To understand devotee, we need to know devotion which is the emotion/ complete dedication towards the higher reality or God/ Divine. In Sanskrit devotion is Bhakti that is derived from the root word “Bhoj” which means “to worship”. So the person who worships God is a devotee.
So, why human worship God? This is clarified by Lord Sri Krishna in Srimad Bhagvat Gita Chapter 7, sloka 16 (Gyan -Vigyan Yoga- Knowledge of the absolute)
चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जना: सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन |
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ || 16||
chatur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛitino ’rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī cha bharatarṣhabha
O best amongst the Bharatas, four kinds of pious people engage in My devotion—the distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of worldly possessions, and those who are situated in knowledge.
These are four kinds of Bhaktas
- Arta/ the distressed:
- Jigyasu/ The inquisitive
- Artharthi/ desirer of wealth
- Jnani/ seeker of knowledge of absolute
Arta: Arta is the person who is suffering and come to the Supreme/Lord/ Ishwar to get relief from the suffering. The suffering may be due to Chronic incurable illness or whose life is in threat (due to natural calamity, attack by dacoit/ enemy, animal etc).
In Odisha, on Magha Purnima, Lord Sri Jagannatha (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) dress up in a special kind of attire called Gaja Udhharana Besa, which signifies how the king of elephant was saved by him. In popular devotional song (in Odisha) it is mentioned (written by Bhakta Kabi Salabega)
ଆହେ ନୀଳ ଶଇଳ ପ୍ରବଳ ମତ୍ତ ବାରଣ
ମୋ ଆରତ ନଳିନୀ ବନକୁ କର ଦଳନ ।
ଗଜରାଜ ଚିନ୍ତା କଲା ଥାଇ ଘୋର ଜଳେଣ
ଚକ୍ର ପେଷି ନକ୍ର ନାଶି ଉଦ୍ଧାରିଲ ଆପଣ ।
କୁରୁସଭା ତଳେ ଶୁଣି ଦ୍ରୌପଦୀର ଜଣାଣ
କୋଟି ବସ୍ତ୍ର ଦେଇ ହେଳେ ଲଜ୍ଜା କଲ ବାରଣ 9
āhe nīḷa saiḷa prabaḷa matta bārana
mo arata naḷinī banaku kara daḷana.
Gaja Gajaraja chinta kala thai ghora jalena,
Chakra peshi nakra nashi, uddhrile aapana!
Kurusabha tale suni Draupadi ra janana,
Koti bastra dei hele lajja kala barana!
Translation:
O o resident of the blue mountains
I plead you to vanquish the lotus-forest of my agonies.
When elephant king invoked you in deep waters
you sent the chakra and saved him from the crocodile.
In the Kuru court Draupadi called you,
you sent her infinite cloth and saved her dignity.
In this song, very beautifully, the devotees Arta are explained.
Here it is mentioned about the Gaja Hasti (king of elephants), who worshiped Narayan / Ishwar when a crocodile attacked him . Lord Vishnu saved his life after killing the crocodile.
Lord Krishna saved Draupadi when attempt was made to disrobe her, in Kurusabha.
2. Jijnasu/ The inquisitive:
In Sanskrit the term ‘Jijnasu’ is derived from the root word Jna means to inquire or to seek knowledge. He is the kind of devotee who worships god to have or to acquire knowledge. They are curious about Brahman. They read scriptures and other literatures from Saints and try to figure out ways and means to discover greater depths of infinite presence of God.
The best example is Sri Uddhav and the conversation between Sri Uddhava and Lord Sri Krishna is mentioned in the Uddhava Gita.
3. Artharthi/ the seeker of wealth:
The Sanskrit meaning of this comes from ‘Artha’ and ‘Arthi’
Artha means – Money
Arthi- means love
So, he is a devotee who prays God when he needs money or earthly possessions, land etc.
The example of it is Druva . To get his father’s love /affection Druva did a rigorous Tapasya and in the end Lord Vishnu please by his Tapa , offered im a state where he would become a celestial body and would not be touched by Maha-pralay means natural calamities.
5. Jnani/ Seeking absolute knowledge:
The Sanskrit root word is Jnana means wisdom or knowledge. These are the kind of devotees who prays or worships God for the knowledge of absolute. He attains self-illumination. Janani is the one where his knowledge was born out of direct witness. They are not bound by the physical body as they realise the ultimate truth.
The example of Jnani is Maharshi Suka deva, the son of Maharshi Vyasa. He is the main narrator of the Bhagavat Purana to king Parikshita.
Another example is Bhakta Surdas, a blind person from birth who wrote many devotional poem in the praise of Lord Krishna.
In sloka 17 of Chapter 7, Srimat Bhavat Gita , Lord Krishna has explained One who is full of knowledge and who is always engaged in the pure devotional services , for him I am very dear to him and he is dear to me.
Anyone who has come to the lord with pure heart, gets whatever he prays/wishes for; as without his approval no-one could get anything whether its human, Rishis.
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