The Call and the Echo (a)
(in 2 parts: (
a) continued b)

The Promise

 

 

"I have My work to do; My devotees are calling me," Baba had declared when He was fourteen years of age.

With that, He had walked out of school and home into the garden where He exhorted the huge gathering to worship the feet that were to lead mankind from untruth to truth, from darkness to light and from death to immortality. At sixteen, He announced that His mission during the incarnation was to confer bliss on all beings everywhere.

Pointing to the bold, bald hills on the outskirts of Puttaparthi village (then a confused jumble of mud huts around a few brick houses, 'scarce five minutes from the Stone Age', as Schulmann described it), Swami, when He was seventeen, confided to the Pujari (priest) Lakshmiah: 

"The Sai Pravesh (Advent of Sai) will convert that region into Prasanthi Pradesh (a region of perfect peace). Upon that hill there will rise a grand Bhavan (hall). (It was inaugurated seven years later). At that time, hundreds (why hundreds?), thousands (why thousands?), lakhs (why only lakhs?) - the whole of India will be there. The whole world will come and wait for Sai Darsan." 

Pujari Lakshmiah could not believe his ears. He protested and said, "No, I cannot believe this. How can this happen?" Baba replied, "You will have to believe it when you stand where we are now, trying to catch a glimpse of Me standing on the porch of that grand Bhavan." Lakshmiah is alive to this day, trying to catch a glimpse standing on the same spot!

What is the nature of the 'strategy' that Swami employs to draw such huge gatherings? On 23rd November 1975, the 50th birthday of Bhagavan, devotees from forty-six nations of the world from New Zealand to Iceland, offered their sincere homage to Bhagavan. Why do so many people travel such long distances at such a great expense of time and money braving the inconvenience of foreign food and living habits?

Of course, He has no compulsion, no urge, nor even a need to frame a strategy. He just acts; it is we who label these acts as 'strategy'. He calls us to proceed from 'I' to 'We', a call which must attract because it is a call which echoes from the depths of one's own self. 

'
Bhoomaa eva sukham:' - 'In vastness alone, is happiness', proclaims the Upanishad.

 "
Expansion is life; contraction is death," says Baba. 

He leads us to the vastness, the 'We', and how He does it is the strategy.
 '
Subrahmanyam' (Su-brahman-yam) is the refrain of the heart-pounding valedictory Bhajan that He instructs us to sing. [text]
It preaches the Brahman path; Brahman That is the Divine; That is both immanent and transcendent; That is beyond the reach of words and the flight of imagination. The path involves the discipline of all-inclusive love and the acceptance of ever-expanding kinship until the entire cosmos is subsumed. Baba says, 

"All beings exist, become aware and are delighted, because God willed so, God who is Sath-Chith-Ananda. So, no single being is exiled from His grace. God is omnipresent, and no being can shut Him out."

"I have come," says Baba, "in order to repair the ancient highway leading man to God... I have come in response to the prayers of sages, saints and seekers for the restoration of that road." 

Therefore streams of afflicted men and women, groups of sadhakas as well as curious seekers of truth, and even such individuals who have attained relatively higher stages of realization, proceed to wherever Baba is, certain of His assuring smile and alleviating conversation. In His presence (and even far away from it, whenever we recollect the blissful moments), we feel elevated - even the lowest and lowliest of us - for He reminds us that we are a part of Him, as Divine as Himself. In fact, we are Divyatmaswaroopas, embodiments of the Divine Atman, as He invariably addresses us.

The nth Degree

We know that we have secured in Him a 'pace-maker' for our hearts. Under His benign guidance, we rise to the nth degree of fullness. He says, 

"I am God: you are also God. But while I am aware, you are still unaware. That is the only difference." 

As Sankaracharya had done 1300 years ago. He is telling us to experience Soham (I am He) and Sivoham (I am God). Ignorant persons jeer when Baba holds up the mirror to reveal the Divinity that is latent in us. One such person remarked, "Baba is trying to escape criticism for His assuming Divinity, by taking us also into His 'Divine' fold and transforming us into willing accomplices of his impersonation!" But the belief that all beings are parts of the one Divinity is as old as the Vedanta, and as universal.

Bayazid, the Sufi saint, said, "I went from God to God, until they cried for me in me, O Thou I!" 
Hui Neng, the Buddhist mystic, said, "When not enlightened, Buddhas are no other than ordinary beings; when there is enlightenment, ordinary beings at once turn into Buddhas." 
Eckhart, the Christian mystic, declared, "The seed of God is in us, the seeds grow into God."

