Steady, Valiant, Deep: Shakti, Bhakti, Mukti and the Sandals of Bharata

Morning satsanga with Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, Friday, September 25, 2026.

Swamiji opened with a prayer to the Divine. Thou art the abode of power: grant me the mental strength to surmount the adversities of life, with understanding and dedication. Thou art the ocean of grace: invest me with the devotion that sees Thee in all, through ever-increasing love. Thou art the Lord of Light: deck me with the lustrous robes of wisdom and divine virtues. And let the wave of my individuality merge in the ocean of eternity; let the ray unite with the absolute sun.

Then he put the prayer in summary form. It relates, he said, to three great blessings: shakti, bhakti and mukti.

Steady, Valiant and Deep

Shakti, power, gives the quality of being dhira, steady. How steady? "Be like Himalayas. Unshaken by the storms and challenge."

Bhakti, devotion, makes one vira, valiant. You develop that valor, and you shine like the sun, which removes darkness. With what valor does the sun remove it? That, Swamiji said, you have to figure out.

Mukti, liberation, is the goal of life, and it makes one gambhira, deep like the ocean, an ocean of bliss. All spiritual personalities are given that quality of being an ocean, he explained, and "God himself is described as ocean of compassion." Dhira, vira, gambhira: this is another way of saying shakti, bhakti, mukti. One who has the spiritual strength of faith remains steady even in terrifying challenges, because he is united with the sun, and the sun has nothing to be terrified of.

The Sandals on Bharata's Head

This stage of the Ramayana, Swamiji said, highlights the glory of devotion. As bhakti grows within you, you become increasingly qualified with these three qualities, and Bharata gives the illustration. Bharata places the sandals on his head. When Om radiates in the head, Swamiji taught, you are unshaken. "When OM radiates in your head, nothing can overpower you."

In a ritualistic way, one takes the sandals from the feet of the Guru and puts them on the head. But what Bharata does is not a ritual; it is a profound state, the state of enlightenment. If you are enlightened, your ego has no reality. The ego may still exist, yet all the yogas are performed with great skill. When the ego is in charge, that skill is lost.

So Swamiji set out the yogas as one personality at work. "When you're performing your actions with great skill, it becomes karma yoga." Handling your sentiments becomes bhakti yoga. Handling your thought waves becomes raja yoga. And perfect enlightenment, wisdom, is the goal of jnana yoga. All the yogas together become like the veena of Goddess Saraswati, and the whole personality now works with melody. "If you don't have the melody, you are suffering from malady": crying, weeping and grieving.

That is the way Bharata is going to rule, and every devotee becomes like Bharata. His personality moves by the will of God. God is ruling him.

Kindergarten Is Not the Goal

Swamiji was clear that the outer form is only a beginning. "Ritualistic state is kindergarten. You cannot stay in kindergarten. You have to grow." When you grow, you do not hold on to the ritual but to its mystical meaning, and that becomes your reality. What rests on the head is no longer a piece of wood, but divine grace.

The perfection of bhakti, he continued, is characterized by sannyasa. The devotee sees the whole world as God's glory and is not stuck to the ego's illusion of me and mine. "Removing me and mine, that's the project of mantra and nama." The true sannyasi is one who loves every soul.

The Sage as Physician

Such sages become the great guides of the world; they become the Guru. While guiding, their minds are keen to know the problems of every soul, and their hearts are very compassionate. The patient does not have to describe everything. A good doctor enters into the patient's condition and gives the key, the blessing. Every sage is such a doctor, and the whole world is a hospital where all are suffering, until one is well guided and becomes fully established in the Self.

Love Not Confined to the Ashram

Swamiji then told a story. A disciple comes to the ashram and is very happy living there. He approaches the Guru and says: I love you so much, do not let me go away; I will always be serving you and watching everything you do; if you sing, I will sing. The Guru answers that this way the disciple is not serving the Guru's role. The Guru's role is to promote universal love. "Love should not be confined only to the ashram," nor to its walls, its roof, its dogs and cats. Your love should be everywhere. By leaving, the disciple serves the Guru in a more profound way.

The message to Bharata is the same: if you want to please me, then do this. Stay with Kaushalya and Sumitra in the palace, and do your duties there.

Kaikeyi and the Art of Patience

Kaikeyi's role, Swamiji said, is a very profound one. Her interaction with Bharata is a challenging situation, and in a challenging situation you come to know how much patience you have. Patience is the characteristic of spiritual success. How patient can you be? That is the secret of austerity, and one who develops the art of patience is practicing real austerity.

Bharata gives insight into it. "If you want to do practice, then do your duty where you are settled." In the story, each one does his or her duty, and when duty is maintained with patience and strength, spiritual strength rises. Seen as the leela of God, the divine play, even the turn that Kaikeyi brought about becomes a source of joy.

The Closing Prayer

Swamiji closed with a prayer for the grace of God to shower over all, with the blessings of shakti, bhakti and mukti. The satsanga ended with the Purnamadah invocation, the Mahamrityunjaya mantra, and the prayer that all beings be happy: all reflected suns are nothing but the sun, and all jivas nothing but Shiva. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Terms in This Satsanga

• shakti, bhakti, mukti — power, devotion and liberation; the three blessings of the opening prayer.
• dhira — steady; unshaken like the Himalayas.
• vira — valiant; the valor of the sun that removes darkness.
• gambhira — deep, like the ocean; the quality of liberation.
• paduka — the sandals of the Guru, which Bharata places on his head.
• sannyasa — renunciation of me and mine; the perfection of bhakti.
• leela — the divine play of God.

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