Thus Spake the Divine - Give Me Myself

Thus Spake the Divine

Give Me Myself

A true devotee wants to perform some Pooja to Lord Parameshvara. But suddenly he has scores of doubts. He asks Lord Parameshvara himself: “Hey Ishvar! Under the intention of doing Pooja to You with some courtesies, I am doing lots of acts, which are actually disrespectful to You! Can I ever wash Your lotus feet with just a spoon of water, which is omnipresent in the entire Trilok? (Trilok or three worlds referred to in scriptures pertains to Akasha (sky, solar system), Bhoomi (earth) and Patala (underground, seas etc.). Can this small piece of cloth ever cover Your physique, which is embodied with absolute truth?

When I do namaskaram to You, I have to lay down my body on the ground and in that process my legs have to stretch in some direction. Whichever the direction they stretch out, You exist there! So, I am bound to disrespect You in this process. Consoling myself with all this, I decided not to conduct any Pooja and just do some prayers. Then, it again appears discourteous to pray to You, the omniscient (Sarvagnan, one who knows everything) as though You are not aware of my needs? My own prayers seem to demean You from Your status of Sarvagnan! And more so, I am still in a poor mind- set to offer my prayers to You. May I pray to You to help me overcome that flaw in me! Okay! Now the issue is that what do I pray to You, the omnipotent, when You and me are no distinct and I am a part of You?

Again, I am belittling myself by not comprehending the Advaita doctrine. Vedas say that You are possessed with an expansive form of absolute bliss and there is no other substance that exists other than You. Despite that, how can there be a person, who is physically deformed like me, who totally contradicts your personality, can ever exist in this Universe? Please demolish me as one who appears to be different from You. Only then it will become that ‘You are everything; You and I are identical; therefore I am everything’. It means that I don’t pray to You to grant me the material and outwardly substances. I pray to You to give me myself”.

In a similar manner, Sri Sadashiva Brahmendrar has prayed saying, “Please give me my own image of absolute bliss”. Today, we have all abandoned our true forms. We present ourselves in some disguise or the other. We lament a lot when we are separated from someone very close to us. How much must we lament when we disentangle our own self? Should not we be constantly looking forward to immerse with that Brahmam and become the Brahmam Himself? The true love is that which yearns for unifying with Paramatma. That love alone can be classified as true Bhakti.

However, to reach this state, we need to start with outwardly deeds, such as Pooja, worship in temples etc. For those who are engrossed with worldly thoughts, activities like Pooja will be the means to ruminate on thoughts of God. Though we don’t realise that God and we are identical, at least with the conviction that God resides inside the sanctum sanctorum of a temple, let us go to temples and worship God there. Instead of saying “God is nowhere”, let us believe that at least God resides in some places; then gradually our brain will absorb that God is omnipresent and omniscient. To convert the realisation of brain into actual experience, we should constantly pray to God to “give me myself”.

May Goddess Jnyanambika bless you all!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.