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Chapter 17
PROGRAMME FOR THE SEEKER
99. The Mantra of Dedication
23. The Gita further says that after infusing life with the spirit of yajna, it should be totally dedicated to the Lord. It may be asked, ‘What is the necessity of dedicating it to the Lord when it is already full of service?’ The point is that it is easy to say that life should be imbued with service, but it is far more difficult to achieve this. It can at best be achieved partially; and that too after many births. Moreover, the actions may be full of the spirit of service, and still they can lack the spirit of worship. Hence the actions should be dedicated to the Lord with the mantra ॐ तत् सत् (Om tat sat). It is difficult for the acts of service to be fully saturated with the spirit of service. When we seek well-being of others, we satisfy our own interest too. There is no action which is purely in the interests of others. It is impossible to do anything that is free from even a trace of self-interest. We should, therefore, wish that our service should become more and more selfless and desireless. If there is a wish to do increasingly purer service, then you must dedicate all the actions to the Lord. Jnanadeva has said, ‘नामामृत गोडी वैष्णवां लाधली। योगियां साधली जीवनकळा॥.’ (‘Vaishnavas, i.e. bhaktas taste the nectar-like sweetness of the Name of the Lord, and the yogis have mastered the art of living.’) Sweetness of the Name and the art of living are not two different things. Chanting the Name from within and mastering the art of living—these are in tune with each other. Bhakta and yogi are one and the same. When actions are dedicated to the Lord, self-interest, altruism and the supreme interest (i.e. the supreme good) will become one. ‘I’ and ‘you’ are now apart; they should first be united to form ‘we’, which should then be united with ‘Him’, i.e. with the Lord. Firstly, we should achieve harmony with the world and then with the Lord—that is what the mantra ॐ तत् सत् (Om tat sat) suggests. 24. The Lord has countless Names. Vyasa compiled a thousand of them as the Vishnusahasranam (Thousand Names of Lord Vishnu). In fact, any Name that we can think of is His. Whatever Name appeals to us, we should take it to be one of His Names and should see the corresponding attribute present in the whole of creation and shape our life in accordance with it. To meditate over a Name, to see the corresponding attribute present in the whole of creation and to imbibe that attribute—I call it tripada Gayatri (three-stepped sacred mantra of deliverance). For example, if we take the Name ‘dayamaya’ or ‘Rahim’ (one full of mercy and compassion), that is, look upon the Lord as merciful and compassionate, we should envision the merciful and compassionate Lord pervading the entire creation. We should realise that He has given a mother to every child, He has given air for all to breathe. Thus, we should see that in the scheme of the merciful and compassionate Lord there are mercy and compassion, and then we should infuse mercy and compassion into our own lives. The Gita suggested the Name that was most prevalent in that age: ॐ तत् सत् (Om tat sat). |
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