Nine Ways Of Salvation

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Nine Ways Of Salvation

 

I HE purpose for which we have taken a human body with all the faculties is

only to know the Innermost self which is identical with the Paramatma

(Supreme Being). So, our endeavour should be to search within and cleanse

our heart of all impurities arising out of Raga and Dwesha and fill it with

the divine nectar of devotion to the Lord. Though there are several paths to

attain emancipation, the easiest and the one declared by Brahma and great

saints as suitable to this age of Kali is the Bhakti Maiga. Bhakti is to

adore God with body, mind and word. If we develop intense devotion of God

(Para Bhakti), we can quickly attain His Lotus feet.

 

Nava Vidha Bhakti or nine types of devotion, has been described in our

spiritual treatises. They are Sravana (hearing the glory of God), Kirtana

(singing His glory), Smarana (remembering Him always), Padasevana (falling

at His Holy feet in Sarana-gati), Archana (worship with mantras, flower,

fruit, milk, water etc.), (Service to God and His creation), and Atma

Nivedhana (dedication of Self and everything to God in sacrifice as

Iswarar-pana). Sri Sai Baba stressed the need for every aspirant cultivating

these nine forms of bhakti for attaining peace and freedom from bondage

(Samsara).

 

Sravana is the easiest for any devotee who has an ear for divine Bhajan and

discourses (Sat Sang) on the lilas or glories of the Lord. We shall discuss

Smarana and Kirtana in this article to see how best they can be practised

while discharging one's duty.

 

Smarana is " remembrance " of God. The Divine Name is undoubtedly a great

fire which will burn the huge slock of one's sins accumulated in a series of

births like a pile of hay. So if one can remember the Nama always wherever

one may be, in whatever work one may be employed, in prosperity and in

adversity, in joy and sorrow, day and night, in Jagratha, Swapna and

Sushupti Avastas (wakefulness, dream and sound sleep), then one can surely

attain the Lord. There is no doubt about this.

 

The Lord has described such exclusive remembrance and its effect in the

following verses of the " Gita" which should be committed to memory by every

aspirant:

 

"OPartha, I am easily attainable by that steadfast Yogi who constantly

remembers Me daily, not thinking of any other thing (with single minded

devotion).

 

" Having attained me, these Mahatmas or great souls do not again take birth

which is the source of pain and is non-eternal, they having reached the

highest perfection (Moksha)." The remembrance! should be constant and not

casual, the Lord has stressed.

 

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said, " Chant the name of Hari, morning and

evening, keeping time all the while by clapping your hands; all your sins

and afflictions will then leave you. If you clap your hands standing under a

tree, the birds sitting on it will fly away; so, if you chant the name of

Hari clapping your hands at the same time the birds of evil thoughts Will

fly away from the tree of your body, " The Holy Mother, Sri Saradaraani

Devi, said; " The Divine Name (Mantra) purifies the body. Man becomes pure

by repeating the Name of God. As the wind removes the cloud, so the name of

God destroys the cloud of worldliness."

 

The great saint, Kabir, beautifully describes this in the following

memorable words : " Remember God just as a lover remembers his lady-love

always, remember Him as the cow always, even while grazing in a far

off forest, thinks of its calf; recollect God as a pauper "who thinks of

the few annas he has saved and which he counts often and often ; merge

all your thoughts on God just as the deer is completely absorbed in the

music of the Veena; develop deep attachment for Him similar to that of the

moth for the flame (the moth does not hesitate to hug the fire even though

it is burnt) ; concentrate all your thoughts on God even as the insect is

absorbed in the bee and, lastly, have that intense devotion and love

towards God just as the fish has for water which is its life itself and

separation from which it cannot brook even for a moment,''

 

If every one were to follow this valuable advice and remember God every

moment everywhere ceaselessly, even when going through the daily duties,

performing them sincerely as sacrifice to God, without any hope of reward,

without expectation of praise and without any fear or favour and spend all

the leisure in meditation without wasting even one minute in idle talk or

gossip, this world can become, in reality, Vaikunta and through the grace of

Hari all of us can attain eternal peace sooner or later according to the

intensity of devotion developed by each. In this, there is no loss of

effort,

 

Saint Sayings

 

The noblest Vengeance is to forgive*

By three methods we learn wisdom; first by reflection which is the noblest;

second, by imitation which is the easiest; and third by experience, which is

the bitterest.

 

Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the use of the body as the tenant

pays house rent for the use 6f the *

Eat to your satisfaction in the day but let your meal at night be light and

small in quantity.

 

Happiness is contagious. One cannot be happy Without expressing it towards

one's neighbour and to all the world. Let us seek to give happiness to

others and we shall get it ourselves.

To get good is animal, to do good is human, to be good is

divine.

 

H. H. SWAMI KESAVAlAHJl'S SELECTIONS

 

(Adopted from the Book Pearls of Wisdom by His Holiness Swami Kesavaiahji)