By Sanskrit Kannan (SRCM Preceptor)
From time immemorial, human beings have been praying to gods of various names and forms for different things. Let us see our mode of worship from the historic past. Rev. Chariji Maharaj has written on this aspect in an article entitled “The Beauty of Sahaj Marg” (published in the Souvenir released on the occasion of the inauguration of the Ashram at Tinsukia, Assam and subsequently published in the Principles of Sahaj Marg (Volume 1). He has analysed beautifully the ‘aspect of worship’, how it underwent some modifications. First the man worshipped the Nature. Then he began to worship the powers behind the Nature. Later on, he gave some form to each of the power and then began to worship these forms. Thus, when we look into the earliest text of this world, viz., the Ṛg Veda, we find that nearly one-third of the text is devoted to Indra, who is the most powerful God, followed by Agni (Fire), Varuṇa etc. Then, as the days progressed, the worship of the Trinity, i.e., Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva came into prominence. Now, we find thousands of temples in India which makes us feel as if gods are being created or invented with so many names and forms for which we do not have any reference in the scriptures.
After the Karma Kāṇḍa portion (i.e., sections dealing with various rituals), in
the Upaniṣadic time, Jñāna Kāṇḍa portion (section dealing with transcendental knowledge), the
superiority of Brahman, the Absolute without names, forms and attributes was
emphasised. So, the saints exclaimed, “kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema” (To which God shall we offer sacrifice).
But, how to pray to
the Reality without name and form? Can
it be done? Is it correct? Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavadgītā thus:
“kleśo'dhikarasteṣāmavyaktāsaktacetasām
avyaktā hi gatirduḥkhaṁ
dehavadbhiravāpyate”
(“It is more difficult to worship the Unmanifest Reality. And those who do so have to undergo lot of
sufferings”).
That is why the Lord says very often in the Bhagavadgītā to worship Him, to be devoted to Him and to surrender
to Him. He was the living Guru for Arjuna and also the Personality
(Avatāra)) for that period and hence,
he advised so. Rev. Babuji Maharaj has
also said (Deva Vani p.284), “We
should always pray to the Supreme Master, the omnipotent and the omniscient
alone with a mind totally absorbed in love and submission to him forgetting
even ourselves altogether. One should
always pray to Him alone who is the Master in the true sense. I do not think it proper to pray to the
slaves, i.e., to those powers which are sub-ordinate to man and which are
potentialised by him. The ravages of
time have now reduced them to a consumptive state. This is the proper way of offering prayer,
which in such a state seldom goes unrewarded”.
Rev. Chariji Maharaj has told us once that when His Master Rev. Babuji Maharaj was in the hospital, even some of our senior preceptors had a
doubt whether to pray to Rev. Lalaji Maharaj or God or to Rev. Babuji Maharaj
Himself for His health. Rev. Charii Maharaj said, “Even for His health, we should pray to Him alone”. And also it is the duty of every sincere abhyāsi to pray for the health of Rev.
Master.
Now, let us see
our Mission Prayer. It reads - “O Master
Thou are the real goal of human life
We are yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to
our advancement
Thou art the only God and power to bring us
upto that stage”.
Rev. Babuji Maharaj has prescribed this prayer to all of us. Regarding the mode of offering the prayer, He
says, “One thing more by way of practice is to offer daily the above brief
prayer at bed time in the most supplicant mood and with a heart overflowing
with love for the Divine”. He adds,
“Repeat the above in your mind once or twice and meditate over it for a few
minutes. The prayer must be offered in
such a way as if some most miserable man is laying down his miseries with a
deeply affected heart before the Supreme Master, imploring his mercy and grace
with tearful eyes. Then alone can he
become a deserving aspirant of spirituality”.
Now, let us analyse the Prayer of our Mission. It is addressed to the Master. Rev. Chariji Maharaj has said that God’s
function was over after the creation of this universe. Thereafter, it is the work of the
Master. The Master comes essentially for
the change. Hence, our Prayer is always
addressed to the Master. Moreover, Rev. Babuji has said, “God is mindless”. Our
sacred texts also accept that God is attribute-less. Hence, when we pray to God, how can He
receive our Prayer? Therefore, the
divine takes the human form whom we address as MASTER, only to bring us all to
our Original Source, our Homeland, which is Himself!
In the human form, He possesses the mind to receive our prayer. More than that, He has a heart which is full
of love, affection, compassion to all the beings. Thus, our link with the Ultimate is
established through Him. It is easier
for the human beings to love the one with form and He exists in this form. Nevertheless, we have to go beyond form as
Rev. Chariji Maharaj said, “We have to love Him both at the human level and at
the divine level”.
The first line of the prayer says, “Thou art the real goal of human life”. It says that He is the real goal and not the
stages like liberation, realisation etc. Rev. Chariji Maharaj once narrated an
incident. Once in Shahjahanpur, an abhyāsi prayed to Rev. Babuji Maharaj to
bless him with Brahmanda Mandal. After the abhyāsi
left, Rev. Babuji Maharaj told Rev. Chariji Maharaj, “Look here, Parthasarathi,
when I am here he wants Brahmanda Mandal. Rev. Chariji Maharaj told us then that He
felt so sad because when the Centre
itself (i.e., Master) is there, the abhyāsis
are craving for this region and that region etc. Rev. Babuji Maharaj has said that if we fix
our goal correctly, most of our job is over.
This first line our our Prayer gives the correct picture of our goal,
what we should aspire for in this life.
The second line says, “We are
yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to our advancement”. It says that we pray with a selfish
notion. “I want this, I want that”
etc. Thus, we are only slaves of our own
desires. This is a hindrance for our
progress.
The third line says, “Thou art
the only God and power to bring us upto that stage”. Here, we address Him as the God and also power. Many spiritual
leaders have said, “God is Power”. But
Rev. Babuji Maharaj has said, “God is powerless”.
Once, Rev. Chariji Maharaj clarified this point to us during a
discussion. He said, “God cannot be
power, for when power is generated, there should be disintegration. How can there be disintegration in the
omni-pervasive God?” Here comes the
beauty of Sahaj Marg. In our Prayer, we
say, “O Master.. Thou art the only God and power to bring us upto that stage”. It means that Master possesses that which God
does not possess and also He brings us all towards Himself, which the God
cannot do (perhaps, this is a divine mystery that God Himself has
chosen!). The Master does not merely
push us or place us in that condition but He brings us. Thus, all along we
feel his presence, His company with us, starting from the beginning in our path
‘Towards Infinity’ till we find
Himself as the ‘Infinity’. On and on we
go. Nay, He brings us. Thus, He is always in us, with us. Therefore, we feel the manifestation of the
Master at all levels. Is it not a wonder
that He transforms us into that Infinity that He Himself is!
Another aspect to be noted in the last line of our prayer is that we
say to the Master that He alone is capable of bringing us to that stage in
which He is and we do not crave for His power, His position etc. It is also important to note that a disciple
can always be a disciple and never a Master!
Because, in our Puraṇas, we find lot of
stories. The classic examples of Hiraṇyakasipu, Ravana etc. who wanted
to usurp the position of God or who wanted to be God were all destroyed. But the devotees like Dhruva, Prahlada and
others who prayed to the Lord only to surrender themselves became immortal.
