Sadhana Karu Pyare is a unique philosophical compilation set in 54 lines and arranged in the form of couplets (dohas). In these lines, Shree Maharajji has summarized the entire philosophy of the knowledge of God and Guru (Philosophy of Divine Love). Swamiji explained the complete set of 54 lines at the Puri Sadhana Shivir in 2008, which we will reproduce in this series.
This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
Continuing from the last issue...
This is the next line of "Sadhana Karu Pyare" series.
Continuing from the last issue...
char achar meṁ lakhahuṁ apano, iṣhṭa kahaṁ nit pyāre
sarvadā sarvatra hari ko, sāth mānahuṁ pyāre
āpu ko ikalo kabahuṁ jani, mānu man mahaṁ pyāre
We must see God in every entity. If we begin to
realize that God resides in every person then, there will be an end to the two
biggest obstacles in devotion - raag and dvesh, attachment and hatred.
The two biggest hurdles in bhakti can be surpassed with Divine
vision. How would we have enmity towards someone if we see God in every
entity?
Bheemsen had married a demoness called Hidamba. They had a son named - Ghatotkach.
Ghatotkach had a son and named him Babrisaan. Babrisaan was a very
powerful person. When the great Mahabharat war was about to begin, Babrisaan
showed his interest to go to battle. When Shree Krishna saw that Babrisaan
was marching towards the battlefield, He realized that he had the capability to
change the situation of the war. He decided to talk to him. Shree
Krishna asked him, "Where are you going?" "To join the
war", replied Babrisaan. Shree Krishna then asked him what he can
do.
Babrisaan took his bow and arrow and aimed at a nearby tree. With just a
single shot, he cut down all the leaves of the tree and offered them at the feet
of Lord Shree Krishna. Shree Krishna was very impressed. God then
asked him that would he give Him something if asked for it. Babrisaan
replied, "Anything you ask for my Lord, whatever You
want." Shree Krishna asked him to promise Him that he would give
whatever He asked for. Babrisaan promised to do so. Shree Krishna then
asked Babrisaan to give Him his head. Without a word, Babrisaan cut his
head and gave it to Shree Krishna. Shree Krishna then placed his head in
the sky so that he could watch the whole Mahabharat. After the war, Shree
Krishna asked Babrisaan what he saw. Babrisaan said that all he could see
Shree Krishna everywhere. "I could see You in both Kauravas and Pandavas." Shree
Krishna was very pleased with his words. Today, people in Rajasthan
worship Babrisaan in the form of Khatu Shyam.
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says that we must also try to see God in every entity.
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj further tells us how to make bhakti, devotion a part of
our daily life. We consider bhakti to be different and separate from our
day to day life. We think that we need to do devotion for half an hour
and spend the rest of the day as we want. Shree Maharajji says that this
is not the right way to lead our lives. We need to add devotion into our
lives. i.e., whatever we do in twenty-four hours should only be devotion.
This is explained by Shree Krishna:
yatkaroṣhi yadaśhnāsi yajjuhoṣhi dadāsi yat
yattapasyati kaunteya tatkurukha madarpaṇaṁ
He says, "Arjun! Whatever you do, offer it to
me".
There was a legendary and brave king in the history of India - Chatrapati
Shivaji. He was a spiritual person. His Guru was Samarth Ramdas.
He used to roam around with his bowl for alms and the king was his
follower. Once, he was roaming in the capital of the kingdom of Chatrapati
Shivaji with his bowl and begging for alms. When Shivaji saw this, he got
an idea. He wrote a letter to his Guru that he would like to gift his
kingdom to him, and placed that letter in his Guru's bowl. When Samarth
Ramdas read this, he smiled.
Samarth Ramdas told Chatrapati Shivaji, "What will I do with this Kingdom?
I am a saint and my duty is to remember God and remind others to think of
God." He told Shivaji that you are a king and it is your duty to
rule the kingdom. Now that you have given the kingdom to me, rule over it
by thinking that it is your Guru's, and not yours.
Similarly, we should lead our lives with the same thinking that whatever we
have belongs to our Guru. Whatever we do, it is for our Guru. This
way, our life will not be separate from bhakti. Even if you possess a lot
of wealth, think that it belongs to your Guru. We should use only what is
important and necessary for our body, and the rest we should dedicate to our
Guru's seva. This is the way that we inculcate bhaktiin our daily
lives. Shree Kripaluji Maharaj gives us a very powerful formula that is,
to constantly think and remember Shree Krishna and your Guru with you
always. Whenever you begin some work, first realize the presence of God
and Guru in front of you, and watching you. Then begin your work; but
after one hour, stop your work for a moment, and again realize that Hari-Guru
are watching you. Once you have practiced to do this in hourly intervals,
then reduce the time to half-hour. Then reduce the duration further to
fifteen minutes. In this way, with practice, we will reach the stage
where we will always feel the presence of God and Guru with us.
