Brahma Sambandh an Historical Event...

PICS : ब्रह्मसम्बंध दीक्षा By Shree Vallabhacharya Yadunathji Mahodayaji to Dr.PRAVIN G.BHATIA-PURECHA, FOUNDER PRESIDENT OF BHATIA COMMUNITY MISSION FOUNDATION,(www.bhatiacommunity.org),DIRECTOR CUM DEAN OF ACADEMY OF UNIVERSAL GLOBAL PEACE USA,BOMBAY CHAPTER and ADMIN of VALLABH KUL BLOGS,  at NAMAN TOWER HAVELI ,INDIA MUMBAI,KANDIVALI WEST,

Brahma sambandh an historical event.
The means to attain God are many. Some are difficult some are easy. All are fairly long journeys.
Bhagwan Shree Krishana states in the Gita that “A minuscule part of Me is present in all living things”
Jiva has Bhagwad ansha; a minuscule part of God. This truth is difficult to comprehend because we do not realise the closeness we have with Thakurji. We have become engrossed in the material world. Our lives are full of activity hence we rarely ask deep rooted questions about who we are, where we are going.
On Sharawan Ekadasi Mahaprabhuji along with Damodardas Harsaniji were at Gokul on the banks of Shree Yamunaji. At Govind Ghat (ghat is a area which allows safe access to the river that flows).
Shree Mahaprabhuji was perplexed by a thought. How do the divine beings get seva or an opportunity to serve Thakurji in this Kali Yug? More specifically the Vedas do not have a means of liberating Women and Sudhras. Therefore what was to happen of Women, Sudras and non Hindus. This was the question that Shree Mahaprabhuji was worried about.
Then at about midnight Shree Nathji appeared (in Lalit trabhangi mudra) and ordained Mahaprabhuji.
The divine souls should take Braham Sambhand. In order to be fit to receive communion with Thakurji their “doshs”will be absolved.


Once this is done I (Thakurji) am ready to accept the soul. After Braham Sambhand they should offer everything they partake to me first. Then to take themselves.
Therefore everything we take must be offered to Thakurji as already mentioned.
This is the the jewel in the Crown and is a very important initiation that many people seldom obtain it!
This ceremony makes you realise that relationship that exists between you and Thakurji. When you take this initiation you have to be fairly certain as to what you are doing. As always you have to find a Goswami Balak who will initiate you.
The importance of Bhrama Sambandh lies in the fact that in the ceremony you offer all that belongs to you to the feet of Thakurji. You offer your body, your soul, your wealth, your husband/wife, your children and everything else that belongs to you which would cause you to be attached to objects. All these are offered to Thakurji and you accept His refuge and become a ‘das’. A humble servant of Thakurji. You then humbly bow to Thakurji and offer a token of your gratitude.
Later on you Guru will instruct you as to the seva you should perform and jap you should perform. In return you offer your Guru a token of your gratitude for showing you indebtedness and in directing you to the true path to God realisation and opening the door to Thakurji Gaulok..
These days people often forget the importance of Bhrama Sambandh and how precious it really is. People assume it to be a minor thing but in fact it should be more valued than the Koohinoor diamond.
To assess the value of a diamond you have to take it to a jeweller. Similarly Bhrama Sambandh is like a diamond and only some people can appreciate its importance and its value. The Bhrama Sambandh or ‘diksha’ is only to be give to some ‘special jivas’ and is not meant to be for all.
By taking Bhrama Sambandh you have turned a new leaf, it’s a new beginning your sins have been absolved by Mahaprabhuji and you make a fresh start on the path towards Thakurji. Mahaprabhuji also gives you a guarantee that your soul will not have a ‘laukik gati’.


"Brahma Sambandha means ” Establishment of the broken down relationship that remained so for thousands of years, between Jivatma and Paramatma through the means of Samarpana i.e., surrender. In other words to accept HIM once again as your Master. To declare your servitude (dasatva) to HIM.
In order to provide upliftment of Pushti Jivas, the divine being HIMSELF appeared before Shri Mahaprabhuji and gave hi the Brahmasambandha diksha, and further promised him to accept all those beings/jeevs as his very own, (overlooking their doshas) to whom Shree MAhaprabhuji gave the Brahma Sambandha diksha.
There is a provision of bringing an alliance through marriage to bring out the concept of Samarpana with love. In this alliance a women accepts the state of servitude to a man and makes him her master. For the comfort of her master (husband) a women (wife) surrenders her self through her mind body and money and offers seva and she believes that the comfort of her husband are the primary considerations in life for her and with that notion in mind she dedicates herself in his seva.
The same concept can be seen in Brahma Sambandha in a transcendental form Jivatma consides himself as the servant of Paramatma. He accepts HIM as his Master. In marriage ceremoney three aspects are important viz., a Brahman to perform the rites, fire to stand as witness, and saptapadi – i.e., seven steps to conjugal union.
Unconditional “Saranagati” of Shri Krishna with his speech...In Brahma Sambandha the part of a Purohit is played by “Tulsi” – Basil leaves. I performs the “Hasta Melaps” – holding the hand for life – between the Bhakta and devine being. Here Shri Mahaprabhuji stands for the form of fire (Agni) to act as a witness. In his presence a jiva utters the Mantra of Brahma Sambandha which stands for “Sapta padi” process. Through this mantra he promises that he surrender his complete body, mind , all members of the family, all his wealth, this life, all the lives to come in future, all kinds of activities along with his atma to Shri Krishna. He recites the “Panchakshara Mantra” three times and accepts a complete and unconditional “Saranagati” of Shri Krishna with his speech, conduct and thoughts.

