Verse 27
गेयं गीतानामसहस्रं ध्येयं श्रीपतिरूपमजस्रम् ।
नेयं सज्जनसङ्गे चित्तं देयं दीनजनाय च वित्तम् ॥२७॥
Geyaṁ gītā nāma sahasraṁ
dhyeyaṁ śrīpati rūpamajasram,
Neyaṁ sajjana sange cittaṁ
deyaṁ dīnajanāya ca vittam.
The Bhagavad gītā should be sung, and the
Sahasranāma should be chanted; always the form of the Lord Nārāyaṇā is to be meditated upon; the mind is to be
led towards the company of the good; wealth is to be distributed to the needy.
The verse lays out a 4-point program of
Sadhana.
Beginners on the spiritual path would receive
this as some solace and assurance to them. Just by doing these four simple
spiritual exercises, our negative qualities like anger, lust and greed, can get
dissolved. Dedication can win God, not greatness. We are called upon to say to
God, “I seek You alone, nothing else!”
The Four Starting Sadhanas:
In these simple instructions we see that he
is asking the beginner to practice the basic Sadhanas. There is no bigotry in
these instructions. They are for all aspirants, from any cultural
background.
The Bhava of the heart is more important than
the outer actions or the words uttered in prayer. The Sadhanas given in this
verse:
1 Scriptural Study or Recitation:
2 Worship of one’s Deity or meditation on the Lord;
3 Satsang or good company;
4 Charity to the poor and needy.
He prescribes the sadhaka, Bhagavad
Gita in hand, the Name of Hari on his lips, surrounds him with good
company, and fills his heart with compassion and generosity towards the
In this verse, as though, Sankara has brought
in the essence of all the three path for God realization.
While worship of deity and satsang form
part of Bhakti Yoga, Scriptural study indicates the path of Jnana yoga and
charity to the poor indicates Karma yoga.
While these may just be treated as indicators
/ pointers, the essence is far beyond the simple indicators like worship,
satsangh etc.
Sankara brings in a beautiful blend of all
the three paths towards God realization.
The sequence often is to start with Karma or
selfless action so as to reduce our ego, move towards upasana or devotion to
intensify our focus or concentration and then to finally take up Jnana marga
for meditation, contemplation, absorption and ultimately to realize the
divinity within.
Endowments of good qualities in life have to
be treasured. The human birth, a good family, a Guru – these are blessed
conditions; we must not waste them. If we use all these well, liberation cannot
be too far.
Let our heart have charity and
compassion. Let our hands be engaged in acts of charity and service. Let
our mind always meditate upon the form of the Lord. Let our thoughts
always be in the company of the wise, and good and thinking people.
May we always recite the scriptures and
the name of God. Thus, your entire being or the entire personality is engaged
or focused upon God, which is the goal that you are seeking.
This is a process of tuning-up. When we
observe a very small particle under a microscope, I tune the microscope to
focus on the particle. Or when I want to look at a distant object through a
telescope, I tune the telescope in order to focus on that object.
Similarly, our entire life is an attempt to
focus on God or Brahman, the Self, which is what I want to attain or know.
Thus, all the aspects of my personality are aimed in that direction. This verse
tells us beautifully how to do that. Your speech, your mind, your intellect,
and your actions, let all of these be focused upon the Lord.
In most people achievement is linked with
some action. So they do not take easily to Vedanta, which asks of us nothing in
the field of action but everything in the field of BEING. This is not
easily understood by many people.
The simple, inner life of silence and
contemplation appears very difficult to practice because the average person’s
mind is highly strung with activity. Therefore, Sankara suggests in this verse
some simple things which the man of the world can DO, and thereby get
started on the path.
Love.
