Amrit Vani: Pragyāyog-Sādhanā — Invocation of Divine Light
(Translation of a discourse by Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya on "Pragyāyog Kī Sādhanā")
॥ Oṁ bhūrbhuvaḥ svaḥ tatsaviturvareñyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt ॥
Sisters and Brothers,
Savior Force of the Almighty descends on this earth in the critical times. The nature and work of His incarnations depend upon the need of the Age.
Severest of the crises today, which also is the subtle root-cause of all the hazards, threats and challenges of the present times, is the Crisis of Faith (Asthā-SankaTa). Fanaticism or fundamentalism in the name of religious 'faith' is an extreme case of this crisis. Wider impact of this crisis is visible on almost all fronts of life — People's faith in ideals, virtuous deeds, good qualities, and moral values has weakened or even waned out. There is dearth of principles, sincerity, diligence, trust, patience almost everywhere. Man seems to be mostly thinking, and doing the faux pas, as per the directions, aspirations, or apprehensions of his self-obsessed mind.
If left uncontrolled, this weakening of the very base of progress, prosperity, happiness, and peace would one day ruin the edifice of our advanced civilization. Where is the hope? Will the Creator let His beautiful Creation be devastated? No. Certainly not.
Age after Age God incarnates to set the clock right, to prevent and uproot the wrong, and to resurrect the good, the righteous — to reestablish the values and disciplines of humanity. As this time the devilish crisis has captured human mind and influenced the roots of faith, sentiments and thoughts, so, the divine incarnation (Avatāra) — the savior light of God — is also going to descend in this very domain. This is going to be the "Pragyā Avatāra". Our scriptures describe the so-called 24th Avatāra as 'Nishkalanka' — absolutely pure, pious. This is going to be the avatāra of Pragyā.
Pragyā means — enlightened vision, farsightedness, and pure wisdom. It is only in this form that incarnation of the Omnipotent can retain and express its absolute purity and divinity. Therefore you must realize the supreme importance of this avatāra and you must practice the Sādhanā of invocation of Pragyā so that the light of this avatāra could illuminate and inspire your inner self, as well as your mind.
It is the sublime force, the absolute light of Gayatri that originates Pragyā. Gayatri is the Supreme Mother of all gods (divine powers). Gayatri is also referred as "Tripadā" — the trinity Goddesses; Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali also are the manifestations of different powers of Gayatri. It is ĀdiShakti — Eternal Power of the Omnipotent, the Perennial Evolutionary Force of all creation.
When all else becomes ineffective, the savior force of ādiïakti alone can protect the grand creation and set things right. The severity of the apparently hidden 'Crisis-of-Faith' is such that this savior force of Gayatri is going to express and work as an incarnation of Mahāpragyā.
The scriptural descriptions of earlier eras mention that collective sādhanā by gods had resulted in the incarnation of Durga. These allegoric scriptural descriptions convey that collective and sincere efforts of devout sādhanā are essential and these can certainly invoke and invite divine incarnation in the critical times.
All beings are the same for God. Every sincere prayer is answered from His end; everybody's sādhanā can invite His grace. In this critical period of 'Crisis-of-Faith,' we all should sincerely do collective sādhanā of Gayatri to pray and invite the incarnation of Mahāpragyā — ādiïakti, supreme light of divine wisdom, for the enlightenment of all. I call this as pragyāsādhanā, pragyāyoga.
This pragyāyoga, pragyā-sādhanā is comprehensive — it incorporates the Karmayoga, Bhaktiyoga, and Gyanyoga. It is the collective devotion and sādhanā of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali; Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. It is the sādhanā of your life.
It begins with a simple practice of 'awakening' when you get up in the morning. Just pay attention to the importance of the new day of your life before leaving the bed and getting busy with the routine chores. Take a deep breath to recharge your body and mind with fresh energy. Remind yourself that this day is like a new birth; it has brought a new chance, a new life. Thank the Almighty for this blessing.
Welcome the day (new life) with enthusiasm; plan to make constructive use of the opportunity it has brought. Take a quick review of the important tasks you have to do and chalk out a scheme/schedule accordingly; also think about doing something good, doing something that will help you adopt or strengthen a virtuous quality. Similarly, at night, after you go to bed, take a deep breath, relax quietly for few moments and do a review of the major things you did. Ponder over the flaws and negligence on your part like an impartial judge and sincerely resolve not to repeat those in future.
The rituals of upāsanā remind you of the importance of purity in all domains of your life. Pavitrikaraña teaches you that the external as well as internal facets of your life should be cleaned. Nyāsa implies importance of purity and proper use of the sense organs. Āchamana implies the necessity of purity (clarity, modesty, and truthfulness) of voice — speech, expression for communication with others, and purity (prudence, righteousness and benevolence) of thoughts and actions. Prāñāyāma teaches you the importance of every breath in your life.
Among the requirements and support for mental and physical purification, purity of food is quite important. Purity of food does not only mean its cleanliness and freshness; rather the method of cooking, the feeling with which it has been cooked, and most importantly the mode of acquiring it matter the most in nurturing the subtle quality of food. Your source and means of earning (income) should be pure, honest.
(To be concluded in the next issue)
Notes:
- Pragyā Avatāra: Incarnation of Absolute, Pure, Wisdom.
- Adi-Shakti: Eternal Omnipotent Divine Force; the Origin of all divine powers, all existence.
- Sādhanā: Spiritual endeavor.