Shri Mahaprabhuji has envisaged six aspects in “Saranagati” : 1. I will do whatever is to the liking of my master. 2. I will no do anything that is not to the liking of divine being. 3. I accept “Prabhu” as my Master for all times. 4. I will keep a firm faith in my heart about the fact that my Master will take care of me in all respects. 5. I will be always humble and serve HIM with an attitude of dasa (servant). 6. I will surrender all that I possess to HIM. This last is called “Atma Nivedana”.
We take this promise of “Saranagati” and “Samarpana” before Shri Thakurji through our speech. In other words it is “Brahma Sambandha” through words.

In Worldly affairs, a maiden will go and live with her husband to serve him and be dedicated. So we have to maintain the promise we have given under Brahma Sambandha through words by putting it into practive. For this purpose Shri Thakurji has HIMSELF shown the path of “Seva and Samarpana to Shri Mahaprabhuji” A Brahma Sambandha jiva should not utilize any object which is not offered to Shri Thakuqji. In other words you will not touch any “Asamarpita Vastu” (not offered). When we utilize objects offered to divine being then only the promoise made at the time of Brahma Sambandha can be fulfilled otherwise there is no way you can keep the promise valid.

Tyaga or relinquishing the non-offered and accepting that which is offered becomes a part of “Seva Marg”. Hence Shri Mahaprabhuji and Shri Gusaiji have stated clearly that for every person who receives Brahma Sambandha there is only one duty at all places and at all times. i.e., to offer seva to Shri Krishna who is the lord of Vraj. This is the “Atma Dharma” (Dharma is a religion fate, Atma is for self). That is the only duty. There is no other dharma for him at any time or at any place. That is the reason why so much regard is given to seva under “Pushti Marg”.

As said before this is the 2nd part of the initation. This is the the jewel in the Crown and is a very important initiation that many people seldom obtain it!

This ceremony makes you realise that relationship that exists between you and Thakurji. When you take this initiation you have to be fairly certain as to what you are doing. As always you have to find a Goswami Balak who will initiate you.

The importance of Bhrama Sambandh lies in the fact that in the ceremony you offer all that belongs to you to the feet of Thakurji. You offer your body, your soul, your wealth, your husband/wife, your children and everything else that belongs to you which would cause you to be attached to objects. All these are offered to Thakurji and you accept His refuge and become a 'das'. A humble servant of Thakurji. You then humbly bow to Thakurji and offer a token of your gratitude.

Later on you Guru will instruct you as to the seva you should perform and jap you should perform. In return you offer your Guru a token of your gratitude for showing you indebtedness and in directing you to the true path to God realisation and opening the door to Thakurji Gaulok..

These days people often forget the importance of Bhrama Sambandh and how precious it really is. People assume it to be a minor thing but in fact it should be more valued than the Koohinoor diamond.

To assess the value of a diamond you have to take it to a jeweller. Similarly Bhrama Sambandh is like a diamond and only some people can appreciate its importance and its value. The Bhrama Sambandh or 'diksha' is only to be give to some 'special jivas' and is not meant to be for all.

By taking Bhrama Sambandh you have turned a new leaf, it’s a new beginning your sins have been absolved by Mahaprabhuji and you make a fresh start on the path towards Thakurji. Mahaprabhuji also gives you a guarantee that your soul will not have a 'laukik gati'.

After Bhrama Sambandh you have to do something to further your development towards Thakurji. This should ideally mean that you do swarup seva and nam seva as well. Nam seva is there to continually focus your thoughts on Thakurji when you are other daily tasks. In terms of hierarchy swarup seva takes the first place and is the priority and nam seva is second to swarup seva. What I am trying to say here is that given the choice of doing either of them in a limited amount of time then you should do swarup seva.

Performing Seva

So we have described why we should do seva. The reason is so that we can develop Love for Thakurji through the means of swarup seva. Many a times it is not possible to do swarup seva due to disabilities, or other domestic reasons. In these case there are alternatives. However NOTE its very easy to have excuse for not doing something. Swarup seva being one but every endeavour to perform it if possible.

