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Prayers Most
of us pray to God either regularly or occasionally. But some people ask,
"Why should you pray? Does not God know your need and should not he help
you unasked?” Indeed he knows and yet often waits for your prayer because if
he always sends the required help without being asked, you may very well be
deluded into thinking that the help was only a coincidence or chance, and not an
act of Grace! When you pray and get a response you feel closer to God, and are
inspired by God’s Love expressed in the response. Others ask, “Why should you use standard prayers? Can’t you use your own words?” You can certainly use your own words whenever you are inspired. However, the prayers used by saints and gurus, or taught by Avatars, have a special power invested in them. These prayers, using seed-sounds and/or mantras, are infused with special vibrations, the efficacy of which has been demonstrated through the ages. In spite of using such prayers, often people find that their purposes are not served. Why? Sometimes, because prayer will not overcome karma. Otherwise, because for the success of a prayer it is necessary, indeed essential, that it comes from the Heart, not merely from the lips. It must be an expression of a deep need and not greed. Also, if you have not been grateful for the Grace may not be shown again. Other times your problems or suffering may be allowed to continue in order to develop your inner strength or to help you to learn valuable lessons. Is an intermediary required to
pray on your behalf? No! If you pray from your Heart to the Loving Heart of this
Living Universe, it is heard immediately and answered appropriately!
OM Om is the origin of creation, it is the source and the sustenance and the strength. It is the Prana of every being. Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Patanjali, the original writer of Yoga Sutras, has stated that OM is the Name or Word or Sound representing God (Tasya Vacakah Pranavah). Ordinarily nama (a name) is chosen arbitrarily and has no natural or mystic relationship with the person named. Avacaka, on the other hand, is a name which has a mystic relationship with vacya, the entity designated. So in one sense, OM is God and God is OM! Not a Hindu or Christian or Muslim God, but the One God, acclaimed by all religions. OM is pronounced A - U - M. The sound 'A' indicates creation (Brahma), 'U' indicates preservation (Vishnu) and 'M' indicates dissolution (Shiva). The eloquent silence after 'M' represents the tendency to hide behind phenomena and Grace. In another sense, the sounds refer to the conscious, the semi-conscious (dream state), and the deep sleep or super-conscious states, signifying the omnipresent God in all the three states and beyond. One of the explanations of the derivation of AUM is as follows: God is infinite; so only an infinite number of words can explain him fully. Infinite number of words are, in fact, infinite number of sounds. The three primary sounds come from the three primary movements of the lips: Aa (opening the lips)"O (pursing the lips), and Mm (closing the lips). These are the sounds that create OM. (In Sanskrit A and U combine to produce 0) Om
is the composite of three sounds: A (aa) arising from the region of the navel, U
(oo) flowing through the throat and tongue, and M (mm) ending up at the closed
lip. It has to be pronounced rising in a cescendo as slowly as possible, and as
slowly coming down, until after the M there will be the echo of the silence
reverberating in the cavity of the Heart…Baba Baba recommends the repetition of OM twenty-one times. This enables the five senses of action, the five senses of perception, the five vital airs and the five vital sheaths, to be purified and clarified, bringing the individual soul into harmony with the energy of God; in short, harmonising the individual with God, As the Mandukya Upanishad says, the one who repeats OM with its trailing silence properly, merges the self in the SELF. "That leads to Abiding Peace, Youthfulness, Immortality and Fearlessness ultimately" says the Prasnopanisad. So the repetition of OM, remembering the purpose of the repetition, is actually a prayer to God for harmonising the individual will with the Divine will, and recharging one's batteries with Divine energy for inner guidance in day-to-day life. One can begin the day with OM and repeat it at any other time of the day also – there is no need for a particular posture or place. "Its constant repetition japa) and meditation on its meaning, results in the disappearance of obstacles and turning inward of consciousness." The repetition of OM can transform us: rather than being motivated by preyas (what gives pleasure for the moment), we are motivated by sreyas (what gives abiding happiness), and find our true nature to be Peace. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti SUPRABHATHAM Suprabhatham literally means ‘good morning'! (Su, good, prabhatham, morning or dawn). In Western culture, people wish each other "Good Morning." But in Indian culture this is not done, because it is considered to be the equivalent of pouring water on the leaves of a tree. For effective watering of a tree, water must be given to the roots of a tree. The root of the Tree of Life is God. So God, who is latent and immanent in all, is sought out and made patent and public. In this prayer God is visualised as sleeping and then woken up and wished "Good Morning." Of course the Divinity in us is never asleep; but unless we take at least one step towards activating it, it does not manifest itself. Such a step is the singing of Suprabhatham, and putting into practice its implications. The first two stanzas of any Suprabhatham song exhort the sleeping God in us to arise (uththista). This word is repeated four times. First, God is requested to get up in order to engage in Divine duties for the day (Kartavyam Daiva Mahnikam). Second, it reminds God that He is not an ordinary person, but one with responsibilities for the whole world. The last "please get up" addresses Him as the 'Most Merciful One' and requests Him to get up for the sake of the welfare of the world as a whole (Loka Mangalam). When we pray thus, the Divinity
inherent in us is manifested not for the sake of individual material welfare,
but for the purpose of the welfare of the whole world or at least for the
