THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER O Adorable Lord of Mercy and Love! Salutations and prostrations unto Thee. Thou art Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. Thou art Satchidananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Absolute). Thou art the Indweller of all beings. Grant us an understanding heart, Equal vision, balanced mind, Faith, devotion and wisdom. Grant us inner spiritual strength To resist temptations and to control the mind. Free us from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy. Fill our hearts with divine virtues. Let us behold Thee in all these names and forms. Let us serve Thee in all these names and forms. Let us ever remember Thee. Let us ever sing Thy glories. Let Thy Name be ever on our lips. Let us abide in Thee for ever and ever. —Swami Sivananda NOW OR NEVER! Stick to the spiritual path at all cost. Apply yourself diligently. Waste not even a single precious minute as life is short and time is eeting. That tomorrow will never come. Now or never. Stand up with the rm resolve: I will become a Yogi in this very birth, this very moment. Gird up your loins. Do rigid constant Yoga Sadhana. Walk along the path of Yoga in the footsteps of Jnanadeva, Gorakhnath, Sadasiva Brahman and Tailanga Swami. THE DIVINE LIFE Vol. LXXIX OCTOBER 2020 No. 03 PRASNOPANISHAD CHATURTHA PRASNA (QUESTION IV) SAURYAYANI AND PIPPALADA g ¶Xm VoOgm@{^^yVmo ^d˶̡f Xod… ñdßZmÞ ní¶Ë¶W VX¡Vpñ‘ÄN>ara EVËgwI§ ^d{V && 6Ÿ&& 6. When he is overpowered by light, then that god (mind) sees no dreams and that time the bliss arises in this body. 3 4 THE DIVINE LIFE OCTOBER 2020 ‘hmJwédU©‘mV¥H$mñVmoÌ‘² MAHAGURU-VARNA-MATRIKASTOTRAM (Jnana Bhaskara Mahamahopadhyaya Sri S. Gopala Sastri) KÊQ>maå¶ad§ KZm^‘wabrYm¶}§{K«nÙml¶‘² Kmoam‘f©‘Xm{XdmaUh[a¨ H$m¡{Q>ë¶hrZme¶‘² & MÝÐm^mñ¶JbÔapñ‘VgwYmg§V¥ßËm^º$md{b‘² N>ÙmnoVJwUÀN>Q>m[#mVJwéÀN>Ìm{Yn§ ^md¶o &&13&& 13. I devoutly meditate on Sri Gurudev, the king of preceptors, who is adorned with pure qualities, whose voice is pleasant like the sound of a gong, who has taken refuge at the lotus-feet of Muralidhar Meghashyam, who is a lion to the elephants of terrible anger, vanity and other such vices, whose mind is pure devoid of any sort of crookedness, and who delights the hearts of the devotees by the nectarine smile owing from his moonlike face. Om˶m{gÕ‘ZmokMmQw>dMgm OoÌm g‘ñVopÝж- d«mVñ¶m‘bMoVgm Âm{Q>{V gX²~w{ÕàXmÌm Z¥Um‘² & Âm§Âmm‘méVd{ÞaJ©b{Jam {dkmZnmWmo{YZm àkmeod{YZm@{^dÝÚJwéUm Yݶm d¶§ dr{jVm: &&14&& 14. We are immensely fortunate being blessed by our Worshipful Gurudev who has been gifted with witty and charming language by birth, who is conqueror of all sense-organs, who is pure-hearted, who bestows nobility of mind on people instantaneously, whose wisdom-words ow incessantly and powerfully like a gale, who is an ocean of wisdom and a treasure- trove of knowledge. (To be continued) OCTOBER 2020 DEVI WORSHIP 5 Durga Puja Message DEVI WORSHIP1 (Sri Swami Sivananda) gd©‘“b‘m“ë¶o {edo gdm©W©gm{YHo$& eaʶo Ͷå~Ho$ Jm¡[a Zmam¶{U Z‘mo@ñVw Vo&& O Narayani, Devi, the Three-eyed, the Refuge, the Auspicious, the Bestower of all wishes, the Blessedness that is in all that is blessed! Prostrations be to Thee! Devi is synonymous with like. In other words, Shakti is Shakti or the Divine Power that the very possibility of the m a n i f e s t s , s u s t a i n s a n d Absolute's appearing as many, transforms the universe as the of God's causing this universe. one unifying Force of Existence. God creates this world through In fact, worship of Devi is not Srishti-Shakti (creative power), sectarian; it does not belong to preserves through Sthiti-Shakti any cult, as it is commonly (preservative power), and mistaken to be. Devi is not what destroys through Samhara- is set in opposition to Vishnu or Shakti (destructive power). Siva, as the common populace Shakti and Shakta are one, the understands. By Devi or Shakti, p o w e r a n d t h e o n e w h o we mean the presupposition of possesses the power cannot be all forms of existential power, separated. God and Shakti are the power of knowledge, of