Once the definition of
bhakti is understood, one starts to look for things that might be
pleasing to Krishna. One finds examples of saints chanting 64 rounds a
day and starts to do so as well. One reads about the benefits of
parikrama, serving tulasi, worship of the deities, taking prasadam etc and begins to do these things. However,
after some time, one finds that inside there still lingers insatisfaction.
Although all the activities one may have done are favourable, without the appropriate connection to a sad-guru they just remain in the sphere of material piety. If you try to decide independently what is pleasing to Krsna you are always destined to fail, since you would only follow your material samskaras, trying to get to the highest stage with the idea of your own benefit and progress. It is only by following a sad-guru that all your activities will become conscious of God, making you gradually carry them out of love.
By sending you His representative and giving you the chance to centre all your activities around him, Krishna provides you with a unique opportunity to practice devotion in this body on this Earth - because the relationship you establish with your guru is the same you establish with Him.
Naturally, this holds true only for a sad-guru, i.e. a saint who has transcended the three material gunas through devotion to his own sad-guru coming in a disciplic succession. Being transcendental, only he can give you the seed of transcendental devotion (uttama bhakti) which will sever you from karma and samsara and will take you to the final objective of life.
Needless to say, without surrendering fully to a sad-guru (ātma-nivedanam), without moulding your life in accordance with your guruji's liking (ānukulyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam), the relationship will not be genuine and will not yield love of God, either. However, not much is asked: just be sincerely devoted to your guruji, a beloved of Krishna.
The reason why bhakti is said to be for everybody is that even if one is illiterate but grasps this essence, he doesn't need to know more.
Although all the activities one may have done are favourable, without the appropriate connection to a sad-guru they just remain in the sphere of material piety. If you try to decide independently what is pleasing to Krsna you are always destined to fail, since you would only follow your material samskaras, trying to get to the highest stage with the idea of your own benefit and progress. It is only by following a sad-guru that all your activities will become conscious of God, making you gradually carry them out of love.
By sending you His representative and giving you the chance to centre all your activities around him, Krishna provides you with a unique opportunity to practice devotion in this body on this Earth - because the relationship you establish with your guru is the same you establish with Him.
Naturally, this holds true only for a sad-guru, i.e. a saint who has transcended the three material gunas through devotion to his own sad-guru coming in a disciplic succession. Being transcendental, only he can give you the seed of transcendental devotion (uttama bhakti) which will sever you from karma and samsara and will take you to the final objective of life.
Needless to say, without surrendering fully to a sad-guru (ātma-nivedanam), without moulding your life in accordance with your guruji's liking (ānukulyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam), the relationship will not be genuine and will not yield love of God, either. However, not much is asked: just be sincerely devoted to your guruji, a beloved of Krishna.
The reason why bhakti is said to be for everybody is that even if one is illiterate but grasps this essence, he doesn't need to know more.
