Namasthe- Vaamana

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

Continuation of 24 names:

 

" Before going for a trip pray Him in the form of Vaamana "

 

Vaamana means dwarf. Here we are advised to think of the dwarfish Brahmin celibate avathar of Vishnu Bhagavan called Vamana before going for any trip. Of course the superficial meaning is to think of Vamana (along with Bhoomidevi) before we get into a car or air plane to have a safe and fruitful trip.

 

Now let us raise ourselves to another level and try to think about the significance of Vamana's appearance before Mahaabali and how the advise to think of Him in our unavoidable journey through life.

 

Our journey of life is an opportunity to sacrifice for a good cause or exploit the goodness of somebody, to surrender to God or surrender to desires, to subdue your ego or to let ego subdue you. Choice is ours. Mahabali chose to sacrifice, to subdue his ego and to completely surrender to God when Lord asked the land for three steps.

 

In life's journey surrendering has to be done in three levels or steps. That is the symbolism of the three steps Vamana asked.

 

According to Shree Sai Baba, first step is the surrender of Physical consciousness. The physical body needs to enter into a relationship of mutual surrender with the Five Elements (earth; water; fire; air and space or ether). We cannot survive with out surrendering to these elements. For example, air surrenders to us while breathing in and we surrender to air while breathing out. We are formed of all these elements, and in the end our body is merged with the same elements, our source. So whether we like it or not, all of us are consciously or unconsciously surrender physically to God who is the Ultimate source of the five elements. When the surrendering is done with conscious devotion, then it becomes enjoyable and otherwise it can become a struggle. When this is done, we rise above the physical body.

 

Second step is psycological surrender. As per Sai Baba' s words: Psychological consciousness is the root cause for ego, pride, pain, pleasure, jubilation, and also for humiliation. So, the mind is responsible for the bumps and jumps in life " .When we identify ourselves with the mind, we are the doer and this results in taking credit for every success of our life and blaming others for every draw back or failures. By surrendering the mind to Him, we transcend and go beyond the mind.

Third step is surrender of intellectual consciousness. Surrendering our intellectual consciousness means we are trusting the Lord more than our intellect. The feeling of separateness is no more. According to Ramana Maharshi: Surrender to God or the Self can be effectively practiced by being aware at all times that there is no individual 'I' acting and thinking; only a 'higher power' which is responsible for all the activities of the world " . With this attitude it becomes total surrender which is Sharanaagathi and that is what Mahabali did.

 

Also the three steps of Vamana can be the symbol of past, present and future. Forget about the past, surrender the present to God by doing only good karmaas and entrust future in Him.

 

Also in our journey of life, we should surrender our gross, subtle and casual bodies step by step. Mahabali gave the first step for Vaamana to cover the whole earth, second step was given to cover the world above earth and then he was ready for complete surrender. What it means is when we surrender our body and mind, there will not be any hesitation for the complete surrender (intellectual) even if negative forces (like Sukraacharya in the case of Bali) dissuade and mislead us.

 

 

So Vamana avatara is the most appropriate form of Vishnu Bhagavan to meditate upon during our material as well as spiritual journey.

 

 

Regards and prayers

 

Savitri

 

 

P.S Here is a manthra for Bhoomidevi and Vamana to chant everyday morning before starting the samsaara yaathra or continuation of life:

 

For Bhoomidevi

 

Samudravasane Devi parvathasthana mandithe

Haripriye Namasthubhyam yaathraakaale shubham kuru

 

One whose outfit or vasthram is the ocean, one whose breasts are the mountains, one who is dear to Hari, hae Devi! we bow to you, please make our journey safe or let good things happen in our journey!

 

For Vaamana:

 

Om Namo Bhagavathe Shree Vaamanaaya

 

Please feel free to correct any mistakes