| Date:19 Jul 1996 | Occasion:Divine Discourse | Place:Prashanti Nilayam |
Power Of Nama Sankeerthana
Devotion is the basis for supreme knowledge of the Divine principle. It is the panacea for the disease of birth and death. It is the cause of liberation. People practice devotion to God, to earn his grace and attain liberation. The word Bhakthi is derived from the root Bhaj, which means spirit of service: servitude to God. It is the essence of Love. Devotees worship the Lord in four ways, based on their temperaments.
Some devotees remained dissatisfied even after singing of the Divine qualities of he Lord (Guna sankirthana). God is beyond all attributes. How can we assign qualities to God, who is beyond all qualities and attributes? This is a product of their delusion and only endows them with temporary satisfaction. Truly speaking, there are no attributes in God. So attributing qualities to God, singing His praise, idolizing Him and worshipping him thus is a futile attempt towards liberation. We praise the attributeless God as Chithvilaasa and Vasuki Sayana Srinivasa! This is not correct.
Some sang the glories of the Lord and his prowess through Leela Sankirthana. Some become deluded through the constant recollection of the miracles of the Lord. Great devotees like Jayadeva and Gauranga sang the leelas of the Lord, but finally they realized the truth and abided in it. Devotees like Meera and Sakubai in the beginning praised and sang the glories/ pranks of the Lord thus: Without you I cannot drink, eat or sleep O Krishna! I cannot live without you, O infinite one. They soon realized that this whole creation is itself a leela of His, a greatest miracle of His! They also found that He was the Day and also the Night, the very embodiment of Time. What to say then of the objects we see or the experiences we go through in our lives! They are all filled with divinity, a manifestation of Him! So speaking or singing His miracles / mysteries is meaningless. They also experienced that He was really the indweller of their hearts; Hrudayavaasi and therefore resorted to simple singing and chanting the name of the Lord, offering all of theirs to this resident of their hearts.
Bhaava Sankirthana: Those who sing in full realization of the significance of the divinity, feeling the love for Him. There is no specific lane or bylane or any external address. All this is your ignorance. Thus we see that Guna, Leela and Bhaava Gaana Sankirthana are associated with ignorance to some extent. Naama sankirthana alone is the best and steady form of worship. Whenever God assumes a form He takes on a name also. So when we utter the name we are reminded of the form, and vice-versa. These two are inseparable. This sadhana also called Roopa sahitha dhyana i.e., meditation of the form and the name. Chanting His name is the royal path to liberation for one and all. When all of us sing the bhajan in chorus, singing in one voice, these divine vibrations pervade all through, in the surroundings and purify them. They also demonstrated the inter-relationship between the name and the form.
The whole world is a byproduct of name and form. Also associated with the world are attachment and possessiveness. Krishna's actions and leelas (divine miracles) have been misunderstood and criticized by people then and now. Where is the scope for anyone to criticise Krishna who was only 6 years then? It is only an imagination based on their emotions and attachments. One day Krishna went and knocked at the door of the gopikas. Her husband was sleeping inside. She felt very afraid as to how her husband will react to this. So she delayed in opening the door. But Krishna would not wait. He knocked at the door again stubbornly. She found a crevice in the wall, through which she spoke to him prayed to him thus please wait for some time and not to hurry. He still did not listen. He went on knocking the door. Finally the husband got up and opened the door. He saw this small cute boy Krishna standing near the door step. He took the child in his arms and came in. Seeing this the wife was overjoyed at the attitude of her husband towards Krishna her Lord. Though all the actions of Krishna are outward, it will take us in the inward path. He designs these in such a way that the outward turned mind of ours becomes introverted in this process. God's mysteries can be understood and appreciated only by people with full of love for God. These are sung in the form of songs.
Songs have the capacity to lure and attract one and all. They have a lot of sweetness enshrined in them. Be it a theist, or an atheist he is besides himself with joy when he hears melodious music. Music has the capability to make us forget ourselves and become one with Him with ecstasy and Love. It rejuvenates and lightens our mind. By music we can convey and share the miracles and mystery, the divine qualities of God. There are many great devotees who have done this. Music is also a royal path leading to the culmination of God realization. God can be pleased by Gaana Sankirthana (praises of God). God is beyond comprehension and understanding. Even Brahma cannot describe, narrate or extol His divine mystery. The mind and intellect fail to understand or comprehend Him. Thus singing together praises of such a Lord, there is every possibility for us to blossom our devotion, expand our hearts and fill it with God consciousness. This was first started by Guru Nanak. He made all his disciples sing bhajans. Kabir, Tulasi, Ramadas were also redeemed by bhajans. God may not have a form, but He certainly has a name. The word God itself is a name that refers to Him. In this creation there not a single atom without a name associated with it. How then will God who is so vast and pervading exist without a name? Thus every object has a name, and every name a power behind it! This is the reason why Bharathiyaas worshipped all the beings and forms in this creation; right from the ant to the creator. All beings in creation are worthy of worship. Mother earth was also worshipped by Bharathiyas. Earth is omnipresent for all the creatures on it. Once a fox borrowed five rupees from earth. On the second day when earth asked it to repay, it ran away as far as possible to avoid meeting earth again and evade payment. It slept with a false satisfaction that it has escaped from earth only to find on waking up, Earth demanding repayment! This shows that earth is omnipresent and divine.
Valmiki composed one crore stanzas as Ramayana. He wanted to distribute them to the residents of the three worlds. So he divided it equally between them. Each of them got 33,33,333 slokas. One sloka of 11 letters remained. It was again divided to the three worlds; and each got 3 letters. Finally only two letters remained. This cannot be divided to the three worlds. So Vishnu told Earth that these two letters belong to all the three worlds. These two letter words are Ra Ma, Ha Ri, Si Va, Sa Yi., etc. Thus all the worlds are made of duality. It is the nature of creation. These two words can be uttered by anybody, be it Jesus of Christians, Allah of Muslims. All these are two lettered words. The ra of Om namo Narayanaya and ma of Om Namah Sivaya are the very basis of these two manthras, without which they are meaningless. These two together form the name Rama. Thus Rama is the manifestation of both these aspects of divinity. All forms are His. All names are his. So chant any name or worship any form as it pleases you. But do remember God by some means. You can attribute to him any quality when you worship depending on your temperament. This is all illusion. The Name alone is true, and not an illusion. To cross the ocean of life, chant the name of the lord. Let it dance on your tongue and bestow good luck and grace in your life. Thus we find that nama-sankirthana is the most simple, easiest and best path leading one and all to God. To take this nama-sankirthana to heart, do it with all devotion, love and faith. Let it eventually sanctify your lives.