is declared threefold in the same way, bringing about realization of the living being, Brahman, and Parabrahman respectively.

Passage 13

अहमेव फलं यस्याः सा तुर्या परिकीर्तिता। निर्गुणं भावमापन्ना सर्वतोऽपि विशिष्यते॥१३॥

“The worship whose fruit is I alone is celebrated as the fourth. Having attained the state beyond the guṇas, it excels every other form.” The gopīs said:

Passage 14

सर्वैरपि ब्रह्मविद्भिस्त्वं लभ्योऽसि नरोत्तम। उत कश्चिद्विशेषोऽस्ति तन्नो ब्रूहि रघूत्तम॥१४॥

“Best of men, are you attained by all knowers of Brahman, or is there some distinction among them? Best of the Raghus, tell us this.

Passage 15

केचित्तु वामदेवाद्याः संलीनास्त्वयि केवलम्। केचित्पुनर्महाभागास्त्वया भोगान्नु भुञ्जते॥१५॥

“Some, such as Vāmadeva, are simply dissolved in you, while other greatly blessed souls enjoy divine pleasures together with you.

Passage 16

वरिष्ठाः केऽभवन् तेषां तव वेदस्य वा मताः। एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामस्त्वत्तः कमललोचन॥१६॥

“Which of these are held to be superior in your judgment and in that of the Veda? Lotus-eyed one, we wish to learn this from you.” The Blessed Lord said:

Passage 17

अक्षरं कथ्यते ब्रह्म सर्ववेदान्तगोचरम्। पुच्छभूतं प्रतिष्ठा मे तद्गेयं योगवित्तमैः॥१७॥

“Imperishable Brahman is taught as the object of all Vedānta. It forms the supporting tail and is my foundation; the greatest knowers of yoga should understand it in this way.

Passage 18

ममैव सम्प्रकाशोऽसावुद्योत इव भास्वतः। पुरुषाकृतेर्मे देहोऽसौ गृहिण्यश्च गृहं मम॥१८॥

“It is my own full radiance, like the light of the shining sun. It is the body of me whose form is personal, and my consorts and my home also abide within it.

Passage 19

भास्वतश्च प्रभा दिव्या यथावदवधार्यताम्। स एव चिन्मयो लोको यद्गत्वा न निवर्तते॥१९॥

“Understand it properly as the divine radiance of the luminous sun. It is that conscious realm which, once reached, one never leaves.

Passage 20

तस्य विज्ञानमात्रेण तन्मयो जायते नरः। तत्रैवाप्येति यत्रास्य भेददृष्टिर्निवर्त्तते॥२०॥

“By the mere realization of it, a person becomes of its nature and enters that very state in which the vision of difference comes to an end.

Passage 21

जन्तोर्मदिच्छया चेत्तु भक्तिः समुपजायते। तदा मया सर्वकामभोगान्प्राप्नोति मत्परः॥२१॥

“But if, by my will, devotion arises in a living being, then one wholly devoted to me attains through me the enjoyment of every holy desire.

Passage 22

अन्यथा त्वक्षरे धाम्नि लीनस्तिष्ठेदकम्पनः। किं त्वस्यापि भवेद्भावि भक्तिस्वरूपयोग्यता॥२२॥

“Otherwise one remains absorbed and unmoving in the imperishable realm. Yet even such a one may in the future become fit for the essential form of devotion.

Passage 23

न ह्यब्रह्मज्ञे कदापि भक्तिः समुपजायते। मयि सद्धारणा हेतुर्यदाह श्रुतिरूर्जिता॥२३॥

“Devotion never arises in one who has no knowledge of Brahman. Its cause is firm concentration upon me, as the authoritative Śruti declares.

Passage 24

भक्तिं वैधीमुपाश्रित्य मन्निष्ठो मयि लीयते। प्रेममात्रस्फुरद्भावो भुङ्क्ते भोगान्मया सह॥२४॥

“Taking refuge in regulated devotion and becoming steadfast in me, the devotee is absorbed in me. When a state composed solely of radiant love awakens, that devotee enjoys divine pleasures together with me,

Passage 25

प्रमोदवनकुञ्जस्थो नित्यलीलानुभावकः। सख्यवात्सल्यदास्यादिमहाभावैर्विभावितः॥२५॥

“dwelling in the bowers of Pramoda Forest, experiencing the eternal play, and illumined by the great devotional states of friendship, parental love, service, and the rest.” --- Thus ends the forty-fifth chapter of the Rāma-gītā in the dialogue of Brahmā and Bhuśuṇḍa in the Śrīmad Ādi Rāmāyaṇa. Textual notes The chapter begins on source leaf 334, occupies leaves 334–336, and ends with passage 25 and its complete colophon on physical PDF page 337. All twenty-five passages are present. The edition misprints the number of passage 19 as १६; the sequence is restored editorially to १९, after which the print resumes correctly at passage 20. Passage 9 corrects the transcription aid’s malformed encoding to the scan’s चित्तशुद्ध्या. Passage 17 follows the scan’s प्रतिष्ठा मे, not the aid’s प्रतिष्ठा से. Passages 8–13 preserve the chapter’s explicit four-level classification of action, knowledge, and worship rather than flattening the fourth, form-centered attainment into one of the preceding three. Passages 17–25 likewise preserve the distinction between absorption in imperishable Brahman and the later arising of devotion that admits the devotee into Rāma’s eternal, relational play.