Bhakti or Devotion to God and Guru brings sweetness in the character of a person. God is love. When we love God with all our might and being, His love fills us. The sweetness of the love of God and Guru is very alluring and addictive. Those who have tasted that love will never let go of it. Those who don’t know the sweetness of Love of God will search for that love in human relationships. Love in human relationships is a reflection of Divine Love but shaded with imperfections of expectations. Love for God or bhakti gives strength to us and protects us. The immeasurable strength of the Universe backs us when our bhakti is selfless. We must be thankful to God for His blessings and gifts given to us. We must love God for the sake of God and not for the gifts He showers on us.
Anger comes from Ego. When expectations are not fulfilled and when importance is not given to a person, he becomes angry. When a person enjoys blowing up all incidents in life to larger than life proportions, he wants to portray self as great. He makes small incidents larger than life and becomes angry and puffed up with egoism and unwarranted self importance. He feels slighted and insulted for no reason and his anger becomes boundless. This ultimately harms him only. Consider this story from the Bhagavata Purana:
King Ambarisha belonged to the lineage of Sri Rama. He was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was truthful and a good king. He performed a yagna and pleased Lord Vishnu with his worship. The Lord blessed him with the protection of His Sudarshan Chakra ( a weapon of matchless accuracy and power in form of a disc with saw teeth). Sudarshan means good sight or right vision. The blessings of Sudarshan or good vision blessed the kingdom of Ambarisha with peace, prosperity and security.
King Ambarisha undertook the Dvadashi Vratta or fast. This vratta required that the King fast on the day of ekdashi or 11th day of moon and break the fast on dvadashi or 12th day and feed all the people. As the time for breaking the fast approached, Durvasa Muni (Sage) arrived and was given a royal welcome with all honours due to him. The King asked him to be his royal guest after the breaking of the fast. Durvasa Muni agreed and asked the King to wait till he had his bath and returned. The auspicious time for breaking of fast arrived but Durvasa Muni had not returned. The King could not eat or drink without offering food to his honoured guest. Sage Vashishta who was the royal Sage in the court suggested that the King could break his fast by taking a tulsi leaf and spoonful of water which had been offered in worship to Lord Vishnu. The King broke his fast in this way at the right time and waited for his guest to arrive and serve him food.
Durvasa Muni was famed for his ill temper and anger. He arrived when King Ambarisha had just broken his fast and he was very angry. He felt insulted that the King did not wait for him to come. He felt that the tulsi leaf and water taken by the King was equal to eating food. The King was not supposed to eat anything before offering food to the guest. How dare the King insult a Great Sage like him?The King’s explanations fell on deaf years. In rage, Durvasa Muni pulled out a strand of hair and created a demon from it. He ordered the demon to kill the King. The King simply folded his hands and sat in surrender in front of the idol of Lord Vishnu in the temple. The Sudarshan Chakra swirled out from the idol and attacked the demon and killed him. Then the Chakra began chasing Durvasa Muni to kill him. He ran and tried to hide but the Chakra chased him relentlessly. He has nowhere to go. So he ran to Brahma Lok and sought protection from Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma refused to protect him. He said that the Muni had angered Lord Vishnu and he could not save him. The Chakra continued chasing the Muni and he ran to Shiva Lok and fell at the feet of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva also refused to help him citing the same reasons. Finally tired and worn out and having no place to run and hide, Durvasa Muni rushed to Vaikunta and fell at the feet of Lord Vishnu and sought protection. The Lord said he could not call back Sudarshan Chakra as the Muni had wronged Ambarisha who had selfless love for Him. The Lord advised him to seek forgiveness and protection from Ambarisha. Durvasa Muni had no choice but fall at the feet of the King to protect himself from certain death by the Sudarshan Chakra. King Ambarisha held no anger or grudge against Durvasa. He was filled with compassion at seeing such a great Muni running for his life. He prayed to Lord Vishnu to recall the Sudarshan Chakra and saved the life of the Muni.
Selfless love or Bhakti for God grants us the highest level of protection in the Universe. When the Grace of the Supreme blesses us we get the Sudarshan or good vision. Then anger, insults, slights and misbehaviour of others have no place in our lives. We are loving and compassionate towards all. We are guided to right action and right speech. We have abundance in our lives and Grace of the Supreme.
