Talk:Nirguṇa Brahman versus Saguṇa Brahman in Bhakti & Bhakti Yoga

By Vishal Agarwal

One can worship the Divine either as a transcendent, non-manifest, imperceptible Supreme Ātman (Paramātman, referred to as Brahman in the Upaniṣads) and also through many of His Divine manifestations. One may ask which mode of devotion is superior—that which is directed towards the former, or that which is directed towards the latter. In the Gītā, the same question is put forth by Arjuna to Kṛṣṇa:

Arjuna asked: "Those devotees who worship You (in the Manifest Form) steadfastly at all times, as well as those devotees who worship the Imperishable and the Unmanifest—which of these two are better versed in yoga?Gītā 12.1"

Kṛṣṇa replied: "Those who, with their minds fixed on Me (My Manifest Form), worship Me, ever steadfast and endowed with complete faith—them I consider to be the most perfect in yoga.Gītā 12.2" "But those who worship the Imperishable, the Indefinable, the Unmanifest, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Transcendent, the Immovable, the Constant...Gītā 12.3" "By restraining all of their senses, being even-minded everywhere, rejoicing in the welfare of all creatures, they also attain Me.Gītā 12.4" "The trouble of those whose minds are fixed on the Unmanifest is greater, because the goal of the Unmanifest is attained with difficulty by the embodied beings.Gītā 12.5" "But they who worship Me, renouncing all their karmas in Me, regarding Me as supreme, meditating on Me, with single-minded yoga...Gītā 12.6" "Whose minds are set on Me—I am soon the deliverer from this world, an ocean of death (and rebirth), O Pārtha.Gītā 12.7"

In his commentary on Gītā 12.1–7, Śaṅkarācārya clarifies that Kṛṣṇa does not intend to say that worshipping a personal Īśvara with a form is superior to worshipping the formless, nirguṇa Brahman. The superiority of the first method merely lies in the fact that it is the easier path of the two for most spiritual seekers.

A teacher explains the rationale behind Kṛṣṇa’s recommendation for worshipping a personal Īśvara, or at least using pratikas:

"How do we conceive Infinite God as our Heavenly Father—listening to our prayers and dealing out justice, showering mercy? How does our intellect sanction such narrowing down of the Absolute? The Absolute cannot be limited either by form or by qualities. It is transcendental—beyond the range of human thought and speech. None can worship such a Brahman. Yet to turn our mind Godward, we try to conceive Him through a group of qualities and call Him Merciful and all that. That facilitates our approach to Divinity. If we can do this much for the facility of our sādhana (spiritual practice), on precisely the same ground, there is no harm in meditating on God through any of the prescribed forms. Rather, this would make it easier for us to fix our minds on God.

Indeed, our mind is so constituted that it cannot grasp an abstraction. It requires something concrete to hold on to. And this is why even those who are up against forms of God cannot do away with forms altogether in their spiritual practice. The very conception of the Heavenly Father, the very reference to God by the pronouns ‘He’ or ‘She,’ the very description of His or Her abode in heaven—all these together with the particular structures of our places of worship, as well as all details of rituals, rest entirely on concrete forms.

All these have to be considered and weighed carefully before dispensing with worship of God through symbols (pratikas) and images (pratimās). Mere intellectual snobbery may lead to sophistry, ending perhaps in materialism. We should be aware of this. Only those who, in their spiritual practice, have outgrown the necessity of such aids as symbols or images, may go in for saguṇa-nirākāra-upāsanā.

Such devotees are advised to meditate on the all-pervading presence of God. Certain appropriate imageries are suggested by our śāstras through which such contemplation becomes easier. One may consider oneself to be like a fish in the ocean, surrounded by water, and replace the water with God. One may contemplate that just as an empty jar is filled and surrounded by air or ether, so is one by God. Such devotees also have suitable hymns, prayers, and modes of worship prescribed by the śāstra. If those who are fit for choosing this path persist in their spiritual practice with a sincere love for God, they also are sure to reach the goal like any other bhakti-yogī.

In summary, both approaches to worshipping the Bhagavān are valid. Depending on one's understanding, a person following Sanātana Dharma can opt for one or the other. Some traditions consider one of the two approaches superior to the other, but all acknowledge that worshipping Divine manifestations is the easier of the two.