What is sathsanga?
It is association with the good, the saintly and the devotees whose heart is filled with love for all due to their love for the Lord.
The Lord Himself extols the merits of sathsanga in the 11thskandha, Chapter 12 of srimadbhagavatha, in His advice to Uddhava.
na roDhayathi maam yogo na saankhyam Dharma eva cha
svaaDhyaayasthapasthyaagaH na ishtaapoortham na Dhaksinaa
Vrathaani yajnaaH Chandhaamsi theerThaani niyamaa yamaaH
YaThaavarundhe sathsangaH sarvasangaapaho hi maam
Yoga, sastras, piety, study of the Vedas, austerity, renunciation, rites such as agnihotra, and public services like digging a well etc., and giving away money as dhakshina, Vows, sacrifices, manthras, going on pilgrimage, practising inner and outer control,
none of these bind me, as much as, sathsanga, binds Me, since it removes all attachment.
kevalena hi bhaavena gopyo gaavo nagaa mrgaaH
ye anye mooDaDhiyaa naagaaH sidDhaa maam eeyuh anjasaa
Yam na yogena saankhyena dhaana vratha thapo aDhvaraiH
Vyaakhyaa svaaDhyaaya sannyaasaiH praapnuyaath yathnavaan api
Through love alone, the gopis, the cows, trees and animals serpents and others though not intelligent, became established in Me, who cannot be attained either by yoga or knowledge , or charity, or penance or by yajnas, or by teaching and learning the Vedas, or by renunciation.
The merits of Sathsanga were enunciated by Sankara also in Bajgovindam.
Sathsangathve nisssangathvam
nissangathve nirmohathvam
Nirmohathve niSchala thathvam
niSchala thathve jeevanmukthiH
With the association of the good the detachment develops. When there is detachment there is no more delusion. With the absence of delusion the immutable reality manifests itself and with the realization of this absolute reality one become free from bondage.
What are the signs of sathsanga?
Those who are saths or sajjana are described by the Lord in Gita as follows:
macchitthaa madhgathapraaNaaH boDhayanthaH parasparam
kaThayanthaScha maam nithyam thushyanthicha ramanthi cha (Bg. 10.9)
With their mind absorbed in Me, their very life depending on Me , they exchange the knowledge to one another and talking about Me take pleasure and enjoy it always.
The perfect example of this description of devotion is that of the gopis towards Krishna. They were all the time engrossed in Him, always talked about him and exchanged their experiences with Him and sang and danced around Him and about Him. In fact their whole existence was nothing but Him.
The Lord further says,
. theshaam eva anuampaarTham aham ajnaanjam thamaH
naaSayaami aatmabhaavasThaH jnaana dheepena
bhaasvathaa (BG. 10.11)
For them alone I destroy, from inside them, the darkness born out of ignorance by the brilliant light of knowledge.
Due to unswerving bhakthi all the impurities of the mind are removed and the mind is filled only with the thought of the Lord. When the mind is thus cleansed of all the impurities gathered from several births due to ignorance, the wisdom dawns. This is also the grace of the Lord who is in the heart of the devotee.
budDhiyoga is the knowledge of the Lord and His glory and power as it is through intellectual understanding. The devotee being all the time engrossed in the thought of the Lord and doing everything as an offering to Him, sees Him everywhere and thus come to know the glory of His manifestations and that He is the power behind all. This knowledge comes to Him through the grace of the Lord because he is chosen by the Lord to attain Him as the Upanishad says, yamevaisha vrNuthe thena labhyaH, meaning that the Lord reveals Himself to the one whom He chooses do so.
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