What is True Devotion

Commonly I categorize today's Hindus in few stages.
1. Those who consider every aspect of devotion, ritual practices (Saadhana) as utter bullshit and they call all these as superstitious. They even openly and freely pass comments ignorantly with zero knowledge of the Vedas and teachings.
2. Those who don't practice any Saadhana but only seek refuge when they are in deep trouble. Sort of only remembering a doctor and getting treatment when you fall ill.
3. Those who have a strong faith but lack self confidence. They perform every aspect of Saadhanas without fail only for the sake of well being. This is similar to an insurance policy taker. Where by one perceives that only if one follows certain teachings and practice, blindly following what the Guru says, you can live happily, wealthy, your family will be safe and fine with the grace of god. They always think that HE will come to your rescue when you are in trouble if you keep doing your Saadhanas without fail. These are those, on a bad day, when they get into some trouble and God doesn't help, they would blame God and claim that, ''I served the temple, I did my prayers without fail, but God didn't save me''. They would then stop doing their Saadhanas, visiting the temple which used to be their favorite routine and even go to the extend of changing faith. These are the group of people who are most vulnerable to religion conversions and easy targets for those propagating other faiths.
4. Those who maintain a business relationship with God. These people only do their Saadhanas or pray with expectations. They 'bribe' God with fruits, milk and honey and make wishes for certain achievement. In return, they make vows. Example, a typical mother bringing garlands of flowers to be offered to a deity in a temple and prays with full devotion for her son to get through his final examination. She would vow that if that happens, she will give food (Annadhanam) and perform Abhishegam for the deity on an auspicious day. A worse dilemma, she might even vow that her son would bald his head and carry Kavadi on Thaipusam day. Here, the mother is also committing her son to her business dealing with God. *I pity her son if he is growing his hair to lure his newly found girlfriend*.
5. Those who pray and perform Saadhanas with no expectations, nothing is return, with self confidence, with true devotion and make attempts to learn and read the invaluable scripts (Vedas, Upanishad, Baghvad Gita, etc). They just do what they need to do faithfully, devotedly, sincerely and truthfully. They don't ask and they don't give. They don't make vows, and they don't lose faith or trust in God, under any circumstances. They have matured through their Saadhanas and have truly understood the facts of life. They accept that everything happens for a good reason and God is helping them to be a better soul. They consider 'HE, the almighty knows best. All I have to do is truly surrender'. Under the 10 modes of devotion (Dasa Vidha Bhakti), this is called Charanaagadhi (surrender). They will never ever fall prey to religious missions actively converting people into their faiths. No matter what hardship they go through, their belief in God and devotion only gets stronger. This devotion manifests itself into love for oneself, all living beings and love for the

God. This eventually evolves into unconditional love. Hatred towards ourselves, the people around us and enmity fades away. No matter what life throws to us, we start experiencing it with devotion and accept the outcomes as the will of the Almighty. We start digesting the fact that all good and bad happens for a good reason and it only makes us a better person.
In Mahabharatha, when Yudhistra lost the game to Gauravas, he had to surrender the Pandava Princess- Dhraubadhi. This was agreed and Yudhistra being Dharmaraja (the one who keeps his promise and abides by rules of Dharma), he reluctantly surrender Dhraubadhi to the Gauravas. They humiliated her publicly by removing her Saree. At that moment, she could only think of Krsna, the savior. She was first holding tight to her costume and yelling out the name of Krsna. At this juncture, Krsna did not come. She was helpless and felt so embarrassed. She was upset, anger filled her heart, tears rolling down her eyes. She decided that she will truly surrender to lord Krsna and she lifted her hands high up, looked up to the sky and screamed for Krsna. her embarrassment and anger was too

overwhelming that she she was no longer concerned about being stripped in public. She felt nothing worse could happen to her than this moment. All she wanted was to surrender to God. When Krsna sensed Dhraubadhi's true devotion, he came to her rescue. The Saree that was being stripped off, accumulated in piles and piles but not an inch was removed from her body. The Gauravas were shocked at this occurrence, they got tired and gave up on their ill motives.
Thirunavukarasar (Appar) recited the Namasiya Thirupathigam when the Jain king tied him to a rock and threw him into the deep sea. With his devotion to Lord Shiva, the rock become a floating bed and brought Appar to shore. He did not panic,

he did not fear death as he considered Lord Shiva the great savior will not let him drown. Appar believed that his true surrender to God will not let him down. He did not get angry with the Jain king, neither did he take revenge on the king. This is called devotion.

Idhukan pathirukinum irandhi yaaraiyum
Vidukith piraan endru vilavuvom allom
Adukathkizh kidakinum marulin naamuthra
Nadukathai kedupathu Namasivayave

Even if we we suffer great hardships, we will not beg, supplicate anyone saying that he is our savior. Even if we are being crushed under a mountain, Namasivaya will surely remove our fears by Siva's grace. For Siva always protects his devotees.