Sincerity in Worship.

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakta-s:

 

SrI Mani's article reminding us of the significance, simplicity, and

importance of nAma samkIrtanam is a welcome refresher to me on the

effort He made me start a couple of years back. As Bhakta-s in this

list know, this effort is moving at snail's pace to the point that the

real purpose of BhIshma giving us this great stotram through vyAsa is

not in the forefront of my mind constantly, as it should be. The

importance of sincerity in our offerings to Him can be seen by how the

gopi-s had kRshNa under their sway, even though their "knowledge-level"

was such that "they did not know the difference between their right

hand and left hand". The story of prahlAda is an illustration of the

power of sincerity in the worship we offer to Him.

 

Simple nAma samkIrtanam which requires essentially no effort other than

sincerity, even without knowing the meanings of the nAma-s, will over

time give the devotee the mental maturity to perform prapatti. svAmi

deSikan refers to the efficacy and power of nAma samkIrtana in acyuta

Satakam which we covered a few days back. The significance of looking

into the meanaings of the nAma-s just adds another dimension to the

anubhavam of bhagavAn's guNa-s, which is what we are doing when we look

into what each of His nAma-s say about Him. Often I have referred to

how svAmi deSikan feels when he has the darSanam of the arcA mUrti of

devarAjap perumAl, varadarAjap perumAL, Lord ra'nganAtha, etc. (He only

thinks of the Lord's compassion towards His devotee

as in the case of prahlAda, His protecting His devotees by destroying

the evil asura-s such as rAvaNa, His being the Master of all including

the Sun, the moon, etc., and his excitements knows no bounds when He is

in presence of the arcA mUrti). I see this as equivalent to the

anubhavam of a devotee who chants bhagavAn's nAma-s while feeling the

significance of the nAma. On the other side, hre I am who goes to the

temple and stands in front of bhagavAn's arcA tirumeni, and all I can

do is ask for more pleasures, more comfort, etc. What is precisely

lacking in me is the sincerity while offering the worship. Being

constantly reminded of bhagavAn's guNa-s, I hope, can over time help

develop this sincerity that is essential. This is the spirit in which I

am learning the meanings.

 

The first three or four write-ups I submitted delve a bit deeper into

some of the above thoughts. Thanks again to SrI Mani for reminding us

of the "trivial" things such as nAma samkIrtanam, through which our

PerumAL just immediately gets pleased, and gives us moksham in return

as if we have given Him something too valuable and precious.

 

-dAsan

 

_______

 

Get your free @ address at