integration of the whole personality: physical, mental and spiritual. After the first two stanzas others follow, each of them ending with wishing God "Good Morning." The Venkatesa Suprabhatham, which is the most famous Suprabhatham song in India, says its first "Good Morning" to the consort of God, the Goddess who personifies Mercy and Compassion, and is said to be resident in His chest region. In the later stanzas, Lord Venkateswara of the Seven Hills (Tirupathi) is recognised as one of the forms of the omnipotent, and omnipresent, omniscient God – the originator and sustainer of the creation, the protector of His Devotees. He is also recognised and praised as the one who has descended to earth repeatedly in suitable forms for the removal of rampant evil and the re-establishment of Dharma for human beings. In the last but one stanza, He is seen as the Bridge that alone helps us to cross the ocean of life. In the Sri Sathya Sai Suprabhatham the approach is quite different. The six 'Good Mornings' are respectively said by: 1. Selfless volunteers (sevadals) in service of God 2. Singers of Soul-stirring, Heart-purifying bhajans 3. Devotees who have a special aptitude and enthusiasm in worshipping God ritually (Puja) with lamps, flowers, etc., 4. Devotees who are intellectuals like scientists, but have realised the validity of super- sensory, beyond-the-mind Truths, revealed in Scriptures 5. Devotees who are interested in knowing the Nature of Life, mo e than anything else, and have come to Prasanthi Nilayam to seek answers for their questions from the Lord 6. The totally dedicated devotees who are wedded to the Lord for life and who seek nothing except praising the Lord and implicitly obeying His will. Depending upon the levels of consciousness, different interpretations may be read between the lines of Sri Sathya Sai Suprabhatham, For example, one devotee wrote in “Sanathan Sarathi” magazine long ago that the six stanzas actually refer to six stages of spiritual awakening or of activating the spiritual centers inherent in our body. Accordingly, the Chitravathi mentioned in the third stanza represents the skeleton body, with three nadis: ida, pingala and susumna. This is an interpretation welling out of a subjective experience, which when accepted gives a different dimension and meaning to the meaning to the prayer. Devotees who have just begun their journey as spiritual aspirants should sing this Suprabhatham between 4 am and 6 am as a regular spiritual exercise. However, the maximum benefits may begin to flow only when the meaning is well understood and the implications sought are put into practise in day-today life. As Bhagawan Baba has pointed out, one must try to “awaken the Divinity inherent in everyone, not by preaching, but by the exemplary practise of Truthfulness, Right Conduct, Peace and Love towards every being.” That indeed will be the true Suprabhatham, heralding the dawn of the Golden Age for Mankind! The
Gayatri Mantra
Anyone
sufficiently acquainted with the Hindu spiritual lore, knows that
the repetition of the “Gayatri” is an important part of the ritual
worship of God. It is not only important but indispensable indeed. Before we
learn why it is so indispensably important for the
succees of any spiritual endeavour, we must get rid of some wrong notions
associated with the Gayatri:
(i)
Any three lines with the words ‘Vidmahe’, ‘dhimahi’
and ‘prachodayat’ do not constitute a Gayathri. Gayathri is a metre
in which verses, composed in Sanskrit language, consists of three lines with
eight letters in each line. (The letters in Sanskrit are often compound
syllables and are counted differently, unlike the English letters. For example,
the word ‘Bhargo’ contains six letters but in Sanskrit contains two
letters, ‘Bha’ and ‘rgo’!) Not knowing this, some people
compose what they call as Gayathris. For instance, I have come across one which
begins with the first line “Om Sri Sathya Sayeeswaraya Vidmahe” which
in Sanskrit contains twelve letters/syllables. (ii)
The Gayathri is supposed to be recited by Brahmins only. This idea is
wrong. Actually one becomes a Brahmin by the Gayathri Mantra and not by birth.
The determination of a person’s class by birth is an abherration: as the
Bhagavad Gita says, men are to be classified only on the basis of their natural
tendencies and their work. (ref: Gita:4:13). Any one can try to become a Brahmin
by adopting the spiritual practices including Gayathri recitation etc. (iii)
The Gayathri is not supposed to be recited by women. This also is an
abherration that gained currency sometime in the course of human history and not
found in the Vedic period. Bhagawan Baba has made it clear that no one is to be
barred from the recitation of the Gayathri. (iv)
The Gayathri is supposed to be recited only after a bath and in a very
calm and secluded place or on the banks of a river, water tank at dawn,
dusk etc. In a bygone era these might have been easily available but now they
are not: people especially in developing countries often live in apartments and
flat, where calm and seclusion are an exception rather than the rule and there
is a rush to go to the school, office in the mornings and return home in the
evenings. So, to impose conditions for the recitation of Gayathri
is to effectively bar its practice. That is why Bhagawan Baba has said
that the Gayathri can be recited within the mind even during commuting to and
from your work place amidst the din of traffic if necessary. Of course calm and
secluded surroundings are very conducive to the recitation and repetition of and
meditation over the Gayathri but in the absence of such conditions, the
recitation can induce inner calm which will help us to cope up with the external
noise. (v)
Traditionally, the recitation of the Gayathri is associated with the
recitation of many other verses whose purport is to welcome the goddess
personifying the Gayathri, to offer her worship and seek her blessings to purify
the place, limbs and so on. This may be done in advanced stages but for the
beginner as well as for one who is after the essence of an activity, the short
version consisting of five lines
viz.,
Om
Bhur Bhuvah Suvah
Tat Savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya
dhimahi
Dhiyo yonah
pracodayat will offer enough blessings for spirtual progress. And
now, we can see why the recitation of the Gayathri can be so valuable. The first
thing we must understand about the spiritual realm is that it is beyond the
grasp of the senses and the mind: manovakatitam
or vacamagocaram It
requires intuition and insight or what is known to theosophists as the
development of Buddhic
consciousness to comprehend spiritual truth adequately. It is in this
context that the Gayathri (also called Savita Gayathri) acts like a tuner that
catches and connects us to the sounds of the spiritual realm. If the
storehouse of spiritual knowledge is to be opened, the Gayathri
is the key. Indeed
when our minds are purified by freeing them from egos, attachments, desires,
hatred, and jealousy, they are like the limpid waters in a pool and capable of
reflecting the sun of spiritual wisdom. The Gayathri’s main function is citta
suddhi: the purification of our minds to make them fit receptacles or
reflectors of higher knowledge. This article is titled ‘The Gayathri Mantra’ and every word is significant. It is not the various Gayathris invoking the multifarious divinities that are going to be dealt with but the Gayathri also known as Savita Gayathri, apparently aimed at the sun but really targeting the ultimate Godhead known as Brahman, Allah, Holy Father etc. The
worship with the Gayathri can be done in two ways: (i) by proper recitation and
(ii) by contemplation over its implications as indicated by the
definitions ‘Gayantam trayate Gayathri’
and ‘mananat trayate mantra’: In other
words one can recite and repeat the Gayathri with proper pronunciation,
which can be learnt from proper persons or one can know the meaning of the words
and contemplate as much as possible over its implications. The
second method is perhaps more appropriate nowadays. All can not be familiar
enough with the correct method of pronouncing the words in the Gayathri which
differs from the method of pronouncing the words in other contexts. Hence the
freely translated meanings are given below:
Om
=
God
Bhur Bhuvah svah
= is omnipresent (in the
worlds perceived in wakeful, dream and deep sleep states or in the earth, the
higher and thehighest planes, all the time)
Note: This is not part of the Gayathri per se
but an essential opening statement.