Thousands are drawn to His presence through His power, His wisdom and His love. Sai Baba means 'the Divine Mother and Father'. Baba has the unlimited love of the Mother and the unsurpassed power and unalloyed universal wisdom of the Father. How can man withstand the impact of such a unique incarnation?

All Who Need

Unlimited love! On the gateway tower (Gopura), on the inner gateway arch and on the altar inside the prayer hall, one can see the sacred symbol of one's own religion amidst the equally revered symbols of other faiths. No question is asked and no brow raised by anyone who belongs to the Sai family, when you declare yourself to be a Hindu or a Buddhist, a Parsi, a Christian, a Muslim or even an atheist. The only question asked and the only thing with which Baba is concerned is how earnest, how distressed, how compassionate, how self-controlled you are. He created a cross for the pilot of the twin-engined aircraft which took him from Entebbe to the wild life sanctuary at Serengetti in East Africa. In the Bandipur forest He put one dry stalk of grass across another and, blowing upon it, converted it into a wooden cross with a silver Christ for Dr. Hislop [see reference to "White Man's Burden"]. He gave Professor Bashiruddin a silver locket with Allah inscribed on it in Arabic. On Bakr Id day, He showed a group of Arab pilgrims at Prasanthi Nilayam, the huge gathering of fellow-muslims kneeling that very moment before the Kaaba in Arabia. He spread His palm before their eyes and they could see the sacred scene on it. There are many Jews like Dr. Sandweiss, paying homage to Him thus: "I believe Baba to be an incarnation of God. It appears to me now that all those stories in Hindu, Christian and Hebrew literature are not symbolic: there really is a spiritual level of reality that can make itself manifest."

Buddhist monks have built in Ceylon and Malaysia, Sai prayer halls and centres of service. He performs the Navajyoti rite, and through that ceremony initiates Parsi boys into spiritual exercises. The parents are grateful to Him for this act of grace. No one is a stranger, no one is kept aside or aloof just because he is too young or too old, recalcitrant or incorrigible. His is the sunshine that disinfects all faiths and cults. He has declared that He will hold and lead by the hand those who stray away from the straight road and miss the realm of peace, joy and love. 

He does not outlaw atheists for, He says, even they do love something - animal or plant, person or sect, ideal or ism. That love, He says, is God. They too, would not like being called liars but, like others, delight in speaking the truth. This homage they pay to truth indicates that they revere God, who is truth. Erasmus, the 16th century Dutch philosopher, declared, "Wherever you encounter truth, look upon it as Christianity." The atheists appreciate beauty and are charmed by it. God is beauty and thence arises the attraction it exerts on them.

Baba does not try to mould men in the crucible of any cult. He does not prescribe any single spiritual exercise or peddle any patented panacea to cure the ills of men. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavily-laden, and I will give you rest," is the message even now. They come with broken hearts, damaged illusions and unfulfilled ambitions. They bring their burden of real and imagined pain. After meeting Him, they pray, "We cannot ask Thee for aught, for Thou knowest our needs; in fact, Thou art our only need." And having spoken thus, they stay.

Whereas most gurus are interested only in the mantras and exercises that they prescribe for people's grievances and the fees or gifts that they are offered in return, Baba is interested only in us, whether we undertake Sadhana or Seva of any kind or not. Moreover, since the Divine Spark is enshrined within man in five caskets, (the physical, the vital, the mental, the intellectual and the felicitous), one encased within the other, Baba tends to them one by one, with affectionate care, to enable us to reflect on the splendor of that Spark [see also: Prasnottara Vahini, ch. 7]. 

Baba says, "I never ask you to earn Me; I want only that you need Me." Under the tender care of this physician, psychiatrist, guide, teacher and friend, we become aware of untapped springs of courage, fortitude, aspiration and adventure within us. Baba also directs our thoughts and activities towards society - the society in which we were born, which reared us and equipped us with a vision to face the future and to fulfil our obligations. Schumacher has said, "Although there are constant temptations to forget it, we all know that our lives are made or marred by our relationships with other human beings. No amount of health, wealth, fame or power can compensate us for our loss if these relationships dissolve. Yet they all depend on our ability to understand others and their ability to understand us." Baba declares that there can be no fulfilment of our lives until we ourselves have concern for, confidence in and compassion towards others.

