Talk:Indolence and Social Parasitism
Many people criticize the path of Bhakti because the Bhakta Yogī surrenders his welfare completely to the Lord and therefore becomes dependent upon Him, on others around him who feed him and also gives up self-effort and toil to become a social parasite. He becomes feeble, indolent and gives up all self-confidence, self-effort and worldly ambition. The path of Bhakti Yoga in the Gita is mixed with Karma Yoga and this criticism does not apply in reality. But, criticism has some merit due to later developments in the philosophy and practice of Bhakti. For this reason, eminent teachers in the Hindu tradition have offered corrective solutions. For example, Shri Nārāyaṇa Guru installed a mirror in the place of an image in the temple at Kalavankode. Any worshipper would see himself in the mirror rather than the image in front of him. This reminded him that he has Divine abilities and powers within himself, and that he must endeavor to uplift himself by his own efforts. He also wanted to emphasize that the Divine resides within all of us. The important message that we get from Shri Nārāyaṇa Guru’s life is that all human beings are equal, and that Bhagavān resides in the hearts of everyone equally. We all have a right to worship, get educated and improve our condition. And most important, we must not be dependent on others for help. Instead, we should try to work hard and uplift ourselves with our own efforts. If others do not help us, we should just ignore them and continue with our good work, with full Shraddhā in Bhagavān. Because of his efforts, the Ezhavas (who are 20% of the population of Kerala) and many other Hindus were able to get educated and become prosperous.
Much like Karmayoga, the path of Bhaktiyoga also involves remaining engaged with the world and the society at large. A Bhakta does not withdraw into a forest or a secluded monastery to pursue his spiritual journey. Rather, he does everything for the sake of his Lord and surrenders completely to the Lord’s will. Some Bhaktas however exploit the respect that the general public have for them and become social parasites. They pretend that they have surrendered themselves completely to Bhagavān’s will and use this as a reason to not do any constructive or profitable work, but rather live on the charity of others. Thanks to the generosity of their followers, these charlatans live a life of great comfort and luxrury in return for flowery sermons, and a few sessions of bhajans and kīrttanas. There is nothing extraordinary about the lives of these so-called saints, except that they make a very impressive outward display of their devotionalism – otherwise they are quite ordinary, and show the same negative traits of characters as an ordinary person.