Bakti is either foolishness or fraudulence

Periyar E.V.Ramasamy

What is Bakti (devotion to God)? Going to temples and worshipping idols, being deep in meditation, applying either Naamam or Viboothi on the forehead, being loyal to the Brahmins and making them presents in cash and kind, reading Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Bhagavatha, various Puranas etc, and listening to religious discourses are deemed by Brahmins as the activities of the devotees.

Going to temples and other places of worship, undertaking pilgrimage to holy places, reciting psalms, hymns or devotional songs are considered to be the activities of real devotees.

When they speak about Bakti, they refer only to some such activities. It has no relation to intellectual activity or to any of the human values and qualities like morality, honesty, gratitude, being helpful, uprightness etc. They do not refer to the good qualities we have to follow while dealing with others.

If the above qualities had been propagated among the people as essential ones to be adhered to, we would not find among them so much of indiscipline and dishonesty.

We see people putting on religious marks on their foreheads (like Naamam or Viboothi), going to temples, performing poojas at home, chanting various names of gods, etc. They are lauded as activities of true devotees. But we are not able to find among them even a fraction of qua-lities like honesty, morality, upright-ness etc. What is the reason?

Generally devotion to God is nothing but sheer selfishness; it is of no use to others. Even if any benefit accrues due to Bakti, it accrues only to the concerned individual, and no one else is benefitted by it in any way.

But if a person cares for ethics and is honest, those values will make him / her a respectable one and benefit those among whom that person lives.

If a person is lacking in his devotion to a deity (Bakti), it does no harm to others. But if a person’s behaviour is unethical and if he is not honest, will it not harm those around him, make them miserable and to suffer loss, and give them mental agony?

Conduct or behaviour that is basically harmful (essentially injurious) to others is unethical and dishonest.

All Gods, every one of them, are capable of only forgiving or punishing the scoundrels who harm the people. They are incapable of preventing a being or a person causing misery to other beings or persons.

When a person, who has harmed others, is punished, it may help to prevent him / her repeating the same kind of behaviour. But in what way God can compensate the affected person for the suffering caused or the harm done? Even if the affected persons are good devotee, they meet with the same result. God does not help them in any way.

Is the practice of devotion to God capable of atleast improving the character of a peson? Or is it helpful in preventing harm being caused to others?

So I ask: Is not the practice of Bakti a foolish, fraudulent and useless activity?