Beach 1: The First Prostration
Wave 2: Names ad infinitum for the nameless
Drop 6: Power of names of God
1201: subrahmaNya 1202: Idol worship 1203: One truth - Many Expressions 1204: Glory of the Lord's name1205: sahasranAmas 1206: Power of words 1207: Capsules of Divinity 1208: Scriptural epitomes209: AUM or OM 1210: rAma 1211: kRSNa 1212: nArAyaNa
For those who are not in a position to
read or recite a stotra, Hindu tradition has provided innumerable bhajans, set
to captivating tunes, particularly suitable for being sung in chorus by a
congregation. In these bhajans, a variety of God’s several names are
repetitively strung together in a melody and rhythm and usually with a refrain,
that are so delightfully musical that one is carried into ecstasy even by
simply listening to them. This tradition of musical devotion came into
prominence all over
Question: When the Vedas prescribe costly and difficult sacrifices
for man’s salvation, how can mere praise of the Lord,
or just repetition of His names, which costs no money, substitute for them?
The very ease with which one can
practise nAma-sankIrtana (= perfect singing of names of God. ‘nAma’: names ; ‘kIrtana’: singing or reciting; ‘sankIrtana’:
singing with perfection) is a factor in its favour. It is highly recommended by
every Hindu scripture for many reasons. It is the only mode open to all, irrespective of caste, creed,
sex, status of enlightenment, state of mind or any other distinction. It does no harm to others. It is not
conditioned by time; any time is good enough. It is not conditioned by place;
there is no rule which says, you have to do kirtana only here and not there.
There is no ritualistic requirement. The recitation of names can purify you
both internally and externally and take you to the highest level of attainment,
namely, moksha itself.
Question: How can mere words and repetition of words have so much
power?
Yes, mere words and repetitions of words
do have great power. First, let us consider a simple explanation. Those who
rely totally on the limited laws of science and reason may argue that words
are, after all, just sound and cannot be expected to cleanse or correct the
mind of man. But a word is not just a sound. Kalidasa, in the very first shloka
of his Raghuvamsam, very expressively brings out the identity between vAk (word
uttered) and artha (its meaning, significance) by comparing it to the
intertwining between the male
and female forms in the
ardha-nArIshvara representation of Shiva. When we say ‘table’ the four-legged
piece of furniture instantaneously appears as mental picture. You cannot think
of one without the other. People are sitting quietly in, say, a meeting.
Somebody calls, ‘Snake!’. Will the calm continue? Just
the word ‘snake’ magically destroys it. One might be sitting before a plateful
of delicacies, but if somebody nearby speaks of something dirty or disgusting,
one is repelled by the food. The mere sound of words creates so strong a
reaction.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba tells an
unforgettable story that illustrates this.
A certain officer was inspecting the work of a teacher in a school. The
officer who had a hearty contempt for ‘mere talk’ asked the teacher, “How can
you ever hope to transform the nature of these children by the words you utter?
Show them by deeds: act, don’t speak!” The teacher protested and argued that words
do have a profound effect on the mind. The argument continued for some time and
the teacher was desperately looking for some way of carrying home his point. At
last he resolved on a plan. He said to one of his pupils: ‘Look here, catch
hold of this officer by the neck and push him out of the room.’ Hearing this,
the inspector flew into a rage and started berating the teacher. The teacher
said, ‘Sir, I only made some sounds shaped into a few words. No one pushed you
or hit you or even touched you. It was all mere sound. But see how it has
enraged you. It was all mere sound. Words, sir, do help in modifying character
and shaping nature. They have vast power.’
And Sathya Sai Baba continues to
explain: “When words referring to worldly situations have such an electric
transforming effect on the mind of man, certainly words conveying spiritual and
elevated meaning will help in cleansing and correcting the mind of man . When we filter the air with harshness, we become harsh
in nature, when we fill the atmosphere with hatred, we too have perforce to
breathe that air and we are hated in return. When we saturate the air with
sounds full of reverence, humilty, love, courage, self-confidence and
tolerance, we benefit from those qualities ourselves. The heart is the film and the mind is
the lens. Turn the lens toward the world and a worldly picture will fall on the
heart. Turn it towards God and it will transmit pictures of the Divine”.
There is another explanation, an
esoteric one, for the efficacy of nAma-sankIrtana. It is a natural outpouring
of sentiments from the heart and leads to a communion between God and
The Kundalini shakti,
which sleeps as it were at the MulAdhAra chakra can be made by yoga practices
to wake up, evolve and travel upwards through the sushumnA nADi. While it does so it is imperceptible to the
senses. But every day it expresses itself, in every one of us, in all our
activities. Particularly the expression of it in the form of the human voice is
known as the manifestation of nAda-brahman, the Sound Absolute. Thus in the
perfection of the human voice the primeval energy comes to prominence through
the words, sentences, and mantras we utter. We do not realise, in our
ignorance, that it is the Absolute Supreme that is expressing itself through
our voice and that the satisfaction we derive in saying whatever we say is only
an iota of that Infinite Bliss which is in us.
If only we could recite the names of God unendingly, it would take us
towards an identity with the nAda brahman at every step. A bhajan of the several names of the Infinite Being (like the Hare Krishna mantra) creates the
necessary vibrations, starting from the MulAdhAra-chakra. An unceasing nAma-sankIrtan
cleanses the crust of vAsanAs that has accumulated over several births, and
thus paves the way for the stored-up Kundalini energy to get tuned to the
frequency of the Infinite Energy in the Cosmos.
The recitation of the names should come
from the heart, not just from the lips or the tongue. It must be a spontaneous
manifestation of inner conviction and ecstasy. Such intense yearning for God purifies oneself
as well as those around. Life is full of sorrow, beset with fear and despair.
The only way one strengthens oneself to meet hard times is to contact the
source of all strength and bliss, namely the Infinite God. This is the way to
overcome the evil in us, lay low the ‘pashu’ (beast) in us and instal the ‘pashu-pati’
(Lord of all beings) in our hearts.
In reciting the names, however, one
should not be guilty of offences to the Name. Such offences will more than
offset the benefits of nAma-smaraNa. One should not insult or speak ill of
others, since every one is divine. No distinction should be made between
different names or forms of God, though one may have some tastes in the matter
–which, mostly is because of one’s background of evolution, not only in this
birth, but in all previous births. The Divine Name should be looked upon as supreme truth and not
as mere eulogy.
It is true that the repetition of God’s
names will absolve one of all sins, but on that account one should not use the
name as a cloak for the commission of sins. The cultivation of the five basic
virtues, namely, Purity, Self-Control, Detachment, Truth and Non-violence,
should not be neglected. One should not behave in a way which is devoid of
love; one should not be governed by the conceits of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’. The
fundamental principle of nAma-snaraNa and nAma-sankIrtana is shraddhA
(faith and conviction). Love of, and exclusive devotion to, the Lord, is
necessary. When one does such a nAma-smaraNa it becomes a yajna in itself. The
Lord Himself says in the Gita: ‘Of all yajnas I am the japa-yajna’. The theme of nAma-smaraNa or a bhajan or a
japa should be that the one Supreme Almighty, who is spoken of by different
names, is the subtlest of things ever experienced, though hard to analyse or
apprehend by ordinary commonsense and, therefore, every name of His should take
us to Him, if we realise the intrinsic value thereof.
Previous page Homepage of SCIENCE
AND SPIRITUALITY Next page
CONTENTS page of GEMS FROM THE OCEAN OF HINDU THOUGHT VISION & PRACTICE
For notes on mythological names referred, go to MYTHOLOGY