Dhimahi
= let
us meditate on
Devasya
= that
effulgent God
Bhargo
= of light
supreme (of wisdom)
Tat
= that
Savitur
= source
Varenyam
= which is the most supreme and worship-worthy
Yo
= who
Pracodayat
= will
kindle and promote
Nah
= our
Dhiyo
= higher
consciousness or intelligence In
this Gayathri, we can discern the three steps required for the realisation of
the omnipresence of God. (i)
praise and worship of God, persons and things in which He is especially
manifest such as the great Saints,
the Sun etc. This is possible only if we are humble (without ego) and aspiring
to imbibe their values. (ii)
meditation or a conscious turn towards the inner world/person from the
preoccupation with the outer world/persons. (iii)
faith in and patience with God who alone can help the growth of higher
consciousness. Many people fail to harvest the fruit of the Gayathri worship
because they do not know how to pronounce the words in all their nuances in the
context of worship and commitment to
spiritual goals. Sometimes they do not fulfill the conditions for enlightenment
namely humility, readiness to imbibe higher values of life, an inner
rather than outer orientation involving introspection, detached
witnessing etc. and faith in and patience with
God’s wise ways. Meditation, to be fully effective, must be a 24-hours-a-day
activity rather than a part-time one. In other words, it is a dedication of all
activities of the day for realising the omnipresence of
God and feeling His presence within ourselves too. May
we aspire and reach that goal with the guidance and help of Bhagawan Sri Sathya
Sai Baba who has come just for that purpose. Gurus help limited number of people
towards that goal; but Avatars alone can help enormous numbers of human beings
to attain Self realisation, especially the Yuga Avatars or the Avatars for the
age. So, let us bow, in our minds, at the divine feet of Bhagawan and pray for
His Grace, simultaneously to the best of our abilities leading our day-to-day
lives in a spirit of total dedication. Like the pace maker to an ailing physical
heart, Gayathri will help in harmonising our spiritual selves with the supreme
Self present in all.
Pray
Before You Eat Sai
devotees in particular and many Indians in general are expected and exhorted to
recite (either openly or within the mind) two verses from the Gita (4:24 and
15:14) before taking their food — be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. The first
verse changes the simple and routine act of eating into a purposeful step
towards the union with God and encourages us to dedicate every physical and
mental activity to Him as a sure means of attaining Him and His qualities of
perfect love, wisdom, peace and happiness. The second verse makes us realise,
rather dramatically, the presence of God within ourselves as a matter of daily
experience rather than as some rare revelation. Before expanding on them, let us
recapitulate the verses and their meanings: Brahmarpanam Brahma havir Brahmagnou Brahmana hutam Brahmaiva
tena gantavyam Brahma
karma samadhina (4:24) Meaning:
The act of offering is Brahman (God) the offering is itself God, offered
by God in the sacred fire which is God who, in all his actions, is fully
absorbed in God. Aham
Vaishvanaro bhutva. Praninam
deham ashritah: Pranapana
sama yuktah Pachami
annam chatur vidham (15:14) Meaning:
I am Vaishvanara, the all pervading cosmic energy lodged in the bodies
of living beings. Being united with their vital forces, I consume all the
different (four) types of foods. To
elaborate: In Lord
Krishna’s time (i.e., more than 5000 years ago) it was a widely prevalent
custom in India to build up daily the sacred fire in a homa gundam
(usually a small box-like brick structure with the top open) with faggots and
dry twigs of specified plants and pour clarified butter etc.
into it as an offering to the divine powers in charge of governing the
universe. The God of fire (Agni) was perceived as the divine courier who
carried the offerings in a suitable form to all the divinities to whom they were
intended to satisfy and please. The
first verse cited above refers to this custom and says that if such an offering
is done with the clear understanding that (i) the person to whom it is offered
is God, (ii) the object offered is also basically God-given or God-made, (iii)
the fire also is a creation or manifestation of God’s powers and (iv) the soul
of the person offering the oblation is also in essence a manifestation of
God, the supersoul, the person will definitely attain union with God. In other
words, he will palpably realise and enjoy, the essential identity of his self
with the Self in all beings. Indeed,
one can engage in any activity with a similar attitude and understanding and
achieve the same culmination. For example, consider the act of eating: The
God-made stomach is the fire-altar; the God-given hunger is the fire; the eater
is the one who offers the oblation (namely the food that is eaten) and is only
God in the form of the individual soul. If the purpose of eating is to please
God and thereby live in harmony with His will or commands, the routine acts of
eating become sacred rituals of worship that will divinise the eater. So, even
in the twenty-first century, any person can conduct ritual sacrifices without
the mantras in Sanskrit etc. Not only will he be purifying and sanctifying the
food often subtly polluted by physical and mental atmospheres but also will be
achieving union with his highest self. The
fruit of action depends not only on the action per se but also the intention and
aim with which it is performed. A man who eats to satisfy the hunger of the body
alone, merely satisfies the hunger; but the man who eats for the sake of God,
reaches God Himself in course of time. All
activities can be sanctified by sacred motives and attitudes. Such feelings
transform a piece of work into worship. Even physical pleasures can be
sanctified. When truly, God is the one to which the pleasure is dedicated, the
act of lust will be purified and transmuted into love (Vision of the Divine
by Dr Funibanda -1976 Edition, 104). That
is why Lord Krishna advises in the Gita (9:27) that one can dedicate to Him all
of one’s actions and gain his Grace. This He confides as the royal road and
the king of secrets for spiritual progress. When
we sincerely dedicate all our actions to God, food becomes a gift of God,
pleasures become joyous celebrations of divine grace, difficulties of life
become penances, work becomes worship and in short all life an enjoyment of the
divine with the divine by the divine! What
if a man eats just to satisfy his hunger and taste and nothing else? Lord
Krishna says (Gita 3:13) that such a man eats but sin! In
the second verse (Gita 15:14) used in the prayer before taking food, the Lord
claims that He is the real eater and not you or me! To understand this we must
contemplate over what actually constitutes the act of eating. Putting the food
in the mouth, tasting it and spitting it out can not be called as eating.
Swallowing it without digesting and assimilating it in the least cannot be
eating. Indeed it is tacitly assumed that eating includes the whole process of
tasting, swallowing, digestion and assimilation of the food. Indeed the last
named stages are the most important parts of the process of eating and are not
in our conscious control. They are taken over instead by the vital force known
as Vaishvanara which creates hunger, digests and assimilates the different types
of food through metabolic forces (prana corresponds to anabolic and Apana
corresponds to catabolic forces). When the soul leaves the body along with the
vital forces, can there be eating? Hence the claim of the Lord that He is the
eater and not you and me. The
more we contemplate on this and the other so many involuntary systems and
processes operating in the body such as the nervous system, and the circulatory
system, we feel deeply humble and begin to perceive the hand of the Lord in our
bodies themselves. So this body wherein resides the Lord Himself becomes His
temple to keep which clean, neat, beautiful and in excellent condition becomes
our sacred duty. How happy too one can become when one realises that this body
made of flesh, blood and bones is indeed a marvellous temple for the Lord of the
Universe! It is that happiness which is bestowed upon us through this prayer. Prayer
To Our True Parent Tvameva Ma Ta ca pita tvameva Tvameva Bandhusca Sakha tvameva Tvameva
Vidya Dravinam tvameva Tvameva sarvam mama Devadeva. You alone are the father You alone are the mother You alone are the true relative You alone are the true friend You alone are the source of true knowledge You alone are the source of true wealth You are my all, O! My God of all gods
It
is reported that once Bhagawan Baba was visiting the primary school at
Puttaparthi. For reasons known to Him alone, he picked out a boy and asked him:
“Who is your parents?” The boy perhaps thought that Swami might be
the good and great God but not that good in English Grammar. So he began to
answer: “My parents are
…”, Swami stopped him short and again asked: “Who is your
parents?” with added accent on the ‘is’. The boy was feeling uneasy and
again began answering. “My parents are…” Again he was cut short. Then with
great love Swami told him: “I am both your true mother and true father. Yet I
am not two but one. So I have deliberately used ‘is’ instead of
‘are’!” How truly it is said in the Upanishad that gods are fond of
telling things indirectly (Deva paroksha priya). Bhagawan
is also known to have often asked devotees, “Where do you come from?”