like re and heat of re. omniscience, omnipotence. Devi worship or Shakti These powers are the glorious worship is, therefore, worship of attributes of God—you may call God's glory, of God's greatness Him Vishnu or Siva or as you and supremacy. It is adoration 1 Taken from D.L. 1949 6 THE DIVINE LIFE OCTOBER 2020 o f t h e A l m i g h t y . I t i s Shakti (Supreme Power) of this unfortunate that Devi is God is heard of in varieties of understood as a mere blood- ways, this power is the nature of thirsty 'Hindu-goddess'. No, God, manifesting as knowledge, Devi is not the property of the strength and activity”. Truly Hindu alone, Devi does not speaking, all beings of the belong to any religion, not only u n i v e r s e a r e S h a k t i s o m u c h , D e v i i s n o t worshippers, for there is none differentiated from the Deva by who does not love and long for sexual factors, Devi is the power in some form or other. Conscious Power of the Deva. Physicists and scientists have Let this not be forgotten. The proved now that everything is words Devi, Shakti etc, and the pure imperishable energy. This ideas of the different forms energy is only a form of Divine connected with these names are Shakti which exists in every concessions given to the form of existence. l i m i t a t i o n s o f h u m a n Since Shakti cannot be k n o w l e d g e ; t h e y a r e n o t worshipped in its essential ultimate denitions of Shakti. nature, it is worshipped as The original Shakti is beyond c o n c e i v e d o f i n i t s h u m a n c o m p r e h e n s i o n ; manifestation viz. creation, Bhagavan Krishna says (in the preservation and destruction. Gita), “This is only my lower Shakti in relation to these Nature (Shakti), beyond this is three functions is Saraswati, my higher Nature (the Original Lakshmi and Kali. These, as is Shakti), the life-principle which evident, are not three distinct sustains this universe”. The Devis, but the One formless Upanishad says, “The Para- Devi worshipped in three OCTOBER 2020 DEVI WORSHIP 7 f o r m s . T h e D e v a s Samrajya-Lakshmi”. Hence corresponding to these are worship of Lakshmi means the Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, worship of the central purpose who, in the same way, are not of existence itself. Mahakali is three Devas, but the forms of the transformative power of the One Supreme Deva who is D i v i n i t y , t h e p o w e r t h a t formless. Navaratri is the dissolves multiplicity in unity. festive occasion of the 'nine- T h e w o r s h i p o f D e v i i s , nights' worship of Maha-Kali, therefore, the explanation of the Maha-Lakshmi and Maha- entire process of spiritual Saraswati, the Divinity of the Sadhana in all its aspects. universe adored in three ways. During Navaratri, observe S a r a s w a t i i s c o s m i c strict Anushthana and purify i n t e l l i g e n c e , c o s m i c your inner nature. This is the consciousness, and cosmic most auspicious time in the k n o w l e d g e . W o r s h i p o f year for Mother-worship. Read Saraswati is necessary for Saptashati or Devi Mahatmya, Buddhi-Shuddhi, Viveka- Lalitasahasranama. Do Japa of Udaya, Vichara-Shakti, for the Mantra of Devi. Perform Jnana or Self-illumination. formal worship with purity, Lakshmi does not mean mere sincerity and devotion. Cry for material wealth like gold, cattle, Darshana of Devi. The Divine etc. All kinds of prosperity, Mother will bless you with the g l o r y , m a g n i c e n c e , j o y , Knowledge, the peace and the exaltation or greatness come joy that know no end! May the u n d e r L a k s h m i . A p p a y a Divine Devi, the Mother, bless Dikshita calls even nal you all! Om Shanti ! Shanti !! L i b e r a t i o n a s “ M o k s h a - Shanti !!! 8 THE DIVINE LIFE OCTOBER 2020 ESSENCE OF DEVI MAHATMYA1 (Sri Swami Chidananda) In Hinduism, there are the Being as Skanda. Thus, there worshippers of the Supreme are the six principal sects of the Being in its aspect as Siva; we Hindus who worship the same call them the Saivites. Then Supreme Being as conceived of there are the worshippers of the in six different ways.