rAma nAmava nene manave -Devaranama by Sri Kanaka Dasaru

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Hare Srinivasa ! On the occasion of Rama navami, the contemplation on His divine name as indicated by Kanaka Dasaru in this devaranama is a humble offering to the Lord. sri rAma namava nene manave rAma yeMdavane dhaMyanu hIgeMdu shrutitatigalu pOgalutive In this devaranama Sri Kanakadasaru answers the questions which may arise

when trying to understand how to practice dhyana yoga as taught by Lord Krishna in the BG chapter 6 ? 1. Why should we practice dhyana of rAma mantra? 2. How can one control the mind and make it concentrate on the rAma mantra? 3. When we say that mind can be controlled through persistent practice what does it mean? 4. How should we implement this in our daily life? The first question is answered in the pallavi and anupallavi. The second and third questions in the first and second charanams and the fourth question in the last

charanam. Sri Kanakadasaru is one of the great Haridasas of Karnakata who is a contemproary of Sri Purandaradasaru and Sri Vyasarajaru .He has a clearly defined style of composition. Most of his songs are curt and hit right at the objective. In this song, he has made a deviation from his usual style and makes an appeal to the mind. He is clearly highlighting the necessity for the intellect to intercede when the mind is being pulled away from acheiving the purpose of life by wayward enemies called desires which attack through the sense organs. In the Bhagavad Gita ,Lord Krishna adivises Arjuna about the necessity of controlling the mind and using this tool effectively to achieve uninteruppted contemplation of the Lord and His infinite attributes and forms. Then Arjuna tells Krishna that it is difficult to control the mind. To this Sri Krishna replies, "asamshayam mahAbAho mano durnigraham chalam abhyAsEna tu kauntEya vairAgyENa ch gruhyate ||6.35|| "O mighty armed one, I agree it is hard to hold the mind which is by nature restless and given to constant agitation. But O Kunti's son, it can be restrained with repeated practise and renunciation." Coming to the first question.... 1. Why should we practice dhyana of rAma mantra? The name ' rAmA' is extremely divine. It has been glorified in the Vedas. The one who contemplates on this mantra is blessed. It also appears as a dialogue between Parvathi and Lord Shiva with Parvati asking Shiva ," What is the simple and easily implementable solution to the ills of the people of the world who are unable to chant the Vishnu Sahasranama?" Lord Shiva replies, " Chanting the name of Rama three times if efficacious and give one the same phala as chanting the entire Vishnu sahasranama." One may wonder how this is possible when one of the names of Lord Vishnu in the VSN is itself 'rama'

and it should logically confer only one one thousandth of the fruit that chanting the VSN would confer. The answer to this lies in the effectiveness of the recollection of the any name of the Lord and specifically the name'rAma'. 1.If one is able to chant it with the trikaraNa shuddi ie with the purity of body, mind and soul then saying three times is sure to enable one to become the object of the Lord's grace. 2.If one is able to remember the exquisite endless attributes of the Lord in all the three states that are possible for an embodied being - jagara, swapna and sushupti, then it is definite that such a one will be very dear to the Lord. 3. Finally it highlights the ease of chanting the name 'rAma' as against the complete VSN which

may not be possible for many. None can be forgiven if they claim that they did not know how to say 'rAma'. In one songs Purandara Dasaru says "dhyAnavariyenu mounavariyEnu jNAnavanariyen yendenabEDa janaki vallabha dasharatha naMdana gAna vilolana nene manaveDon't say that I don't know how to do dhyana , I don't know how to sit quietly and I don't know what to contemplate. Just concentrate your mind on the exquisite leelas of Sri Rama who is the beloved of mother Janaki and who is the son of Dasharatha." In another devaranama Sri Purandara dasaru says , "rAma eMbo eraDaksharada

