WHERE IS GOD?

Man's purpose on this terra firma is to realize God! For this purpose he follows various methods! religion is one of the methods but unfortunately it has created division among its followers! Instead of changing man for the better, it has divided them and has brought in violence! A few devotees visit temples and pray for realization! A few more chant the name their chosen God and wait for His vision! Quite a few retire to forests far away from the madding crowd and meditate under the greenwood trees to know God! Some even inhabit the Himalayan ranges thinking it would be easier to realize God! God is omnipresent, omnipotent and Omniscient! He is beyond words and thought and manas! “ yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa saha” declares the Veda! He has no birth but manifests in many forms, “ ajayamano bahudha vijayate”. God is within ourselves firmly enshrined in our hearts! We need not go elsewhere to find God. We have to turn our looks inward and identify that eternal spirit who is Satchidananda Svarupa! This is exactly what we fail to do. Having butter in hand we search for ghee or clarified butter! Where is this eternal Spirit inside? How to distinguish it? None has tried very seriously about this perennial search. The Veda has described clearly where effulgent God resides in our body!

Narayana Suktam, a hymn in Yajur Veda, considered as an appendix to the Purusha Sukta, is in the thirteenth anuvaka of the tenth chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad! As it is the nature of the Sukta to glorify the Supreme God Narayana, it extols the illimitable attributes of the Lord In various ways. He is the one with thousand heads and eyes! He is the universal witness for everything that happens. He transcends the world, is eternal, and the very embodiment of the world! He destroys the ignorance of people! He is Indestructible, Lord of all jivas! He is the inner spirit of the entire universe! He pervades in and out of  every object in the world! He is ‘Ananta, Avyaya,! Knows all! Yet He is untouched by the cycle of Samsara! I meditate on that Narayana in my heart which is like the lotus bud turned upside down! The position of the spiritual or adhyatmika heart  is being described now. This heart is situated below the neck about twelve inches above the navel! This is the unique dwelling place of the Supreme Spirit, God! This area appears to be enveloped by a series of dazzling flames radiating light!

This adhyatmika heart, is dangling down enveloped by nerves on all four sides! Within that heart is a subtle space! It is in this space the entire universe is situated!  At the center thereof  is a fire that burns brightly and spreads on all four sides! This fire is the Prana, that takes in food and  distributes it to various parts of the body! This fire is ever new, strong enough and bereft of birth and death. The rays of this  Prana Agni-- the fire of Prana criss cross all over the body upward and downward always! The body temperature from head to foot is maintained because of the movement of Prana Agni! In the center of this dazzling fire, there is a flame, of  the size of an atom, rising upward.

This unique flame of fire shines with coruscating brilliance like the flash of lightning from among the dark dense clouds! It is like the thorn on the grain particle and golden in color! The paramatma is thus enshrined in the center of that flame of fire and very well established! He is Brahma the Creator, Siva the destroyer and Vishnu the protector! He is indestructible! He shines with His own effulgence radiating light all over the universe! There is none superior to Him!! Our Vedic seers, sages and saints had explored and conducted research on the existence of God  within the body through intense tapas and meditation! The result of such unique penance has been brought out by them in the Narayna Suktham!

Thus the presence of God who manifests in every creature on earth is not outside! He dwells in our own heart. it is meaningless to search for Him outside or elsewhere The bhakta or the aspirant has to withdraw himself into the inner recesses of his heart, meditate on Him and realize the Divine! But most of us forget this fact and go out on pilgrimage to holy places to see God! If only man is able to mediate on the Supreme Reality from his own home, God shall surely favor him! Right methods like an intense desire to realize Him, sincerity, total surrender unto His lotus feet are essential for compelling the Supreme Spirit to stand before us! Narayana Suktam, “ Sahasra Seersham devam viswaksham visva sambhavam……..and Mantra pushpam- “ Yopampuspam Veda…, pushpavan prajavan pasumanbhavati……are recited at the end of  every shodasa upachara puja! It stops at mere recitation alone! Not many understand the meaning of the Suktham and mechanically recite it at the end of the worship! Let us try to understand what we recite and act according to what the great Suktas expect us to do!!