repeatedly until the right answer “from You, Swami” is elicited. Indeed,
Bhagawan is the true begetter and the so-called parents are only receivers,
keepers and caretakers. This is brought out beautifully in the Tamil language by
the word ‘petrore’ which means ‘receivers’. The sooner this is
realised the better it will be, for the children as well as the parents of their
physical bodies. In
Transactional Psychology, it is pointed out that each of us act from three ego
states viz., the P (parent), the A (adult) and the C (child) states. Without
going into the ramifications of these technical words, it can be said that many
of our problems can be traced to the wrong or inappropriate instructions of our
parents and elders which were imprinted indelibly in our minds. So we are often
wrongly programmed and do not properly respond to the people and the events we
come across in our lives. As J. Krishnamurthi would say we are highly
conditioned and prejudiced and look at the world with jaundiced eyes. Already
our minds even at birth are not Tabula Rasa due to the Vasanas
(impressions and tendencies) carried over from the previous births. Add to that
the wrong influences and examples of our parents and the result is what we see
– a strife-ridden world dominated by disharmony and discontent. The
only way out is to realise or have faith that the Perfect One is our true parent
and to repeatedly check our ‘P tapes’ or wrong programmes from operating.
Our role model must be our true (Sathya) mother-father (Sai Baba). This is the
implication behind the first line of this profoundly meaningful prayer. In
the ancient scriptures it is advised that we must regard the mother and father
as gods. Indeed Bhagawan often exhorts his students to do so. But He does not
fail to point out to the elder devotees that they are not exactly good examples
to their children: Either they set bad examples of behaviour without much regard
for the five human values or they pamper them with too much (comforts etc) to live
with and too little (aim or ideal) to live for. Parents must try to
give more time, love and care to their children than money and material comforts
and further they must not hesitate to chide and punish the children when they
make mistakes. How well our true parent (God) does it! He calls us Dhunna
pothus (Buffalos) and rowdies with a show of anger when we do things wrongly
and ‘bangaru’s (golden ones) when we repent and resolve to set right
our courses. So in the present times it will be more appropriate to say: Regard
God as your mother and father! In
the second line, the devotee calls the Lord as his true relative and friend.
True in the sense that He will be with us through thick and thin and not only
when we are fine and full of felicity; that he will not only praise our good
deeds but also criticise freely when we go wrong. Anyone with enough experience
of life will know the validity of this statement for human/physical relatives
and friends are fair-weather mates more often than not. Inspired by Bhagawan’s
example, so many devotees have showered affection and care on the people who
come to our medical camps and other service camps that the people often exclaim:
“Even our relatives could not have shown so much care and affectionate regard
as you have done”. In
the third line of this prayer, it is proclaimed that the lord is the source of
knowledge and wealth. We gain knowledge through direct observation and
experience (pratyaksha), through inference using our reasoning mind (Anumana)
and through the words of others and the words conveying ideas received through
intuition, insight or divine revelation (sabda). The truest and the most
important source of knowledge is ‘sabda’ which is not only informative but
also transformative. Similarly,
wealth is not synonymous with lots of money. One can be happy and healthy and
very useful to others with less lucre and more love, less gold and more of good
values of life; if wealth is regarded as a source of happiness the latter will
be more so than the former. Since love and values of life originate in the
Lord’s love for us and in the teachings that He imparts, He then is the real
source of knowledge and wealth indeed. The last line is a summary of all that is said above. Yet another meaning too can be read in it. God is in parents, relatives, friends and the circumstances of our life that we now have, in or behind all of them. Through them God allows us to experience the results of our past and present deeds: Through good parents He teaches us with good examples worthy of following; through the not-so-good or bad ones, we are taught how not to think and do things. Through the facilities we have, the lord rewards our meritorious acts; and through the problems we face the Lord helps us to learn where we went wrong. So behind and in front and all around us there is God facilitating our growth in the understanding of our true self and concomitant wisdom and happiness. We are indeed the children of God, heirs to the legacy of His love, wisdom and bliss.
SYMBOLISM OF
NAMASKAR
The
act of getting the hands together in prayer is a universal symbol. It is the
most natural symbol of supplication. In India, the symbol has a more intrinsic
meaning and has the name ‘Namaskar’. Namaskar literally means ‘to do Namah’. ‘Namah’ is the
abbreviation of ‘Na mamah’ which simply means ‘not mine’.
This phrase was used originally in the ancient vedic ritual of sacrifices to
gods, during oblations. The implication is: What is offered is not mine but
god’s. Shedding the ‘I’ and ‘mine’, the devotee surrenders everything
to God his body, mind and spirit. In
course of time, this was symbolised by the joining together of one’s palms,
the ten fingers representing the five organs of perception (Eyes etc.) and the
five organs of action (Hands etc.) and perhaps including the five life forces (Prana
etc.) and the five sheaths of human beings (food sheath, mental sheath etc). A
more explicit way of expressing one’s total surrender to God or one’s Guru
is to do ‘Ashtaanga Namaskar’ ie., fall flat at the feet of the Guru
or God such that eight parts (Ashta Anga) of one’s body touch the ground.
Women however prefer to kneel and bend down and touch their foreheads on the
divine feet (This is known as Shaashta Anga Namaskar since only six limbs
or parts of the body are touching the ground). This
act which is so meaningful in nowadays indulged in more often mechanically than
with a full understanding and sincere intention. That is why Bhagawan Baba once
chided a devotee who tried to have a second “Pada Namaskar” on the
same day saying, “if you do it once properly and sincerely, that is enough”.
Often Bhagawan tells the devotees when a whole lot of them seek to touch his
feet, “Do the Namaskar in the mind” . An
interesting incident comes to mind in this connection: Years ago, Baba was
visiting a devotee in his house. The devotee had informed his friends and
relatives in advance about the divine visit; so, many of them had also come.