mahimeyannu pAmararu tAvenu ballarO rA eMbo mAtradolu raktamAmsadolidda AyastikadivAda atipApavannu mAyavanu mADi maharaya muktiya koDuva dAyavanu vAlmiki munirAya balla" When one says 'rA" one has to open the mouth and this causes one to easily imagine the impurities and other negativity rushing out of this exit and when one says 'ma' it closes the entry and thereby ensures that those negative thoughts that gushed out don't re-enter. This is just an imaginative way to understand the above and though it may not happen instantly, it will happen when one puts one's mind into the recitation. Applying the mind to think about the form of the Lord, the leelas of the Lord which are the

eternal 'truths' cleanses the mind . Once the mind is cleansed then the thrist for knowledge about the Lord In a way this is a cycle. Because unless one knows the greatness of the Lord, one will not be able to chant His name with the same devotion, and unless one chants His name with devotion one will not be able to acquire and retian any knowledge becuase of the impurities in the mind. Manu says, "aMbirgAtrANi shudhdhati manas satyANi shudhdhati.....The body is cleansed by water, the mind by truth." One of the Lord's name in the VSN is 'satyA' . His words/thoughts and deeds are

all true. His Willpower is such that whatever He wills shall definitely prevail.When Lord Krishna was born, the garbha stuthi made by the demigods in the Bhagavatham also proclaims Him as 'satyA." Repeatedly chanting of His name will slowly cleanse the mind and move it towards spiritual thoughts. taruNatanadinadATitu summane sharIradolu saravADutale taruNisutaru samsAravaeMba I sharadiyoluge mulugirade manave (1) Sri Kanakadasaru is giving the actual method of doing the practise and the renunciation indicated by Krishna in the BG. He says ,"O mind, learn from what has passed. Look back at your life and how you have led it . Understand that you have effectively wasted the time in your boyhood and youth without knowing what the purpose of life was. You spent your youth and middle age in the conquests of wealth, power and pleasure. But what of the future if the present is not utilised in gaining something which can be retained beyond this body then of what use is it? Don't drown in the sea of samsaara which consists of your spouse and children but take the name of Lord Rama." Sri Krishna says a similar thing. Allow the mind to enjoy the pleasures it is bent on enjoying and then use the intellect to convince the mind that this pleasure is just temprorary and fleeting and that it is an obstacle to fulfill the purpose of life- to seek

spiritual upliftment. By continuous training and practise in this way, the concentration required for dhyAna will be achieved. In this verse Sri Kanakadasaru highlights the importance of utilising TIME in the correct way. He says that boyhood was wasted without doing anything due to ignorance and indulgence in entertaining the mind with the bodily pleasures. Then the cares of the family looms up taking a stupendous share of TIME which could have been used for sadhana. At this point one may wonder, "Does not one need to take care of the family? Is is okay to be indifferent to the needs of the family when one is responsible for them?" To that Dasaru says, " I am only advising you not to drown yourself in the sea of samsaara. " In other words Dasaru says

that if one does not take measures to restrain oneself from thinking and identifying themselves with the body and relationships, wealth etc then it will be like letting oneself drown in the open sea. Such a thing should not happen, says Dasaru. One should be constantly aware that all the things in life are due to the Lord'e benevolence and thereby one should constantly remember Him even while performing one's duty. With whomsoever one interacts one can remember the Lord's presence in him/her and perform the act as a service to that antaryAmi. Whatever one eats ,one experience if one remembers the Lord and offers it to Him, then that is also dhyAna. To accomplish this constantly one needs to remember the Lord's name and to remember anyone , what better means than saying his name. So chant "srI rAmA ,srI rAmA, srI rAmA..." In one devaranama Ananda vittala dasaru

says 'kempEritu ambaradi tampilitu sambramadi kampanAgide chitta kAyo krishNA." With every sunrise, time moves on rapidly taking one towards one's end on this earth. He says ,"When the sun rises and sets each day , I remember that I have lost one day, O Lord Krishna and my heart shivers with fear at the wastage of time ... only You can protect me." He goes to describe the ways in which people engage themselves without thinking of the Lord , thereby wasting thier entire lifetime . bhage bhage janumadi

