Remembrance [granthraj]

The quality of remembrance is indeed a gift from Krishna. He assures in Bhagavad Gita verse 15.15 mattah smritir jnaanam apohanam ca – "From Me comes remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness."   We might have also practically experienced in our childhood days during school or college, the moment we enter the exam hall, for sometime it will appear as if everything is totally blank. But once we get the question paper, to our own surprise, by the complete mercy of the Lord, each and every answer will pop up.  Krishna will help us to remember the answers if we had endeavored to study.  If this is the case with material knowledge then what to speak of the value of studying scriptures and chanting mantras? The life of Gajendra, the king of elephants is a proof for this. While narrating the pastimes of Gajendra, Sukadeva Goswami says in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 8.3.1

shri-baadaraayanir uvaaca
evam vyavasito buddhyaa / samaadhaaya mano hrdi
jajaapa paramam jaapyam / praag-janmany anushikshitam

"Sri Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Krishna."

In the above verse, the word anushikshitam means practice. When Gajendra was born as King Indradyumna in his previous birth, he had sincerely practised chanting the mantras.   If we sincerely endeavor to chant mantras in this life time, the Lord is so merciful that even if we fall down and get a birth in body other than that of human being – He mercifully allows us to remember the verse. That is why Gurudev insists that we should recite Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam shloka daily.  That transcendental sound vibration is so powerful that it will immediately bring Vaikuntha atmosphere even in this world where we are living in full of anxieties. Most importantly it purifies our own consciousness and all the activities we do, like cooking, washing or cleaning the house etc will be perfect.   We should chant the mantras in a devotional mood. Chanting the mantras in a whimsical or mechanical manner will not please the Lord.

In his powerful purport to the above verse, Srila Prabhupada says – "It is imperative, therefore, that all devotees in Krishna consciousness practice chanting some mantra. Certainly one should chant the Hare Krishna mantra, which is the maha-mantra, or great mantra, and also one should practice chanting cintaamani-prakara-sadmasu or the Nrsimha strotra (ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho yato yato yaami tato nrsimhah). Every devotee should practice in order to chant some mantra perfectly so that even though he may be imperfect in spiritual consciousness in this life, in his next life he will not forget Krishna consciousness, even if he becomes an animal."

Nowadays it is difficult for us to remember even what we learnt 2 days ago. But in the pastime of Gajendra we see that even in the body of elephant, Krishna  has blessed him to remember the shlokas that were learnt in the previous birth. If we constantly endeavor to use our memory for thinking and singing about Krishna, then He will help us to remember Him more and more. On the other hand if we use our memory on finding faults in others and  day dreaming, then we will be haunted by such thoughts more and more. Remembrance of the Lord and shlokas glorifying Him will save us from the greatest fears – just like how Gajendra was blessed with darshan of the Lord and all protection when he was put in a very precarious condition. So now in this birth may we sincerely chant the mantras daily and Krishna will take care of everything else not only in this birth, but also in future births.

Thank you very much,
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sudarshana devi dasi.

Disclaimer: This article was originally published in the Yahoo Groups granthraj – run by the disciples of H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj – by the devotee name mentioned above. The posting in this article, is original realizations of our Guru Maharaj and the devotee who wrote this. Any comments regarding this article would be passed on directly to the devotee. In this article, ‘Maharaj’ and ‘Gurudev’ implicitly refer to our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj.

Related posts:

1. Glorification and Remembrance of H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj [granthraj]