Baba's infinite love, wisdom and power produce an indelible impact on each of us, sometimes in a moment, when we stay in His presence to imbibe the message that He radiates. Paul Roberts writes in Vogue (Christmas number, 1976) on the few minutes he spent in His divine presence, thus: "Baba, the remote and powerful figure I had watched in awe for months, hugged me like a long-lost friend, and in a surpassingly loving way began to tell me my worst faults. Indeed, He told me things no one could possibly have known, answered every question I would have asked and gave advice which I still treasure... I felt and still feel inexplicably closer to Him than to anyone else in the world."

R. K. Karanjia, editor of Blitz, who described himself as a sceptic, a critic and a Marxist, who had in the past openly questioned and criticised Sathya Sai Baba, was able (like many other critics, sceptics and Marxists) to meet Him and gain a cordial interview. He writes, "The encounter was a fantastic, almost shattering one. He went on to amaze me with knowledge of the most intimate developments affecting my life and work."

A Gap, a Gasp

Dr. Samuel Sandweiss, the psychiatrist from San Diego, California, narrates, "After my initial visit to Sai Baba, I began to experience an inner awakening, as if a once-familiar but closed-off centre was opening up and I was becoming acquainted with a part of myself that I had long ago forgotten. I identified the experience as one of devotion, and wondered whether such a centre lies dormant in all of us awaiting release through some personal spiritual experience. This awakening or unfolding was for me a source of great joy, and with it came a deepening feeling of my love for Baba and for people in general." 

Baba has Himself revealed that this happens in His presence: "Each of you feel a gap within you, a thirst, an urge, a 'Divine' discontent, a call to which the response from within is weak and vacillating. This has persuaded you to travel long distances to Me, braving obstacles and discomfort for the sake of securing peace, strength and guidance."

Gandikota V. Subba Rao of the U.N.O. writes, "Meeting Him is an intensely personal, emotional and uplifting experience. The temptation to glorify Him, to wax lyrical over the spiritual greatness and magnificence of Sathya Sai Baba is difficult to resist."

Sribhashyam Appalacharya from Kakinada town, a repository of ancient scriptural wisdom, writes after staying for a few days at Prasanthi Nilayam, "Bhagavan is a Veda - what He says, happens; Bhagavan is a Sastra - what He does, is exemplary. He elaborates the truth with many a metaphor, simile and story as a Purana does; His words are the highest poetry, for they confer bliss and liquidate the littleness in man."

Dr. F.J. Gould of the University of Chicago reveals, "He perceives the individual's needs with unbelievable insight. He perceives, defends, breaks them down in some swift way. He studies behavior and its determinants... He somehow transfers the individual from one context to another... Many devotees of Baba have perceived His influence through changes in their own lives. New things become important; new values become prominent. To speak in a more technical language, the individual's utility structure changes."

The Conjurer Confesses

Dr. E.B. Fanibunda from Bombay is a dentist and also an amateur magician, well-versed in the theory and practice of conjuring. In 1954 he published a book on a series of original and effective methods which practitioners of magic, mind-reading etc., could adopt. In appreciation of his proficiency he was given the 'Linking Ring' award by the International Brotherhood of Magicians, USA. This is his account of how he reacted to Baba: 

"There were about a dozen people waiting in the sitting room of Mr. Munshi's house. Baba was due to come out of the inner apartments in a little while. The author (he writes in the third person) stood unobtrusively in one corner of the room. Baba entered the room and everybody stood up. Everyone was elbowing and pushing the other to get close to Him. Baba, however, came and stood near the author, so near that the author was almost touching His left side. By this time the author's practised eye had already given Baba's gown the 'once over'. Nothing was detected. Someone from the crowd asked for Vibhuti Prasad. This was the moment the author was waiting for. Baba pulled up His right sleeve, almost up to the elbow and, in the process, turned His right hand over. The author could see there was nothing in the palm. Quickly the hand went round in circles a few times and the Vibhuti appeared between His fingers which were partly closed to hold it. The Vibhuti was given to some people. The author wished that Baba would now materialise some more so that he could also get a little bit for examination. Lo, behold! Baba's hand went round and round a second time and some more Vibhuti appeared from nowhere. This time the author held out his hand and received His 'visiting card'. The author immediately knew from his past experience that the Vibhuti was materialised without any sleight of hand or trickery. He did not now require any further demonstrations from Baba to convince him that He did possess suprahuman powers for which the author had no explanation to offer and still has none." (1976)

In the Yoga Journal from Holland, Sharon Warren writes, 

"The following morning, when I went to attend Bhajans, I happened to have an aisle seat. Baba strolled to the women's side that day and, as He passed, He stopped beside me. He then gestured with His hand with that special majesty which always means a divine materialisation, and then there was the sacred ash pouring from His fingertips and into my palms. He said, 'Vibhuti... eat'. It was like a dream. My heart was so full of love and devotion and gratitude that it just overflowed. I felt I could not hold any more. I was aware that He knew my need, and that was so comforting. I have been blessed to experience love throughout my life from many different relationships, but nothing could compare with the purity of the love I experienced when this transpired. It transcended any human relationship I had ever known."