This philosophy is also mentioned by Christian saints. Brother Lawrence
was a Father in a small church. He wrote a book - Practice of the
presence of the God. In the book, he states: "If I were a preacher,
I would preach nothing but the practice of the presence of God. Every
other spiritual practice will happen automatically." Other saints
read the book after his death and said that this is a remarkable and highly
admirable spiritual practice. They recognized Brother Lawrence to be a
great soul and exhumed his ashes to Westminster Abbey, London. Shri
Aurobindo had also said, "Live always as if you are under the very eye of
the Supreme soul and the Divine Mother."
man jahāṁ bhī jāya hari ko, khaṛo karu tahaṁ pyāre
manahiṁ te śhriṅgār karu sab, jaisā bhāe pyāre
Moving further, Shree Kripaluji Maharaj tells us that when
we practice sadhana, devotion, we move a few steps ahead, but we also fail at
times. There are situations, when thoughts about the material world are
stronger, and detachment from this world becomes weaker. You may
repeatedly contemplate about detachment from the material world, and try to
concentrate on God, but it is difficult. It does happen that when there
are bad days, how much ever you try contemplating on God, it becomes very
difficult to concentrate on Him.
People get frustrated and say, "What to do? The mind is not under my
control." Shree Kripaluji Maharaj tells us not to get scared.
If you scold your mind, it will react negatively. You were concentrating
on God and suddenly your mind started thinking about your son. Now if you
scold your mind as to why is it doing this, the mind will get more
disturbed. So, first of all, be calm. Let your mind go wherever it
wants to go, and then visualize the form of God in that place. If your
mind started thinking about your son, visualize the form of God in your
son. If your mind starts thinking about ice cream, place God in the ice
cream and concentrate upon Him. If it thinks about the cricket match,
imagine that God it standing in the field. So, in one way or the other,
tie your mind to God.
This is just as a monkey is unsteady by nature.
grah gṛihit puni vātavaśh tā puni bīchhī mār puni pivāiya
vāruṇī kahiya kahā upachār
At the end of the Ramayan, Tulsidasji says:
"O Lord! The mind of a monkey is very restless by nature. If you tie
a scorpion to its tail, what will be the condition of that monkey! And if
that monkey gets hysteria, then how restless will it be? Further, it is made to
drink alcohol! Just imagine the condition of that monkey. My mind
is similar to the condition of that monkey. What can I do?"
But you must have seen how the monkey trainer controls the monkey. On the
first day, he ties a rope around the monkey which is 100 feet long. The monkey
has to jump and play within 100 feet. The rope presses its neck. It
cannot go further, else the rope will hurt his neck. The next day he
reduces the rope to 80 feet. The monkey wants to go beyond, but the rope
hurts his neck and hence he learns to jump within that limit. Slowly,
when the rope is reduced to 3 feet by the trainer, the monkey thinks,
"Leave it. Let me stay quiet and lie down right here."
Now that energetic and restless monkey is totally under control. Our mind
is similar to this monkey. You need to tie this mind with the rope of Shyamsundar.
Imagine God wherever your mind goes. If your mind wishes to see the
beautiful seashore of Puri (sacred place in Eastern Orissa), imagine Shree
Krishna to be standing there. Shree Krishna is standing on the beach with
his flute. If your mind thinks about Taj Mahal, imagine Shree Krishna
standing on the marble stone. Just like the monkey, the mind will come
under control. It will be bound with Shree Krishna wherever it
goes. Slowly, the mind will come to rest in Shree Krishna. This is
the solution.
Note that this is not just your imagination. It is a fact that God
resides everywhere, and we have to realize that wherever our mind goes, God is
present there. Keep practising this way and it will only happen when you
practice Roop dhyan, or meditation on the form, constantly for some time.
Close your eyes and imagine your personal form of God to be in front of
you. To strengthen Roop dhyan in your mind, imagine that you are dressing
your God. Imagine as if you are decorating Him with a beautiful necklace and
offering Tulsi at His lotus feet.
So, by constantly meditating like this, your Roop dhyan will get stronger.
And when that stage arrives that as soon as you close your eyes, you can
see your God's personal form in front of you, then you do not have to
worry.
To attach your mind in God, it is very important that a devotee practices Roop
dhyan. During devotion, wherever your mind goes in the material world,
place Shree Krishna in front of you. Moreover, decorate Shree Krishna
with your mind. By doing this, Roop dhyan will become more firm and
deeper. And our love for God will progress in leaps and bounds.
Now, you will be able to progress with the steps which Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
has explained in the next lines of his self composed kirtan series.
.... To be Continued
No comments:
Post a Comment