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Chapter 9
THE SOVEREIGN SCIENCE OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY: YOGA OF SURRENDER
46. The Whole Life Can Be Infused With God
27. Imagine it is night time. The pooja is going on in the temple. The incense smoke is rising. Its fragrance is in the air. Lamps have been lit. In such an ambience we really feel God’s presence. All day the Lord was awake; now is the time for Him to go to sleep. The devotees sing, ‘आतां स्वामी सुखें निद्रा करा गोपाळा ।’ (‘O Lord! Now you may happily go to sleep.’) Sceptics ask, “Does the Lord sleep?” But why can’t the Lord sleep? O fool, if the Lord does not sleep and wake up, who do you think does so; can a stone do so? It is the Lord who sleeps and keeps awake, it is the Lord who eats and drinks. As the day dawns, Saint Tulsidas wakes up Lord Rama with gentle persuasion, ‘जागिये रघुनाथ कुंवर पंछी बन बोले।’ (‘O Prince Rama! Please wake up. The birds have started chirping in the woods.’) He is, in fact, waking up the people, looking to them as the images of the Lord. What an enchanting idea! Contrast it with what happens in a hostel. There the boys are woken up by rude shouts. Is this proper in the auspicious morning hours? There is an incident in Valmiki’s Ramayana. Rama is asleep in the ashram of sage Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra is waking him up. Valimiki describes, रामेति मधुरां वाणीं विश्वामित्रोऽभ्यभाषत। (Vishwamitra is saying softly to Rama, “Arise, O lion among men; the sky isbrightening in the east.”) How sweet and loving the action is! And how harshly the boys are woken up in a hostel! The poor sleeping lad feels that the fellow waking him up must be his arch-enemy for ages! One should first call in a low, soft tone. If the boy does not wake up, call him in a little louder voice. But never be rough or rude. If he still does not wake up, you may try again after a few minutes. If even that fails, hope that he will surely get up in time tomorrow. Sing to him melodious songs, the songs of sunrise, or the hymns. An ordinary action of waking up can thus be made poetic, tender and beautiful when it is done with the feeling that we are waking up the Lord Himself. To wake up somebody too needs a right technique. |
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