I and Thou

The fascination that draws the object to the subject is, if we may so name it, a move in His strategy. Vivekananda said, 

 

 

"God is both, the subject and the object. He is the 'I' and the 'Thou' (the Thwam and the Thath). How, then, are we to know the Knower? The Knower cannot know Himself. The Atman, the Knower, the Lord of all that exists, is the cause of all the vision that is the universe, but it is not possible for Him to see Himself, know Himself, except through a reflection. You cannot see your own face except in a mirror. Similarly, the Atman cannot see Its own nature until It is reflected... The perfect man, the avatar, is the highest reflection of that Being, Who is both, subject and object. You now find why avatars are instinctively worshipped as God in every country. They are the most perfect manifestations of the Eternal Self. That is why men worship incarnations such as Christ and Buddha."

We are Sathyam, Sivam and Sundaram. The deep calls on the deep; the blue responds to the blue. We see ourselves reflected best in Baba who is in fact, the most sublime manifestation of Sathyam-Sivam-Sundaram. When we forget ourselves and start wandering into the wilderness of falsehood and vice, He comes, so that we may recognise our glory in Him.

Ed Fleure writes, "Baba's life is dedicated to the task of uplifting humanity, to awaken us to our spiritual heritage and to give us courage and faith. Our stay with Baba was a supreme bringing-up. Love is His greatest miracle. From morning to night Baba is constantly giving to and serving others. It was Maharajji who had kept enquiring, when we were leaving his ashram to go to Baba. When at last Baba gave us leave to return, He blessed us, 'Be friends with God.' Surely, this was a new style of blessing. Friends with God? How can that be?
"When we came back to Maharajji, He gave me a Hindu name. And lo! It was the name of a friend, companion and class fellow of
Sri Krishna - Sudama. So I had to practise the constant presence of God as my friend.

This remark of Baba and its actual confirmation by a saint in the Himalayas proves that Baba has no wish to by-pass the form you might have accepted and adored. He could have renamed Ed Himself, but He encouraged him to return to Maharajji, the guru he had 'found'. But, since He knew that 'behaving as a friend' was the way for him, He saw to it that the name selected for him by Maharajji was Sudama. Of the nine paths [**] mentioned by the sacred texts on Bhakti, the path of Sakhya (friendship) is next only to the last and highest path of Atma-Nivedanam (self-surrender).

Methodology Revealed

Once, when Baba was asked about His 'methodology', He said, 

"I have no methodology or machinery or strategy in the accepted organizational sense. My methodology is a simple one, based on conversion by love, and the machinery is one of human cooperation and brotherhood. Love is My instrument and My merchandise." 

He says that He can best be described as Prema Swaroopa (Embodiment of Love). What are called 'miracles' are fundamentally manifestation of that love. It is love that prompts Him to speak to each seeker in a language that he can understand - Swahili in East Africa and Adi to tribals from Along. It is love that persuades Him to heal the physical and mental wounds of man. It is love that illumines the darkness of our hearts and corrects the crookedness of our habits and attitudes. The miraculous cure by Baba of terminal diseases, and the saving of life in countless instances of accidents and disasters, are all expressions of His love.

He materialises holy ash in order to arouse faith and gives gifts of rings or lockets to protect the wearer. This He does out of overpowering compassion and love. 
J. Jagathesan, the Malaysian devotee who is also the author of the book, '
Journey to God', writes, 

"The greatest miracle of all is His transformation of the hearts of countless men and women to make them tread the path of godliness and goodness. Agnostics now sing in praise of God, drunkards have turned from searching for the spirit in the bottle to the Divine Spirit in man, drug addicts who found transient escape and bliss in this 'modern' scourge of mankind now seek the permanent bliss and peace that only God can give, and millions of ordinary men and women who used to listlessly pray as a matter of ritual or habit now find a new meaning, a new dimension to their prayers - whomsoever they may pray to or to whichever religion they may belong - for they are now convinced that God does exist, and that His grace can be obtained through Bhakti, through Sathya, Dharma, Santhi and Prema and, most of all, through selfless and loving Seva to others, regardless of race, religion, caste or colour, and without any thought of reward." 

