Next is Bhakthi without any other thought or feeling, Ananya-bhakthi. When grief overtakes you, you run to God. When Sankata overpowers, you take refuge in the Lord of Venkata. When joy is restored, you throw Him overboard. When you are down with fever and your taste is ruined and your tongue is bitter, you crave for some hot pickle; but when the fever subsides, you are normal again, you do not relish the same pickle. Bhakthi is not a temporary slave. It is the unbroken contemplation of God without any other interposing thought or feeling.
Whatever the activity, or recreation or talk, it must be saturated with the love of God. That is Ananyabhakthi. Thereafter comes Ekanthavasam, dwelling in solitude. One must be fond of being alone. This does not mean keeping the body in some solitary place, far from the haunts of men. There must be solitude and silence in the mind; all its occupants must be forced or persuaded to quit. The mind should be Nir-vishaya, contentless, turned away from the objective world.
The eighteenth virtue which helps to promote Jnana is mentioned as absence of interest in the company of men; that is to say, absence of the desire to mix with people engrossed in affairs that concern the objective world. One can attain equanimity even in the midst of wild animals; but it is difficult to win it while among worldly-minded men. Sadhana will be affected by the company one keeps. Good men keep you good; bad men drag you away into badness.
Of course, it is hard to find out who are good and who are bad and then settle among the good. So, it is advisable to avoid people and concentrate on Sadhana. The human mind is like iron; if it falls in mud, it rusts and disintegrates; if it falls into fire, it loses dross and becomes pure. Therefore, if a man joins the company of Jnanis, it is better than being in solitude. Note how Narada, who was the son of a housemaid, became a Rishi because he fell in the company of good men; Rathnakara who was a cruel hunter got the company of the seven Rishis and so he was transformed into the first among poets, the Adikavi. Evil company is highly detrimental. A red hot iron ball is capable of causing more damage than a flame of fire; a sinful man is more to be avoided than sin itself. Sadhakas have to be vigilant about the company they keep.
The nineteenth virtue is the "awareness of the distinction between Atma and Anatma." Fix your consciousness always on the Atmic reality and discard the body and the senses as unreal and impermanent. Atma is the eternal; so establish yourself only in that and not in the transient non-Atmic illusions or objects. Life is a struggle to achieve victory over the illusion which haunts: "I am the eternal Atma in you and in all. So fix the mind on Me and engage yourself in the struggle, confident of victory."
