The Culmination of Devotion

The Culmination of Devotion
Speaker	Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
Date	1978 August 11
Place	Patna
Included in	Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 1
Location in Sarkarverse

The Culmination of Devotion is a discourse given by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. This discourse is the seventh chapter of Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 1.

Synopsis

Prapatti is the idea that "I am at His disposal and that He does His work, I am just a tool in His hands". The word is derived as follows: "Pra+ – "pat" + "ktin" = "Prapatti". A practitioner of "Prapatti" does not see difference between "sorrow" and "joy' and accepts both with equanimity, He considers himself as a tool in the hands of Parama Purusa and feels—

. . .everything is being done by His wish, that it is by His grace that He is using me as a tool, that He may or may not use me as a tool, but ‘His will be done

The opposite feeling of Prapatti is "viprapatti". Here a person feels it is "I" who does everything – and no one else.

"Prapatti" is a very important theme in Vaeśńavism and Sufism. An expression of Prapatti may be seen in the following Bengali devotional song—

Roman script	Bengali script	Translation
Sakali tomár icchá, Iccámayii tárá tumi, Tomár karma tumi karo Má, Loke bole kari ámi. Paunke baddha karo karii Paungure laungháo giri. Káre dáo má Brahmapada Káre karo adhogámii. Ámi yantra tumi yantrii Ámi ghar tumi gharańii Ámi ratha tumi rathii má Jemon cáláo temni cali.		Everything is your wish, All wishes originate from you, You do all action, But people say, ‘I do.’ “You get elephants caught in mud While enabling the lame to cross the mountain. To some you give mokśa, While you make others depraved. “I am the machine, You are the mechanic, I am the house, You are the dweller, I am the chariot, You are the charioteer, And I move as You wish.

References

Footnotes

Preceded by

Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 1 With: The Culmination of Devotion

Succeeded by