The love that He plants in all those who need Him (and who does not?) reaps a huge harvest of humility, reverence, generosity, fraternity and freedom.

Cousin Losing His Mind

Sandweiss speaks of a cousin of his, Jerry by name, who was a professor of mathematics in the eastern States. "Looking at the question from a purely mathematical standpoint, Jerry felt, it was indeed probable that an avatar might presently exist, so he joined a group that was going over to see Baba... My cousin, during the first interview, asked Baba to produce something for him. He had bought a cheap ring in Greece and was wearing it on his little finger. He wanted Baba to transform this ring into something else. Baba declined. Jerry felt let down... He began to examine his own sanity... Baba called Jerry for an interview again the next day. When he came out, Jerry was in an unusually bright and receptive mood, his face radiant. Jerry, it seems, pleaded again with Baba to do something with the ring and took it from his finger. Baba said that this was not His wish. Jerry continued to plead. Finally, Baba took the ring in His hand, blew on it, and returned to Jerry an altogether different ring which, needless to say, fitted his finger perfectly. This had obviously shaken him... The transformation that the few minutes with Baba produced in Jerry was indeed a greater miracle. A woman in the group asked for someone to help carry her bags and Jerry spontaneously volunteered. 'I never do this,' he said, 'I must be losing my mind!' "

The conquest of the mind is the consequence of years of yogic sadhana. Baba says, 

"You are imprisoned in your ego. Though you should try to liberate yourselves from this bondage quickly and safely, most of you do not seek from Me the key to this liberation. You ask Me for trash and tinsel, petty little cures and gains. Very few desire to get from Me the thing I have come to give - liberation itself. Even among the few who seek liberation, only a minute percentage sincerely stick to the path of Sadhana and, from among them, only an infinitesimal number succeed." 

Jerry had taken, after his exposure to Baba, the first step in liberation from the prison of his ego.

Dr. Dhairyam, writes, "In the present world crisis of character, Bhagavan's grace will certainly act as a powerful catalyst. It will bring about a transformation among the people of the earth who are presently so diverse in spiritual development. Among those who are transformed, one finds nonbelievers, escapists, drug addicts and agnostics, as well as highly evolved sadhakas, well-versed vedic scholars, renowned scientists, artists, poets and pundits, as also simple, ordinary folk who delight in His divine discourses. Bhagavan accepts and welcomes them all as His children. He is compassionate to the sinner, comforting to the distressed and a guide to the agnostic and the confused, whom He leads by the hand into the realm of light."

Awakening during Dreams

Dreams are also part of the Sai strategy. He has appeared in the dreams of many who were unaware of Him and has drawn them to Himself. Karen Fromer Blanc dreamt that a person with a huge crown of hair came to her and said, "Stay with your Hilda." "Hilda who?" she wondered. Five years later she discovered Hilda Charlton, Baba's devotee. The discovery transformed her life. Now she has written a book entitled 'Dear Hilda'!

John Prendergast of the California Institute of Asian Studies has written an article 'Swami Dreams', focussing more on their instructional value and less on the paranormal processes. He says, 

"The overall aspect of these dream-experiences with Sai Baba is difficult to gauge, but my own relationship with Baba has deepened immeasurably. I would characterise the primary influence as being the opening of my spiritual heart, of beginning to balance the intellect with the values of love and compassion. Between the spring of 1977 and 1979, Sai Baba has appeared to me during the dream-state nearly forty times. These have profoundly affected my spiritual awakening and the quality of my relationship with Him. Sai Baba has said that it is impossible to see Him in dreams without His willing it. My own experience of active guidance, chastisement, healing and ecstatic states conferred by Him during the dream-state tends to confirm this. My relationship with Sai Baba is, in fact, more intimate in the dream than in the waking state... As the dream-state relationship grows and deepens, my own inner strength and confidence grows and manifests itself in the waking state. In addition to this effect of the dream-reality nurturing and supporting the waking reality, the distinction between the two realities has softened. Increasingly the two blend, so that dream-images rise in the waking mind like distant clouds."