Virtually all of them prostrated at the Avatar’s feet except one who was
totally dedicated to his Guru and was so sincere that he felt he could not
surrender to another Guru since he had already surrendered to his own. Yet
he did not express his feelings. At last in deference to his friend’s advice
and to avoid being the odd man out, he prostrated at Baba’s feet and told
within himself that he was actually doing the Namaskar to his own Guru
only and not to Baba. The all-knowing Bhagawan patted on his back and said,
“Don’t worry! Your Namaskar has reached only your own Guru!” arathi to Bhagawan Baba Om
Jai Jagadeesha Harey Swaamee
Sathya Sai Harey Bhakta
Janaa Samrakshaka Partee
Maheshwaraa Om
Jai Jagadeesha Harey Victory
to the Lord of the Universe, Lord Sathya Sai, who destroys grief, evil and the
miseries of life and who guards and protects devotees. Victory to the Lord of
the Universe, Lord of Puttaparthi. Shashi
Vadanaa Shreekaraa Sarvaa Prana Patey Swaamee
Sarvaa Praana Patey Aashrita Kalpalateekaa Aapad Baandhavaa. Om
Jai Jagadesha Harey Graceful
and charming as a full Moon, O Auspicious One! O Lord Sai! Thou art the
Indweller and Life-force of all Beings, the Wish-fulfilling Divine creeper to
those, who have surrended to Thee. Thou art Kinsman, Protector and Friend in
times of distress and calamities. Victory to the Lord of the Universe. Maata
Pitaa Guru Daivam Maree Antayu Neevey Swaamee
Maree Antayu Neevey Naada
Brahma Jaganaaathaa Naagendra Shayanaa Om
Jai Jagadesha Harey O
Lord Sai! Thou art Mother, Father, Noble Teacher, Supreme Divinity and
everything to us. O Lord of the Universe! Thou art the Primeval Sound and Thou
art reclined on the coiled serpent. (Reference here is to Lord Vishnu lying on
the coiled serpent Shesha Naaga, in the Ocean of Milk – Ksheera Saagara). Omkaara
Roopa Ojaswee Om Sai Mahaadevaa Sathya
Sai Mahaadevaa Mangal
Aaratee Anduko Mandara Giridhaaree Om
Jai Jagadesha Harey O
Splendorous One! O Lord of Lords – Lord Sai! Thy Form is the Praanava. OM. We
pray Thee to accept this auspicious waving of the flame or light (signifying the
removal of ignorance) Victory to Thee, O Lord of the universe who (as
Kurmaavataara) supported the Mandara Mountain during the churning of the Milky
Ocean. Narayana
Narayana Om Sathya
Narayana Narayana Om Narayana
Narayana Om Sathya
Narayana Narayana Om Sathya
Narayana Narayana Om Om
Jai Sad Guru Devaa. Chant
the name of Lord Sathya Sai Narayana, whose Form is the Praanava. Victory to the
Noble Teacher and Supreme Lord Shri Sai Sathya Sai. Notes
: Arathi
is the finale of a Sai Bhajan session when a camphor flame is waved in front of
Bhagawan Baba or His picture. Indeed, in any Hindu home or temple, the arathi
signals the culmination of a ritual worship. This is because all rituals are the
means to have the Darshan of God and the pure camphor (which does not leave any
residue after burning) symbolises the total dedication of the devotee whose only
aim is to serve the Lord and not leave behind a name or anything else to be
remembered by. It is through the lives of such devotees, one can best ‘see’
God and understand His true nature and teachings. Since
the general meaning of the Arathi song is given above, let us here consider in
detail only the meanings and implications of the key words or phrases in it:
This will facilitate the chanting with fervour and purpose rather than as a
mechanical routine. Every
stanza in the song ends with the words “Om Jai Jagadeesa Harey”
expressing the deep desire of the devotees that God (denoted by His sound symbol
Om) must be victorious over the degrading forces of the world and assert His
rule over it. Its purport is similar to the expression in the Lord’s prayer,
“Thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. (Mathew
6:10) In
the first stanza, the Lord is described as ‘Bhakta Jana Samrakshaka’
that is, as the one who protects all the people devoted to Him. A discerning and
unbiased person may have doubts regarding this statement. After all any number
of cases can be cited where devotees have succumbed to illness or died in
accidents just as any number of cases can be cited in which devotees have been
saved from dangerous accidents or ailments. Evidently not all devotees
are protected well enough. However
imagine the following situations: a steel safe is stolen and the police recover
the money and precious jewels kept in it but not the safe itself. Should the
police be thanked for the good job done or blamed for not securing the safe? Again
let a patient go to a doctor with some minor skin problem together with a sprain
in the leg. Assume that on examination, the doctor happens to find that the
patient is having a serious heart problem, which has to be attended to
immediately. So, suppose the doctor without informing the patient (to avoid
alarming him) sends him to the ICU for cardiac treatment, ignoring his other
complaints. Has the doctor taken proper care of the patient or not? Similarly,
the omniscient Bhagawan Baba knows what is good for the soul. He knows what is
best in view of the karma of the past and tendencies in the future (births). He
does indeed what is best to the devotee and what is divinely right and just in
the given circumstances. It is reported how in several cases He has pointed out
to the relatives of deceased persons that He could have prevented the mishaps
but let them happen in their particular cases only due to considerations of long
range benefits and justice. In sum, therefore, it can be asserted that Bhagawan indeed
protects well all His devotees taking into account all the various aspects
of life. That is how Rama allowed his wife Sita to be abducted by Ravana, the
demon-king; how Krishna allowed the only son of his great devotee Arjuna to be
killed in battle; how Jesus allowed himself to be crucified though he knew about
it in advance, and so on. Next
let us consider the statement in the third stanza viz., “Aasritha
Kalpalatheeka” which means that the Lord Sai fulfills all our wishes like
the mythical creeper of the heavens. Again this also can be questioned: does the
Lord grant us all that we seek from him? Indeed
He does, if we go by the published and privately intimated experiences of many
devotees. But in many other cases, apparently, “man proposes but God
disposes.” However when one is patient and faithful enough, it will be
discovered that the granting of devotees’ desires is only postponed – not
denied: what was desired was not deserved or desirable at that point of time. In
the third stanza, the devotee claims that Baba is his mother, father, spiritual
teacher and chosen deity. In a gathering of the office-bearers of Sri Sathya Sai
Organisations sometime in the 1980s, Bhagawan quoted this and asked, “If you
are sincere in regarding me as your mother and father, what are you? Are you not
my sons and daughters? Are you conducting yourselves in accordance with that
status? Are you behaving like brothers and sisters in the Organisation?” Let
us have some introspection now and then on that. In
the fourth stanza, the Lord is described as the very personification of the
mystic sound OM, with spiritual splendour and a shining aura all over Him. He is
requested to accept the Mangala Arathi shown to him. Mangala means
auspicious. How this word is derived? ‘maam galanaa’ is Mangalam
i.e.; the dropping of ego is auspiciousness! Egolessness symbolised by the
totally self-sacrificing camphor kindles the inner light and the awareness of
the true and Eternal Self dawns in the devotee. That is the real culmination of
the arathi ritual. What remains then? Only the awareness of the omnipresent God
manifesting with different forms and names everywhere! The word ‘Narayana’
means the one who is within and without of all that is created (Ref: Narayana
Upanishad 13:1 & 2) Hence the repetition of that name at the end of the
arathi. Let us realise all this and be in harmony and peace with everyone and
everything around us. Om
Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi. The
Most Important Prayer Of Muslims (The
essence of Al-Quron)
Bismillaa
hir Rahmaanir Rahim
1.
