NARAYANEEYAM Part -8

[Guest guest]

Note: Please read the Introduction

if you have not already read it)

 

Namaste.

Sloka No. 22 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 91 - 2):

 

bhUman kAyena vAcA muhurapi manasA tvad-bala-preritAtmA

yadyat kurve samastaM tadiha paratare tvay-yasA-varpayAmi /

jAtyApIha shvapAkas-tvayi nihita-manaH-karma-vAg-indriyArtha-

prANo vishvaM punIte na tu vimukha-manAs-tvat-padAd-vipravaryaH

//

 

Tr. Oh All-Pervading Being! Whatever I do with the body, speech

and mind prompted by thy Power (expressing as tendencies from

within), all that I offer at the feet of Thee, the Supreme

Spirit. Even if a person be of low birth, if he has resigned his

mind, power of action, speech, senses and vital energies at Thy

feet, he sanctifies the worlds. But not so even if he is a

Brahmana by birth, if his mind is turned away from Thee.

 

Comment. Now comes what exactly should be done by a seeker of

the Ultimate. To start on this path one has to remember Gita IX

– 27 constantly:

yat-karoShi yad-ashnAsi yajjuhoShi dadAsi yat /

yat-tapasyasi kaunteya tat-kuruShva mad-arpaNaM //, meaning,

'Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in

sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever you practise as an

austerity, Oh Arjuna, do it as an offering unto Me'.

 

Sloka No. 23 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 91 - 6):

 

bhUtAny-etAni bhUtAtmakam-api sakalAn pakshi-matsyAn mR^igAdIn

martyAn mitrANi shatrUn-api yamita-matis-tvan-mayAny-AnamAni /

tvat-sevAyAM hi siddhyen-mama tava kR^ipayA bhakti-dArDyaM

virAgas-

tvat-tattvasy-Avabodho'pi ca bhuvanapate yatna-bhedaM vinaiva //

 

Tr. Having disciplined my mind to see Thy presence in

everything, I shall salute all beings – the five elements and

all the products of their combinations as also these living

beings like birds, fish, animals and men, including friends and

enemies. Thus following the path of devotion, I shall, through

They Grace, attain to deep-rooted God-love, dispassion and

knowledge of They truth-nature simultaneously.

 

Comment. All religious and spiritual observances finally are

tantamount to the development of the attitude whereby one sees

the Lord in everything. 'He who sees Me everywhere and sees

everything in Me, never becomes separated from Me nor do I

become separated from him' (Gita VI – 30). 'He sees, who sees

the supreme Lord existing equally in all beings, the unperishing

within the perishing' (Gita XIII – 27). 'Because he, who sees

the same Lord equally dwelling everywhere, does not destroy the

self by the self, he goes to the highest goal' (Gita XIII –

28).'He who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all

beings, hates none. To the illumined Soul, who sees everything

as a manifestation of his own Self, how can there be delusion or

grief since he sees only oneness?' (Isopanishad, Verses 6 and

7).This sloka therefore, may be used for continuous meditation

and fixed contemplation by dwelling (nidhidhyAsana) on the

meaning.

 

Sloka No. 24 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 96 - 8):

 

nirviNNaH karma-mArge khalu viShama-tame tvat-kathAdau ca gADhaM

jAta-shraddho'pi kAmAn-ayi bhuvana-pate naiva shaknomi hAtuM /

tad-bhUyo nishcayena tvayi nihita-manA doSha-buddhyA bhajans-tAn

puShNIyAM bhaktimeva tvayi hR^idaya-gate manGkShu nanGkShyanti

sangAH //

 

Tr. Oh Lord of all the worlds! Even after developing revulsion

to the extremely difficult life of adherence to Vedic ritualism

and cultivating deep faith in the discipline of listening to Thy

deeds and excellences, I am not able to abandon all the desires

of my heart. I shall therefore try to overcome these by

resorting to them with a discriminative mind that is fully aware

of the harmfulness and is firmly fixed on Thee. I shall

strengthen my devotion to Thee; for when You reside in the

heart, worldly attachments perish in no time.

 

Comment. The significant words here are: 'kAmAn naiva shaknomi

hAtuM' that is, 'I am not able to cull out my desires'. The is

the million dollar problem of every one. And the only remedy is

as stated here: Discriminative mind; awareness of the

harmfulness of the non-spiritual path; and strengthening of

one's devotion to the Lord. This is the royal road to

spirituality. Has not the Lord said, 'Even if the worst sinner

worships me, with devotion to nothing else, he too should indeed

be regarded as righteous, for he has rightly resolved'? cf. Gita

Ch.IX – 30 :

api cet sudurAcAro bhajate mAm-ananyabhAk /

sAdhurevea sa mantavyaH samyag-vyvasito hi saH //

'He has taken the first step', says the Lord. And Sathya Sai

Baba used to say: 'If he takes one step towards me, I will take

ten steps towards him!'.

So when temptations are there for the mind to stray away from

its spiritual moorings, the only monitor for the discriminative

mind is the Lord within. Even Sankara, for the benefit of us

ordinary mortals, gives us strong forceful prayers, like the

following one, that one can imbibe and make it come from one's

innermost heart. This one is Sloka No.20 of Sivananda-lahari:

sadA mohATavyAm carati yuvatInAM kuca-girau

naTaty-AshA-shAkhAsu aTati jhaTiti svairam-abhitaH /

kapAlin bikSho me hr^idaya-kapim-atyanta-capalaM

dR^iDhaM bhaktyA baddhvA shiva bhavad-adhInaM kuru vibho //

meaning, Oh Lord Shiva, (The mind) constantly dwells on the

sensualities of the woman's form, and dances on the hopes and

desires generated by such thoughts. Oh Lord with the skull as

the begging bowl, please deign to bind my extremely fickle

monkey-mind, tightly with (the rope of) devotion and make it

totally subservient to You!

 

(To be continued)

 

praNAms to all Guruvayurappa Bhaktas!

profvk

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought

Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the

site.

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--

Krishna Prasad

 

.. Yad yad aacarati sreshtah, tad tad eva itaro janah. As the Gita puts it,

consistency of purpose and a spirit of dedication and, if necessary,

sacrifice, should characterize the new spirit.

We Must

THE CULTURED GIVES HAPPINESS WHEREVER THEY GO, THE UN-CULTURED WHENEVER THEY

GO!

- Swami Chinmayanada