Willie Kweku Ansah of Accra (Ghana), writes, "Soon after this (the Sathya Sai Centre's invitation to devotees to enrol for a trip to Puttaparthi) I started seeing Swami in my dreams. The first night I woke up with a rather vague feeling that I should think of going to Puttaparthi. I discarded the thought immediately. The next dream was more detailed and lengthy. I saw myself in front of a tall building which had protruding platforms on the first floor. Bhagavan was on the ground floor and I was doing Namaskara (bowing in devotion). At this time I did not know that to dream of Bhagavan was a privilege and not an ordinary occurrence. I dismissed the dream as my silly imagination. In my third dream I saw only the face of Bhagavan for an instant or two. I was forced to wake up in a sweat and with a clear command to go to Puttaparthi."

"I gave my name to the planning committee without an inkling of where the money for the trip would come from. I need not have worried. Within the next few days I made, through a friend, three times my normal annual income for no compelling reason. So the matter was settled. All other arrangements went through without a hitch. Need I also mention that some of the persons I travelled with I had already seen in my dreams. We arrived at Puttaparthi on 21st November. The last thing on my mind were my dreams. A friend decided to take a round of the prayer hall, and as we made the turn, I stopped dead in my tracks. My friend asked what the matter was and I uttered something incomprehensible to him. But what had stopped me was the fact that my dream was staring me right in the face with all its details - the protruding platform, the architecture and the colors."

"One surprise followed another when private interviews were granted in a room on the ground floor, and I did my Namaskara exactly where I had dreamt it. However, all these surprises were nothing compared to what I experienced when I went to bid farewell to Bhagavan. 'When are you coming again?' He asked. I was not expecting the question, as the very thought of being so lucky as to come again was far from my mind. I was, therefore, flushed, and in delighted confusion blurted out that I did not know and that this time I came because I had had a dream... Bhagavan interrupted in a tone which seemed as if He was irritated; I was accounting something He already knew. 'I know I know,' He said, and patted my back. Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras (1.38) says that the aspirant gets guidance through dreams, but even he does not mention that the guru, if he is an avatar, can frame dreams for us and figure in them himself, furnishing timely guidance."

 


 

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Bhajans

 

 

[*] Subrahmanyam Subrahmanyam

Subrahmanyam Subrahmanyam Shanmukha Natha Subrahmanyam
Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva Subrahmanyam Hara Hara 
Hara Hara Subrahmanyam
Shiva Shiva Hara Hara Subrahmanyam Hara Hara
Shiva Shiva Subrahmanyam
Shiva Sharavana Subrahmanyam Guru
Sharavana Bhava Subrahmanyam
Shiva Shiva Hara Hara Subrahmanyam Hara Hara
Shiva Shiva Subrahmanyam

 Worship the charming faced Lord Subrahmanyam.
He is the second son of Lord Shiva and the destroyer of evil.
Surrendering to Lord Subrahmanyam breaks 
the chain of birth and death.
Worship Lord Subrahmanyam.

[**]
1.
Sravanam: listening to stories of the Lord's lilas or plays
2.
Kirtanam: chanting of God's glories
3.
Smaranam: remembering the presence of the Lord constantly
4.
Padasevanam: Pada means feet. Seva means service. This is when you get to blend your practice of karma yoga (seva) with bhakti. In doing your duty and serving humanity, develop the bhava that you are serving and worshiping the Lord's Feet.
5.
Archanam: Worship of God through rituals such as puja
6.
Vandanam: prostration. The yogi expresses his respect and love to god by prostrating physically to the ground thereby developing humility
7.
Dasyam: The devotee is developing the feeling of being the Lord's servant. This will weed out pride, selfishness, arrogance and egoism which are all based on avidya.
8.
Sakhyam: Feeling of friendship. This bhava helps the devotees establish a personal relationship with God picturing him as his best friend. One should be ready to do anything for their friend.
9.
Atmanivedanam: Complete surrender of self. The term bhakti is often translated as devotion or love but rarely as surrender. Actually surrender is the highest aspect of bhakti. One's ego is totally offered to the Lord and nothing but the atman remains and non duality is experienced.

[***] 1.38. svapna nidrâ jn'âna âlambanam vâ
svapna--dream state, a state of delusion; nidrâ--sleep state; jn'âna--wakeful state, awareness, intelligent state; âlambanam--support, base, dependence or resting upon, assistance, help, distinguishing the gross from the eternal; vâ--or. 
Or, by recollecting and contemplating the experience of dream-filled or dreamless sleep during a watchful, waking state.  
(source: Light on the Yoga Sûtras of Patan'jali) 


  


Written by N. Kasturi M.A., B.L.