Al Hamdu lillaahi Rabbil Aalameen 2.
Ar Rahamaanir Rahim 3.
Maaliki Yav middeen 4.
Iyyaaka nabudu Va Iyyaaka nasta een 5.
Ihdinas siraatal mustakeem 6.
Siraatalla zeena an amta alai him 7. Gairil
magzubi alaihim va lazzaalleen Meaning:
In the name of Allah, the most beneficent and merciful 1.
All praise be to Allah, the most just ruler of the worlds 2.
The most beneficent and merciful 3.
The Lord of the day of judgement 4.
You alone we worship; you alone we ask for help. 5.
Show us the straight path 6.
The path of those whom you have favoured 7.
Not (the path) of those who earn your anger or of those who go astray Notes: Before the time of Prophet Mohammad, Arabs used the
phrase ‘Bismillah’ only, which meant ‘In the name of Allah’. At that
time people believed that Allah was supposed not to be very responsive to
personal problems and prayers. But the prophet described God as the most
beneficent and merciful (Rahmaanir Rahim), quite sensitive to our problems and
responsive to our prayers. Such a perception of God was more conducive to
develop an intimacy and relationship with God and Islam grew into a great
religion closely knitting large sections of humanity. 1.
In the first sentence of this prayer, the devotee recognises the presence
of the hand of God behind all that is successful and praiseworthy. God’s grace
is the main switch and man’s effort is the room switch. Without the main
switch on, putting on the room switch is of no avail. It is interesting to note
a similar conviction in the Bhagawad Gita (18:78) and in the Bible
(Book of Job etc). 2.
The idea of the day of judgement is common to Hinduism (Refer
Chitragupta’s records of all our actions and the judgement by Yama) as well as
to Christianity (corroborated by modern discoveries in parapsychology). 3.
The sole dependence on God by the devotee is again a common feature in
the principal religions. 4.
The straight path is also known as the narrow path in Christianity and as
the razor’s edge in Hinduism. It is difficult to walk along it but the reward
is worth all the effort. As the Gita says it is like poison in the
beginning and like nectar in the end. 5.
The last part of this prayer is an echo of the last part of Lord’s
prayer in the Bible, which says ‘Lead us not into temptation but
deliver us from evil.’ SAI
BHAJANS AS PRAYERS Prema
Muditha Manase Kaho Rama Rama Ram Rama Rama Ram Rama Rama Ram Shri Rama Rama Ram Papa
Khate Duhkha Mite Leke Rama Nam Bhava Samudra Sukhada Nava Ek Rama Nam Parama
Shanti Sukha Nidhana
Divya
Rama Nam Niradhara Ko Adhara Ek Rama
Nam Mata
Pita Bandhu Sakha Saba hi Rama Nam Bhaktajanara Jivanadhana Ek Rama Nam Rama
Rama Ram, Rama Rama Ram, Rama Rama Rama Ram To pray is to express a heart-felt need and request for
its fulfilment by the grace of God. As more and more of our prayers are
answered, our gratitude mellows into love; and, as our love grows, it is
reciprocated by the increasing manifestation of God’s love for us: a virtuous
circle. As
our love deepens, the one spontaneous thing that we tend to do is to dwell on
the name of God, repeat it with love and contemplate on its associations and
implications. (I remember the case of a newly married friend bubbling with joy
on receiving the first-ever letter from his wife. It just contained one word
repeated a few hundred times – his name.) A
Sai Bhajan often is the repetition of the name or names of our beloved Lord Sai
and the dwelling on His wonderful qualities. One of the Bhajans most frequently
sung by Bhagawan Baba Himself at the conclusion of His discourses begins: Prema
Mudhitha Man Se Kaho Rama Rama Ram. To enjoy its sweetness fully, let us
understand the meanings of Hindi and Sanskrit words in it. The
word Rama in Sanskrit means ‘one who gives happiness (in all
circumstances)’. God is always happy, unconditionally. His Ananda
(ever-blissful state) is one of His prime attributes. In Rama Avatar, for
example, He is happy when he is with his parents as well as when He is taken
away from them by the sage Viswamitra on a mission. He is happy when asked by
His father to shoulder the responsibility of governing his kingdom and He is
happy on the next day too just when, before His coronation, He is exiled to the
forest for fourteen years. He is happy with the citizens of his country as well
as with a boatman who helps Him to cross the river in the forest; with the
sages, as well as with monkey-hordes in the forest. He is also happy with
Vibheeshana, a brother of the demon-king Ravana, who abducted His wife. He
happily partakes of dinners in His palace as well as the partly bitten fruit
given by his tribal devotee Sabari (who first tastes the fruit to ensure that
only the sweetest are offered to Rama.). He is Joy personified. Joy spreads
around Him in ever-widening circles. How
should His name be uttered and repeated? Not so much with honour and awe but
with love and affection; not so much with fear but with cheer, because, as Baba
has pointed out, what is needed is ‘Daiva Preethi and Papa Bheethi’
(Love of God and fear of sin). Thus, ‘take the name of the Rama with a mind
filled with love’ is the meaning of the first line of the bhajan. God is a
great and most merciful judge and an impartial dispenser of justice of Divine
laws, but definitely not a tyrannical despot. In
the next stanza it is asserted that the Divine name of Rama (if repeated with
genuine devotion and faith), will remove our sins and sorrows, and carry us
comfortably across the ocean of material life. This is very well corroborated by
the lives of saints like Valmiki of yore (who in the beginning made a living by
robbing travellers in the forest); Kabir of the 15th century (who was a
humble weaver); Tulasidas of the 16th century
(whose desire for the company of his wife was so overwhelming that once he swam
across a river dangerously in spate and then walked getting bruised amidst
thorny bushes in the dark night, on his way to her parents’ house where she
had gone for a short stay.); Bhadrachala Ramadas of the 17th
century (who spent the taxes he collected on behalf of his king for building a
temple), Tyagaraja of the 18th
century (whose musical outpourings of his love for Rama are still being sung in
concerts in South India); Swami Ramadas and Punith Maharaj of the 20th century
(in whose lives numerous miracles took place due to the constant remembrance and
repetition of Rama’s Name), and so on. The
third stanza of this bhajan says that the devoted remembrance of the name of
Rama will bestow on us supreme inner peace and happiness and provide unfailing
support even when our kith and kin desert us. This is validated in the life of
Mahatma Gandhi who remained without rancour against the British, in spite of
their brutalities against the non-violent Indian freedom fighters of whom he was
the leader. He was ever in peace, patient enough to talk to a child or attend on
a goat even in the midst of serious political discussions. How wonderfully
successful was that single man army for peace. That was due to the power of the
Name of Rama. In
the fourth stanza, it is claimed that the name of God, if remembered with deep
devotion and used as a guide for all our actions, will protect us like true
parents do. It would also help us like good relatives and friends, providing us
with the wherewithal for life. This is also proved in the lives of many saints,
notably Swami Ramadas and mother Krishna Bai of Anandashram in Western India.
