103. सञ्चारपूतधरणिः Sañcāra-pūta-dharaṇiḥ

One who rendered the earth sacred through His travels

Adharma makes the earth impure while dhārmika acts purify the earth. An Upaniṣadic prayer goes, “He who is purified by the ancient, all-pervading, sanctifying feet of the Lord, overcomes evil deeds and their effects. Having been rendered holy by those intrinsically pure and sanctifying feet of the Lord, may we overcome great sins, our enemies.”²⁶⁰ By His sañcāra, extensive travelling, His Holiness reached out to countless people, taught them ways to make their lives blessed, motivated them to tread the dhārmika path and strive for ultimate beatitude, weaned them away from wrong practices, and initiated, induced and supported several dharmika activities, thus causing the dharaṇī, earth, to become pūta, purified. Nāma 32 states that His Holiness rendered certain places on earth into places of pilgrimage. This nāma, on the other hand, describes how He rendered the entire earth sacred by spreading dharma.

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His Holiness said after His long all-India tour, “From my tour, I see three aspects standing out: (1) I have personally witnessed and abundantly experienced the limitless grace of Īśvara and the greatness of His powers; (2) Though due to historical, geographical and social reasons we perceive some mild differences in the appearances, costumes and customs of our people, the society is fundamentally united; this is applicable not merely for those living in the south of the Himalayas, but also for those in Nepal, the sole remaining Hindu nation; the people of Nepal have immense faith in the Hindu religion and are extremely proud of being Hindus; (3) Touring the country is good for all, essential too; our perspectives widen and our broadmindedness proliferates; else, narrow feelings like, ‘We are great; our people alone are great; this world is nothing without us,’ get rooted.

“All in all, the sanātana-hindu-dharma will never cease to exist. With intense faith, if we feel, ‘We should prosper; the purpose of our birth should be fulfilled,’ and with a pure mind, we strive in the ordained path, by the grace of Bhagavatpāda, we all will, without any doubt, attain fulfillment.”

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[In His benedictory discourses, His Holiness never failed to talk about ādhyātmika practices that can be followed by all to make their lives sublime. Extracts from one such discourse is provided below.]

There are several religious traditions in the world. It is our duty to know about the particulars of our tradition and to conduct our lives accordingly.

Both nāstikas, unbelievers, and āstikas, believers, constantly require the grace of the power that transcends the realm of human thought but, remaining in the background, conducts all activities.

From the words of the Purānas and from our experience, we learn to a great extent that nobody can unfailingly fulfil all his longings. The rise of a desire and its subsequent frustration are actually experienced by all. We, by nature, have desires, some small and some big. When we are successful in consummating several of them, we get puffed up with pride. However, it is impossible for us to always fulfil our wishes; we do fail. Valorous persons themselves have perished. Not only can all desired objects not be attained, separation from the ones that have been obtained is also certain. Actually, worldly objects, whether desired and not attained or temporarily acquired, are all false, for they are subject to destruction.

God alone is the absolute reality, unsublatable in the three spans of time. Āstikas always accept the existence of God but, nevertheless, deluded by Māyā, they do perform what they should not. Nāstikas say on some occasion that God might exist. At any rate, they too commit misdeeds. Then, what is the difference in conduct between the āstikas and nāstikas, for both do err? If there be a respected elder at home, even when there is an occasion to do wrong, a person often restrains himself, thinking, “What explanation will I be able to give when I return home?” In the case of an āstika, his firm belief in the existence of God serves as a restraining influence on him, like the presence of an elder at home. So, he discards several opportunities to go astray. The nāstika lacks the benefit of such a regulating influence.

Where exactly is God who serves as a regulating influence on the āstika? He dwells within the heart. Essentially He pervades the interior and the exterior of everything perceived or heard of in this world. Though actually birthless, formless and undecaying, God manifests for the good of the world. He thereby makes it easy for people to see Him outside themselves. For instance, numerous people had the good fortune of beholding Rāma and Kṛṣṇa in the Treta and Dvāpara Yugas. Now, people can take advantage of idols and pictures. When one sees a picture, such as of Kṛṣṇa or Śiva, the concerned form easily comes to mind.

However, such visualization, does not, by itself, constitute deep meditation and the clear apprehension of God within oneself. When one observes a picture briefly, closes one’s eyes and tries to hold the form steady in one’s mind, one is usually unsuccessful. On visualizing one part of the deity’s form, some other part is not visible. This is a common problem. What is a remedy for such inability to meditate on a form of God? If one were to see a picture for long and to then close one’s eyes, the form would get imprinted rather clearly in the mind. Then one could meditate upon the form that has got impressed upon the mind; with adequate practice, one succeeds.

Some ask, “What is the need for temples?” It is true that they are not necessary for a person who can behold God wherever he happens to be. On the other hand, consider the case of a man who is unable to focus on God even when he goes to a temple. What would his condition be if there were no temples at all? Thus, for a person of this kind, a temple is essential.

We should recognize that everything has got God for its essence. We should contemplate on God as immanent and as possessed of a form and make it our aim in life to experience Him. Alternatively, we should strive to make this our last birth by directly realizing that we are intrinsically God, the non-dual absolute reality, devoid of attributes. Only then will our life as humans become truly significant.

On the other hand, having got a human birth, association with a sage and the capacity to discriminate, if we remain concerned only with worldly enjoyments and the means to attain them, the following statement will apply to us: “Who indeed, is a greater fool than the person who is negligent of his own welfare?”²⁶¹ The Śāstra teaches us what is good for us and not about the welfare of some unknown third party. It tells us, “Uplift yourself.” If we do not do that, we are thorough fools.

Bhagavatpāda has said in His Upadeśa-pañcaka, “Study the Veda everyday. Perform well the acts enjoined therein. Worship God through the performance of duties. Give up the thought of engaging in desire-prompted rites. Eradicate the host of sins. Contemplate the faults in worldly enjoyments. Establish the desire for the Self. Quickly go away from your house.”²⁶² The import is that if you have advanced up to establishing the desire for the Self, and you feel you have had enough of the world, then leave home. If you feel that the worldly experiences you have had are not sufficient, go right ahead and do the above activities not merely for the duration of this life but in a few succeeding lives also. At least thereafter, you will feel, “Enough of the world.” This is the special feature of Bhagavatpāda’s Veda-based teaching; the competence of the person is fully taken into consideration.

Next, there is the question, “Should one resort to God as saguṇa, with qualities, or as nirguṇa, devoid of all attributes?” The answer pertinent to the common man is, “You should resort only to God as saguṇa.” One should worship God in a form that is in accordance with one’s family tradition or is to one’s liking, but in all cases only a form that is allowed by the scripture. One is not given a choice when it comes to doing what is specifically enjoined by the scripture, adhering to rules such as veneration of parents, and abstaining from what is explicitly prohibited such as injuring other creatures. Have faith and do as much as you are capable of. The rules prescribed by the Śāstras must be adhered to; deviation from the norms is permissible only in exceptional circumstances.

Bhagavatpāda advises, “You should keep doing karma with sincerity. By virtue of its performance, your mind will become pure in due course. Then take to contemplation on God. With the practice of contemplation, you will gradually get to the stage where you will see the entire universe as having no existence apart from the Supreme. Then you would have become a jñānin or a knower of the Truth.” There are persons who are desirous of dharma and do not wish to cause any unhappiness in the mind of another. Their conduct should be our standard. By emulating them, we would be following our holy tradition and heading towards the goal.

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