I DESIRE TO SEE NOTHING BUT YOU

 
A worship may be sincere, it may be from the heart, but if the worshipper offers it with the expectation of any return, whether in the shape of worldly benefits, or for blessings in the life hereafter, his worship is Sahkam. And this Sahkam is generally connected with the first stage of Bhakti Yoga.

When worship from the heart is offered for the sake of worship only, and without any thoughts of reward in this life or the next, it is called Nishkam, and is concerned with the second and the third stage of Bhakti Yoga.

True, the aspiration to see and be one with God is the chief motive of the highest worship, but this aspiration is poles asunder from worldly desires. This aspiration is such that even when one comes face to face with God, it remains in full blaze until the Union is effected — as evident from what Hafiz exclaimed when he reached the sixth plane, viz:

Khatiram vakhti havas kardi kay binam chizha
Ta toora didam na kardi jooz ba didarat haves!

I always desired to see different things, but
Since seeing You, I desire to see nothing but You!

Efforts may be made to turn Sahkam Bhakti into Nishkam Bhakti even in the first stage. In the beginning worship is necessarily Sahkam. A man may cease to worship God for the sake of temporal gains. But it seldom happens that, while worshipping, a man in the initial stage can help avoiding thoughts for reward in the life to come and although this Sahkam Bhakti is nothing but beggary, it is all the same the beginning of true Bhakti, for, while begging directly or indirectly of God for any kind of favors, the worshipper sincerely praises God. Because the praise, actuated by the thoughts of gain, is from the heart, it is likely to turn into disinterested praise, which in turn leads to Nishkam Bhakti.