(For a full account of their lives, the two volumes of In the vision of God
by Swami Ramadas are heartily recommended). Also proclaimed in this stanza is
the fact that the Name of Rama is the wealth of true devotees. A number of other
devotees of God have also gained what they needed by this kind of devotion but
their names are not recorded. The
bhajan concludes with the faster and faster repetition of the Name of Rama –
the name that is “equal in value to the thousand names of Vishnu” according
to Lord Shiva. He recommended its devoted repetition as a potent source of
Divine help for all mankind. Sai Bhajans as Prayers Sai Bhajana Bina Sukha Shanti Nahi Hari Nama Bina Ananda Nahi Prema Bhakti Bina Uddhara Nahi Guru Seva Bina Nirvana Nahi Sai Bhajana Bina Sukha Shanti Nahi Japa Dhyana Bina Sanyoga Nahi Prabhu Darshan Bina Pragnana Nahi Daya Dharma Bina Satkarma Nahi Bhagawan Bina Koi Apana Nahi Sai Nama Bina Paramatma Nahi In the last issue, the meanings and implications of the words in the Bhajan, ‘Prema Mudhitha Manse Kaho Rama Rama Ram’ was discussed; here those of the Bhajan ‘Sai Bhajan Bina’ which is also one of the Bhajans most frequently sung by Bhagawan Baba are sought to be elaborated. May Bhagawan Baba’s grace help and guide us in this endeavour! Rather than beginning from the first line of the song and following the same order, it will be more appropriate to dwell on the lines in the order here chosen: 1) Bhagawan Bina Koi Apna Nahi In the course of their lives, human beings realise at one stage or another that it is very rare to have relationships or friendships that are permanent in their intensity or extent of involvement and interest. A man may vow allegiance to his wife forever and ever but when she dies, he may soon marry another or think of her less and less as days pass on. The same is true of a woman. Other interests and concerns develop and overshadow the former memories. Similarly, parents shower affection on their children and vice versa but a time often comes when mutual expectations are belied and they take to different paths and goals of life. Indeed this is the fate of all relationships and friendships – At the most, they may be maintained in one birth. In the succeeding births, new experiences are sought with different persons for self-realisation or spiritual progress. That is why it is pointed out in this line that except God, there is no one whom you can claim as your own forever and forever. He alone is permanently yours (because He is the essential Self of yourself) and the one on whom you can depend upon for all your needs all the time. 2) Sai Nath Bina Paramatma Nahi If God is our true and sole source of support and sustenance, how to relate to him? If He is formless and nameless, an abstract invisible entity only, it will be very difficult for human beings who seek to have God’s love demonstrated at their own level. Hence, God takes human form as in the present Avatar of Sathya Sai Baba. It is wonderful to listen to him proclaiming and assuring us that but for Sai there is no one who is the Avatar of God in the present age. Paramatma means the Highest soul or super-soul. Essentially He is formless like the water vapour in the air. We know water is there in air as vapour but we cannot quench our thirst with it! It has to condense enough and become liquid water! And just as it assumes the shape of the container, God assumes a form and name and a set of characteristics perceived by Him as the most appropriate for the needs of mankind at a particular period and peace. Now that Bhagawan is here on earth, one can relate to him as one’s true mother or true father or true brother, friend etc and find him perfectly reciprocating our love and affection! 3) Prabhu Darshan Bina Pragnana Nahi The Avatar is on earth with the specific purpose of lifting up people from the morass of materialism since they themselves cannot come out of it with their own efforts. What the Avatar does when He gives Darshan to people is to shower high-energy spiritual vibrations on them that activate their inner potential for higher consciousness (Pragnan) beyond the mental level. Without this consciousness, faith in the invisible forces in this universe, faith in the Self or Soul that is the driving force behind the mind-body complex etc is virtually impossible to attain and maintain. This is corroborated in the Bhagavad Gita too (II: 59). Even St. Paul became a Christian only after he had the darshan of Jesus Christ in his divine form. Hence, the first step in spiritual progress is to have darshan of the Avatar or the Lord (Prabhu) either physically or mentally through reading books about Him etc. 4) Daya Dharma Bina Satkarma Nahi Bhagawan says that His darshan is very powerful but its effect can be sustained only if the person follows it up with good actions (Sat Karma) in general and with Daya Dharma i.e., Compassionate service to the less fortunate fellow-beings. If one wants help from the Lord, one has to help others; if one wants forgiveness from the lord, one has to begin forgiving others! 5)
Japa Dhyana Bina Samyoga Nahi The more we know about the Avatar, the more we love Him and seek to be united with Him or be like Him in as many ways as possible. This goal is denoted by the word Samyoga and consists of four steps namely Salokya, Sameepya, Saroopya and Sayujya i.e., to be in the same place where the Lord is, to be as near Him as possible, to be like him as much as possible and to be one with Him so that the difference between Him and the devotee no longer exists: The devotee becomes a limb so to say of the extended body of the Avatar. A little thought and imagination will show that this process is not possible with the habitual tendencies of our physical senses and mental faculties to reach out to the material world and grab as much of it as possible for selfish enjoyment. Rather, a diametrically opposite tendency namely an inward orientation has to be developed for the purpose. For this, not jumping for a variety of experiences but restricting to and concentrating on the experience of the Lord’s peace and bliss become imperative i.e., Japa and Dhyana are essential to achieve ultimately the union with the beloved lord. 6) Sai Bhajana Bina Sukha Shanti
Nahi Japa and Dhyana are quite difficult to the mind, which is accustomed to overt activity. So to get the mind turn inward towards intuition and insight, what is to precede Japa and Dhyana is Bhajan. It is an overt activity and at the same time, its focus is not on the external world but on the inner realms. It is an appetiser taken before the dinner of Japa and Dhyana, and, to the beginner it gives great pleasure and peace (Sukha and Shanti). 7) Prema Bhakti Bina Uddhar Nahi Devotees, according to the Gita, are of four types: Those who seek succour for relief from physical problems; those who seek help to get more money, status, fame etc; those who seek to know the ‘why and what for’ of human life; and, those who seek the Lord for His own sake, for the abiding peace and bliss and ultimate wisdom that is gained through Him. In the fourth type of devotion God is not a Means to some worldly Ends but the End or the Goal itself for which human life is only a means. Such devotion is known as Prema Bhakti. Until this devotion dawns, there is no possibility of ‘Uddhar’ i.e., liberation from the cycle of births and deaths in this world of dualities. 