Man is full of ego and arrogance! He thinks that he is the doer and takes pride in his achievements! He does not understand that there is a superior power above responsible for all his actions. As long as he thinks that he is the doer or kartha he is subjected to Papa or sin and punya. But when he offers all his actions to God, he is divested of all the effects of his actions. In the Bhagavadgita, Lord Krishna explains to the despondent Arjuna that he is, after all an instrument in His hands! “Nimitta matram bhava Savyasachin.” The Lord has already willed that the Kauravas should die. That Sankalpa can never be altered! Arjuna killing the Kauravas is like killing a dead snake! Performing all our actions and offering them to God is the only way to be absolved from all our sins! Total dedication to God and accepting everything as His will is the hallmark of a devotee or bhaktha! God takes over all the responsibilities of the devotee if he worships Him with single minded devotion and faith! “ Ananyas chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasathe thesham nityabhi yuktanam yoga kshemam vahamyaham.”
Sri Sankara in the twenty seventh sloka of Soundarya Lahari touches on this point of offering all our actions to God! Every thought word and deed has to be offered to Devi here who is the Mother of all Gods and Goddesses! Says Sankara, “ O Mother! All chanting of mantras offered to the Brahman, painting of pictures and other handicrafts, various mudras that create confusion and conflict in others, independent movement, performing ‘pradakshina’ in temples, eating, offering ‘havis’ to one’s chosen deity, offering obeisances, rolling on the floor, happiness and pleasures enjoyed through the Senses, including the opening and closing of the eyelids---let all these be considered as worship for you in the place of regular worship!”
In short, Sankara points out that whatever action is done as an offering to the Brahman should be taken as the worship of Sri Mata. The same tattva is brilliantly explained in Sankara’s excellent Siva Manasa Puja Stotra. What is the worship that I offer you? Says Sankara, “ puja te vishayopa bhoga rachana nidra samadhi stithihi” -The pleasures that I experience through the Karmendriyas, the vishaya sukhas are my worship for you My Lord! The samadhi experience is the regular sleep that I have each and everyday! It does not stop there.
What is the ‘pradakshina’ that I do for You? “ Sancharah padayo pradakshina' vidhihi”--my walk throughout this world is the ‘pradakshina’ that I offer you! The entire universe is the manifestation of God and hence movement anywhere in the world is equal to circumambulation of the temple! The world becomes the temple as it is the manifestation of God! Sankara voices the noblest philosophy of Advaita in the Stotra when he says that Siva Himself is his Atma! Girija, Devi Parvati is his intellect! Friends that move with him are the five vayus or Pancha pranas!
“Sareeram gruham” Sankara emphatically says that his body is the home of Lord Siva! The body is the temple of God.” Deho Devalayam proktva jeevo devas sanatanaha” The Upanishad proclaims the same established truth. “Atmanam rathinam viddhi sareeram ratha meva tu buddhimtu sarathim viddhi manah pragraha mevacha” The. Atma is the charioteer; the body is the chariot; intellect is the driver of the chariot; Manas is the bridle that controls the running horses that are the Senses! If the Manas fails to control the senses it will be disastrous and may end in fatal accidents! Hence the body chariot has to be run cautiously remembering that the Lord as Atma is embedded there.That realization has to come to every person! Finally Sankara says in the stotra, “yadyat karma karomi tattadakhilam Sambho tavaradhanam.” O Lord! Sambho! Whatever action I perform is exactly your worship alone and nothing else! This sloka in Soundarya Lahari echoes the same thought of Sankara in his Siva Manasa Puja Stotram!
Sri Sankara in the twenty seventh sloka of Soundarya Lahari touches on this point of offering all our actions to God! Every thought word and deed has to be offered to Devi here who is the Mother of all Gods and Goddesses! Says Sankara, “ O Mother! All chanting of mantras offered to the Brahman, painting of pictures and other handicrafts, various mudras that create confusion and conflict in others, independent movement, performing ‘pradakshina’ in temples, eating, offering ‘havis’ to one’s chosen deity, offering obeisances, rolling on the floor, happiness and pleasures enjoyed through the Senses, including the opening and closing of the eyelids---let all these be considered as worship for you in the place of regular worship!”
In short, Sankara points out that whatever action is done as an offering to the Brahman should be taken as the worship of Sri Mata. The same tattva is brilliantly explained in Sankara’s excellent Siva Manasa Puja Stotra. What is the worship that I offer you? Says Sankara, “ puja te vishayopa bhoga rachana nidra samadhi stithihi” -The pleasures that I experience through the Karmendriyas, the vishaya sukhas are my worship for you My Lord! The samadhi experience is the regular sleep that I have each and everyday! It does not stop there.
What is the ‘pradakshina’ that I do for You? “ Sancharah padayo pradakshina' vidhihi”--my walk throughout this world is the ‘pradakshina’ that I offer you! The entire universe is the manifestation of God and hence movement anywhere in the world is equal to circumambulation of the temple! The world becomes the temple as it is the manifestation of God! Sankara voices the noblest philosophy of Advaita in the Stotra when he says that Siva Himself is his Atma! Girija, Devi Parvati is his intellect! Friends that move with him are the five vayus or Pancha pranas!
“Sareeram gruham” Sankara emphatically says that his body is the home of Lord Siva! The body is the temple of God.” Deho Devalayam proktva jeevo devas sanatanaha” The Upanishad proclaims the same established truth. “Atmanam rathinam viddhi sareeram ratha meva tu buddhimtu sarathim viddhi manah pragraha mevacha” The. Atma is the charioteer; the body is the chariot; intellect is the driver of the chariot; Manas is the bridle that controls the running horses that are the Senses! If the Manas fails to control the senses it will be disastrous and may end in fatal accidents! Hence the body chariot has to be run cautiously remembering that the Lord as Atma is embedded there.That realization has to come to every person! Finally Sankara says in the stotra, “yadyat karma karomi tattadakhilam Sambho tavaradhanam.” O Lord! Sambho! Whatever action I perform is exactly your worship alone and nothing else! This sloka in Soundarya Lahari echoes the same thought of Sankara in his Siva Manasa Puja Stotram!
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