Prayer To The Divine Mother

japo jalpah shilpam sakalam-api mudra-virachana gatih pradakshhinya-kramanam ashanady-ahuti vidhih / pranamah samveshah sukham akhilam atmarpana-drsha saparya paryayah tava bhavatu yan-me vilasitam // 27 //

(the word-by-word meaning comes out in the paramacharya�s explanation itself; so it is not given separately)

whatever actions we do everything must be in dedication to ambaa � this is the sum and substance of this shloka. worship, japam, showing mudras by the fingers of the hand, circumambulation, prostration, offering in the fire with the chanting of mantras in propitiation of ambaa � all these are usually done in honour of ambaa by her devotees. yes, all these have to be done. but the matter should not end there. doing all this for a portion of the time, and then for the rest of the time getting fully immersed in material matters of the world, is exactly what should be avoided. it is not like �a few hours for ambaa; and the rest of the time for me and my worldly activities�. all the time everything should become a worship, everything should be a japam, a homam and an offering. that is how we should change our life style. not only the devotees, but all should be able to do this.

but how is this possible? is this feasible? don�t i have to bathe? don�t i have to eat, sleep, mix with people, do my work in the world? i hear you are all raising these questions immediately. you may say that even the great so-called jnanis (enlightened ones) are certainly doing all these routine activities of worldly life. so what is wrong?

let it be. she as the divine mother has to perform her leela. that is alright. but how is it that the jnanis, who know it is all her leela, are still working in the mundane world? you should also be like those jnanis. be in the world, not of the world. maybe it is not possible just immediately. but gradually, you can train yourself to be so. effort and constant practice are needed. for the present, start convincing yourself that your bathing, eating, talking, sleeping, walking, and all these ordinary activities are all happening because of her shakti � without which by yourself you cannot do a single thing. constantly tell yourself that this is so. slowly keep widening this belief for evcery action of yours.

when you recognize that you are eating because of the power she has given you to eat, you would not have the heart to send rubbish stuff into your stomach. when the belief settles in that it is ambaa that makes you walk, you will hesitate twice before wasting it on going to the races or the movies. when you know that it is by her grace you are talking, you would not waste it on gossiping or scolding another or discussing disgusting material. when we are aware of the fact that hands and feet are working because of her, we would stop using them for doing wrong things.

gradually, in due time, this conviction has to spread to your mental activities also. in other words, the egoistic thought of �i am planning this or that� will give way to the thought �let her get this done, if she wishes�. this change in the thought processes is important because it is through the mind all the mayic changes and troubles of the world emerge. and they prevent the nullifying of the mind and the entry into jnana marga. once we transfer the responsibilities to the divine mother, the impact of the mind will slowly disappear. thereafter, whether she keeps us talking, walking or eating or she keeps us without any of these, in any case, we would be peaceful at the bottom of our heart. it is to reach that state, to pray for that state to be possible, that this shloka has been given to us by the acharya.

�japo jalpah�: �jalpa� means talk, whether it is meaningful or not. so all this talk should be a japam. in other words, it is the state of whatever we talk becoming an offering of japam for her. there are several mantras like �bala�, �shhodashi�, and �panchadashi�. all these mantras are done in a japa form. we are not saying that they should not be done. but ultimately, the japa as a separate activity has to disappear and the conviction should occur that whatever we talk is a japa offering to her. �sakalam shilpam-api mudra-virachana�: whatever i do by my hand, let it be a mudra that one does in your puja. here �shilpam� must be taken to mean any kind of work. unfortunately the tamil word �shilpam� means only sculpture. maybe because man produces forms just as the creator creates human beings. �gatih pradakshhinya-kramanam� : whatever movement i do let it be a circumambulation of you. wherever i go let me have the feeling that i am doing a pradakshhina of you. �ashanadi� : food, etc. since the �etc.� is there it means not only food that is eaten, but food that is consumed by the other senses like eyes and ears. so all sensual experiences are covered. �ahuti vidhih� : let them be the offerings given to the sacred fire lit for you. in fact all eating is done only after giving the first five morsels to the five pranas. in the gita also, the lord says that he it is who digests the food by being vaishvanara as �jatharagni� in the stomach. once we have the conviction that it is he that is sitting inside and consuming what we send through the mouth, then we would not be sending in wine and meat for his consumption. the same logic applies to the sensual consumption by eyes, ears, skin, and nose. everything is experienced by him and so let us dare not send in undesirable things.

�pranamas-samveshah� : let my very sleeping be a namaskara done to you. once we realise that our lying down for rest is nothing but a namaskaram at the feet of ambaa, that would itself give us total peace and relaxation.

why carry on this list in detail. it is not necessary to do special japa, homa, namakara and such rituals. whatever we naturally do , let it be our puja to you � this is the meaning of �sukham akhilam atmarpana-drsha saparya paryayah tava bhavatu yan me vilasitam�. here �saparya� means puja. �paryaya� has many

meanings, one of which is �substitute�. so this gives the meaning: let whatever i do be a �substitute� for the puja to be done to you.