8) Hari Nama Bina Ananda Nahi God is also known as Hari - the destroyer (of evil or evil qualities or of starkly materialistic tendencies). When Prema Bhakti dawns, all such qualities and tendencies are destroyed and the devotee derives immense bliss (Ananda) by remembering and repeating the name of the Lord. That is why it is said that in Heaven, devotees untiringly praise the Lord, singing His name. 9) Guru Seva Bina Nirvana Nahi Bhagawan Baba once spoke about Vibhishana (brother of the Demon Ravana) and Hanuman (the monkey-faced lieutenant and devotee of Lord Rama): It seems Vibhishana asked Hanuman the reason for the bountiful grace of Rama showered upon him though both were devotees of Rama. Hanuman seems to have said: it is not enough to express the devotion through Japa, Dhyana, Bhajan etc; one must serve the lord in activities that will help others or help the spread of his mission. Since Hanuman did so, Rama favoured him more than Vibhishana. In Chandogya Upanishad also, Satyakama, Jabala is ordered by his guru to look after the cows and calves of the Ashram for many years. This service to the Guru made him eligible for Self Realisation or ultimate liberation known as Nirvana. That is why Bhagawan Baba also advises the devotees to engage in selfless service activities in poor villages and slums and other places. This also accumulates enough merit that qualifies for the grant of Nirvana. Without Guru Seva, one can be happier, peaceful, and wise than others but still bound to the world. Only seva according to the direction of the Guru can ensure ultimate merger with the divine – the attainment of the summum bonum of human life. In this context it will be appropriate to recall an incident in the life of Swami Vivekananda: He was pestering his master (Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa) for bestowing upon him the experience of Samadhi in which the non-duality of all is palpably felt. One day the master did induce in him that experience for a short while. When he came out of the sublime state of samadhi, the Guru said, “you have to serve me and through you my mission has to spread. So, I am locking up the door to your Nirvana through Nirvikalpa Samadhi. When you complete the work, the door will be opened by me.” It so happened indeed
BHAJANS
AS PRAYER Bhagawan
Baba used to conduct Bhajans even in his boyhood with his classmates. Most of
the songs in those Bhajans were in praise of the protective aspect of God
descending in the forms of various Avatars for the establishment of
Righteousness, the protection of the good people and the prevention of the
proliferation of evil tendencies. A good number of the songs were especially
devoted to the deity at Pandarpur variously known as Krishna, Narayana, Pandari
Nath and Panduranga but most commonly and fondly called Vittala or
Vittoba. To appreciate this peculiar name given to the Lord which means
‘the one who stands on a brick’, we must know the story of Pundarika
which is as follows: Long
ago, there lived in a village in Western India, a very great devotee of God with
his wife. The couple were childless for long and after sustained prayers,
austerities and offerings, were blessed with a son. He was named Pundarika. They
pampered him and doted upon him so much that he was thoroughly spoiled and grew
up into a lad with all bad habits. He forced them to give him money for
gambling, to go to prostitutes etc. so often that they lost all their wealth and
became very poor. Yet their son pestered them for money and scolded them with
very bad and harsh words. They cried to the Lord most pitiably for an escape
from this wordly life or at least from their son’s torments. At
that time, a group of pilgrims came to their village and stayed there for a rest
in the middle of their long journey by foot to Kasi (now known as Varanasi or
Benares). The old and poor couple decided to join them. Unfortunately
the son also joined the group and also managed to a get a horse to ride on. The
old parents resigned to their fate and tottered on by foot while their young and
able-bodied son trotted on a horse! After several days, they happened to camp
under a large Banyan Tree for the usual rest. It was a forest area but near
their tents was an ashram of a great saint by name Kukkuda Rishi. In
the early hours before the dawn, Pundarika woke up and then he saw three women
entering the ashram! He grew suspicious and decided to keep watch! The
women who looked poor and dirty came out very soon from the ashram and began to
clean the premises. Soon they re-entered and evidently after leaving the brooms
and buckets inside, came out. And this time they were resplendent in looks and
in their dress! There was something so other-worldly or superhuman about them,
that Pundarika spontaneously ran towards them and prostrated before them! To his
humble query about their identities they answered that they were the deities of
the sacred rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari! They further revealed that since
they took on the sins of the devotees who bathed in the sacred rivers, they
became dirty and mundane. To regain their powers and purity they had come to
serve Kukkuda Rishi’s Ashram! Suddenly after saying this they disappeared! Pundarika
was dumb-founded at the revelation and was soon at the feet of the great saint,
requesting him to reveal the mode of worship which made him so powerful and
purifying. The saint said, “My dear son, God is everywhere and in everyone. It
follows that He is immanent in one’s parents also. So taking them as living
idols of God, I serve them to the best of my ability. That is all.” Pundarika
was surprised and shocked at this answer and filled with remorse and true
repentance for the cruelties heaped by him on his parents. He ran to them and
fell at their feet. The old couple began to tremble at the thought of what could
follow but soon realised that the son had turned a new leaf. Pundarika
decided to stay there itself serving his parents. So he built a small hut out of
mud and some palm leaves for them and did his best to feed, clothe and take care
of them in every possible way within his capacity. The more he adopted this mode
of worship, the more his sins were wiped out and great merit began to accumulate
in his spiritual account! The
Lord was pleased to reward him and decided to give him His darshan in his
bewitching super natural form with four hands, the wheel of time, the Lotus of
wisdom, etc. When he thus appeared near him, Pundarika was preoccupied in
feeding his parents and so told the Lord, “Oh Lord! You have granted me this
darshan only because of my worshipping you in the form of my parents. So I
don’t want to stop my service to them in the middle. Kindly wait until I
finish my service!” The
Lord was very happy at this ‘Service-worship’ and continued to stand there!
But Pundarika suddenly realised that it was ordinary good manners to offer a
seat for a guest coming to the house and how sinful it must be to make the
supreme Lord Himself stand on the floor without offering a seat. Unfortunately, there was no chair or anything like it
in the hut. However, of late he had been making some bricks with a view to build
a better residence for his parents in times of rain, winter, etc. Thinking
quickly he told the Lord, “My dear Lord! I have only a brick to offer for your
seat! Please use it and don’t stand on the bare floor!” The
Lord was amused but accepted the brick so lovingly offered to him! When
Pundarika came back from the service to his parents, he was asked to seek any
boon from the Lord. But overwhelmed by the utmost compassion and unassuming
simplicity of the Lord, he requested Him to stay on in that place in the form of
an idol standing on a brick and shed His grace on His worshippers. The Lord
agreed and hence the name Vittala or Vittoba! The
Lessons and revelations from this wonderful episode must be obvious and may we
sing the Vittala Bhajans remembering them and being guided by them in our daily
life. If
we do so, our day to day life itself will become a prayer that draws forth the
love and grace of the most compassionate and loving Lord of the Universe.
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