Types of seva
For some people when they take Bhrama Sambandh their Guru will give. Them a swarup and instruct what/ how they should do seva. In the Vartas we can see illustrations of where it was not possible to do swarup seva. However in the hearts of these divine beings we always found that their heart was constantly fixated on Shree Vallabh or Shree Nathiji. In Damodardas Haranijis varta we see that Damalaji didn’t perform swarup seva but nonetheless Damalijis heart was always thinking about Thakurji. This is what we are trying to achieve. Thakurji in our thoughts constantly.

Things to do
We have already highlighted the importance of taking Braham Sambhand. The keep your mind cleansed the least you can do is: Daily recite ‘paths’ and do ‘mala’.

‘Paths’ are is the recitation of scriptures. There are various scriptures accepted in Pushtimarg and the popular ones that are easily accessible are the 16 scriptures. You can also recite the Gita. Read Shree Mad Bhagwat etc

Mala is generally consisting of the 8 letter mantra or the 5 letter mantra. Doing ‘mala’ is the process of reciting the relevant mantra with the aid of rosary beads. A mala is reciting a mantra 108 times.


Should Do’s
Perform Thakurji’s swarup seva
We can note from the stories of the 84 and 252 illustrious vaishanavs that many of the performed swarup seva. Swarup (is the idol) seva is process pretending the swarup is your child and hence seva is looking after that child. This is done by bathing, dressing, feeding etc. To do this seva is an aim that vaishanavs must have. Through swarup seva you can really appreciate the beauty of Pushtimarg.

Visit your Guru (other resident Balaks) as many times as possible. Whenever you visit them never go empty handed. Take something to offer their Thakurji.


Guru will discuss and show what a vaishanav should do or how the seva is performed.


1 - Shravansyamlepakshe ekadashyam mahanishi I
Sakshaat Bhagwataaproktam tadaksharasha uchyate II1II

On the midnight of the 11th day during the bright half of the month of Shravana, what Lord Krishna told me, I will recite verbatimII1II (Note : By stating time etc. Shri Vallabh declares that this path of divine grace is revealed to him by God himself though bhakti is described in scriptures.)


2 -  Brahma-sambandh karanaat sarveshaam dehjivayoho I
Sarvadoshnivritirhi doshaha panchvidha smritaha II2II

Shri Krishna told me that after dedicating himself and all his belongings to God i.e after Brahma-sambandh the impurities of the soul are totally removed. It is said that there are five types of impuritiesII2II



3 -  Sahajadeshkaalotha lokvedniroopitaha I
Sainyogajasparshjashcha na nivriti kathanchana ll3ll

Impurities mentioned in the Vedas and world are 1) By Birth 2) Place 3) Time 4) Circumstance 5) Physical contact. All the five doshas (impurities) are not counted after taking Brahma-sambandh.


4   - Anyathasarvadoshnam na nivriti kathanchana I
Asamarpitvastoonam tasmadvarjanamachreta II4II

These impurities can never be removed without contact with Brahma through Brahma-sambandh. Therefore anything not offered to or used by the brahma i.e God should not be used by us alsoII4II


5  - Nivedibhi samarpyaiva sarvamkuryaditisthiti I
Na matam devadevasya swamibhuktsamarpanam II5II

Dedicated souls (Brahma-sambandhi jivas) should perform all actions & activities by first dedicating them to God, this should be the way of life for a bhakta (devotee). Any article which we had used previously should never be offered to God as it is considerd 'Swami-Bhukta' (half-eaten/used).

6  - Tasmaadadausarvakarye sarvavastusamarpanam I
Dataapaharavachanam tathaacha sakalam hareh II6II
Na Grahyamitivaakyam hi bhinamargam param matam l

Before doing any activity all should be offered to God, the statement that says that "We cannot use articles which we had offered to God" are not related to Pushtimarg but to some other form of bhakti. (In fact in Pushtimarg we must use every article believing it to be the prasad of God)II6II


7  - Sevakanamyatha loke vyavahar prasidhyati ll7ll
Tathakaryamsamarpyaiva sarveshaambrahmataatatha l

Like good servant are known in world for selfless service, so are the devotees of God. By doing so (offering everything to God first) everything becomes godly for the devotee and everything offered becomes free from impuritiesII7II


8  - Gangatvamsarvadoshnam gunadoshaadi varnana ll8ll
Gangatvena niroopyasyat tadvadatraapi chaiva hi l

Just as impure water becomes Ganga after coming into contact with river Ganga, it is no longer known by it's good or bad attributes but as river Ganga only. Similarly anything offered to God becomes pure & perfectly divine once God accepts itII8II