janiside nAlege siguvudE nijadiMtI samaya muktAnAgi punaH janisi baruvudu sogasukANuvude chi manavE Kanakadasaru asks ," O mind, you have been with the soul as it traversed countless births in countless life forms and you are the witness to the fact that "Time does not wait for anyone. So how can you postphone the chanting of the Lord's name when you don't even know if you will be alive tomorrow and in this body to do it? " In case one says ,"It's ok. In this lifetime I just want to enjoy the temproray pleasures of the body .I shall think about eternal purposes in my next life. " To Kanakadasaru says, " If you are dreaming

that you will get another life in this human form, without even doing anything worthwhile in this janma then forget it. You are just building castles in the air. " In other words Kanakadasaru expresses his indignance towards people who did not do anything that has been adivised in the shastras in this lifetime and postphone it to another time. He asserts that a golden opportunity like the human form comes only after much travails and is not easy to come by as one thinks. Because the memory of the previous suffering and births is erased during emobiement, the jiva thinks there is no such memory. But lack of awareness does not mean that it does not exist and the shastras have clearly stated that the jiva undergoes many miseries in many births working off the karma accumulated as a result of forgetfulness of the Lord. In his great kriti "Hari bhakthi Saara" Kanakadasaru expresses this very fervently. He says ," This body is nothing but flesh and blood with a lot of refuse inside it. The moment the jiva vacates it, people shun it . So how can you live your life only for the sake of bodily pleasures which are lost when the vitality of the body is lost and which don't have any merit to be taken along after death." chiMtaneyalla ottaTTige iTTu aMtaraMgadali dyAnisutA kaMtupita kanakAdi keshavana eMtAdaru nI biDabEDa manave The mind has the nature to flit from one thought to another . So in such a situation , how does one get it to concentrate on

Keshava? To that ,Dasaru says," Keep away all your worries and bring the auspicious form of the Lord into your mind, recollect His glory which you should have stored in your memory shell by listening and learning from the Guru and ennumerate His attributes to the best of your ability as you salute Him repeatedly with your body, mind and soul." Worries are usually the result of the association that one has made between one's possession, one's power, one's wealth ,'one's relationship and one's self as the owner of these . The truth is that none of these would be there for one to enjoy if it was not for the Lord's will. So knowing that everything will happen and always

happens as per His will one should cultivate the habit of being at peace with situations and understand that all future time's and thier expereinces cannot be controlled by worrying. Control always lies in the Lord. So trusting His benevolence , one can be at peace. Only when one stops worrying , one can stop the mind from agitation and concentrate it on the infinite limitless auspicious attributes of the Supreme Lord. Since the attributes are infinite and each infinite attribute is infinite in nature too, the question of having finished contemplation never arises. The positive natures of the attributes gives strength to the mind and soul to continue and pursue this, till one attains one's cherished objective of 'God vision'. Dasaru says ,"Whatever difficulties arise, don't leave the Lord. His form of Kantupita means the father of Kama. Kama is the devatha of beauty. Dasaru

says,"Imagine the father of the devatha of beauty. How unsurpassed His beauty will be? Contemplate on all the beautiful things you know and understand that He is the origin of all beauty." Then Dasaru refers to his ishTa devata ' Adi kEshava'. Oh mind, "Don't leave the refuge of the Lord Adikeshava come what may!" It means that whatever difficulties one encounters during the course of life have to be endured and should not be a reson for not contemplating on the Lord. No excuse is accepted. Everyone has to give an account at the end, so he says even if it looks like there is absolutely no time for Keshava, don't give up, chant in your mind . Please visit http://www.aarshavani.org/mainpage/bhajansmainvyasadasa.html if you want to listen to the audio for this devaranama. srI krishArpaNamastu I am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doer Whatever He makes me do is His worhsip with His grace. R.Parimala