Sunday 23 September 2012

Japa leads to perfection! Yes, it most certainly does!


The practice of Japa generates a divine aura, divine bliss and sattvic vibes in the environment which eradicate the thought-pollution prevalent in the atmosphere today. Japa of the divine name creates a divine armour which protects the japaka from negative elements and helps the person progress on the path of spiritual and material development.
Once you get a mantra from the Guru, half of your sadhana is completed by the power of diksha and if you do not repeat your past sins and bad habits, you are absolved of those sins and you become free from vices. As your japa increases, your sins will be gradually eradicated. However, more anushthanas1 are required in the case of a great sin. There was a great scholar named Vidyaranya Swami in the order of Lord Adi Shankaracharya. He was initiated with the Guru mantra and was told to perform an anushthana by his Guru.
The Ishtamantra is perfected by doing 1,11,110 number of japas if it is a mono-syllabilic mantra. In case of mantras which have more than one syllable in them, the japa should be performed for as many times as the number of syllables in the mantra multiplied by 1,11,110. By performing an anushthana, one gets protection from negativity and the inauspicious, and the presiding deity of the mantra is revealed. Vidyaranya Swami performed many anushthanas but saw that his presiding deity, divine Mother Bhagwati, had not yet revealed herself. No miracle of any sort had happened. “All this is humbug. I should not have got entangled in this”, he thought, and collected some wood at the solitary place where he had built a hutment for himself. He lit a fire and offered all the religious books, articles of worship, rosary, gomukhi etc. to the fire-god.
As everything was being engulfed by the fire, a divine lady with a magnetic aura around her manifested herself and said to Vidyaranya Swami, “What are you doing?”
He replied: “Mother! All this japa is nothing but humbug. I have performed several anushthanas and found that mantra japa is useless. Now I will spread the information among people that they should not waste their time by becoming religious. Let them earn, eat, enjoy and make merry. I will spread atheism. There is no God. All this talk about mantras is useless.”
The goddess said, “Well! You may do whatever you like but at least turn around and look.”
Vidyaranya Swami saw that just like the fire which was burning before him, there was a conflagration behind him and huge boulders of the size of mountains were falling from above into it and were being blasted to pieces. One after another, several such boulders were being destroyed in the fire with a deadly sound. Dumbfounded, he thought, “What is this that I am seeing? The lady who spoke to me must be aware of the mystery behind this.” He turned around but the lady had disappeared! Where did she go? He wandered in the woods calling out to the goddess, “O Mother! O goddess!! O Mother of the world!!! Be gracious. You revealed yourself and have now disappeared. I don’t know who you really are. Please guide me.”
A heavenly voice was heard, “You have abandoned dharma, japa and the refuge of the Guru’s command. You are now an orphan. Go and wander according to the whims of your mind. There are many such orphans who wander, and after death they flow into the drain when they don’t get a mother’s womb to be reborn in. You too may go and do as you please. Will the sun become extinct by your saying that it does not exist? Will God perish by your propagating atheism?”
“Mother! I saw huge boulders being destroyed in the fire. What does that mean?”
The goddess replied, “The great sins of your past lives have been destroyed one by one by anushthanas.”
“Mother! Kindly guide me.”
The goddess said, “You have shown disregard to the mantra given by the Guru. Worship and pray to the Guru to forgive you. If you once again perform an anushthana, considering your Guru’s touch, the mantra and the rosary given by Him as the supreme means for your good, you will experience the efficacy of the japa and gain supernatural powers.”
Vidyaranya Swami fell at his Guru’s feet, cried and narrated the whole incident to Him. The compassionate Guru again gave him a rosary and the required scriptures, etc. and said, “You will now become successful by performing a single anushthana.”
He did as he was told and became such a great siddha (enlightened master) that he composed a scripture, which helped me (Pujya Bapuji) attain Self-realization.
Lord Krishna’s Gita blessed Arjuna with a divine intellect capable of comprehending the Real Essence (Tattva). Similarly, the Guru’s mantra destroyed the dangerous darkness caused by his mahapatakas committed by Vidyaranya Swami in his past lives to bless him with a divine intellect capable of realizing the Ultimate Truth. He composed the famous scripture ‘Panchdashi.’ The sadhaks of Vedanta and all the saints and devotees who follow the path of Wisdom are acquainted with this scripture.
So, it is not that if you do japa, you will get the result instantly. Japa first purifies the body, the mind and our past karma. Only after that past debt is cleared, will something be deposited in your account. When does one accumulate a bank balance? One may say, “I have been depositing 200-500-1,000 rupees with the bank everyday, but the balance in my account has not yet touched one lakh rupees!” Foolish person! You already owe three and a half lakh rupees to the bank and you still have to deposit 25 thousand rupees to clear that loan. How can you have a bank balance? Only after the debt is cleared will something be deposited in your account. On the same lines, japa creates an energy which destroys sins. The accumulated sins of the past are destroyed and one’s merits increase. Therefore, one should do japa continuously.

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