- Author : Vidwan Sri Guruprasad Bhat, Dhoopadakatte
- Translator : Akshay Venkatesh, New Jersey
“(He) will protect” should be the faith that one should have in the lotus feet of Lord. Upon constantly believing so, there shall be no fear in our life. As the saying goes “No one has suffered by keepin faith in Him”, there should be immense faith in Him. The scriptures have termed this immense faith as “Bhagavata Dharma”. We can see this in Bheemasena in Mahabharata.
Imagine a field full of sand. We can run freely, blind-folded throughout the field without any fear as there is no chance of getting hurt. Similarly, the refuge under the Lord, the ocean of virtues is void of all kinds of fear. Following the Bhagavata Dharma propounded by Him will thus lead to a life free from fear. If not, fear will trail.
Krishna says “Yogakshemam Vahamyaham”, which means He will bear the responsibility of people who constantly think of Him. Thus, to have sustained devotion towards the Lord, we have to dedicate to His lotus feet all the actions performed by our mind, body and senses. In the 11th Canto of Srimad Bhagavata, a jnaani, descendant of King Priyavrata called Kavi says “actions done with purity and the sole intention of dedication towards Lord, will alone lead to fearlessness and elevation of the soul.” His words in the form of a shloka is recited even today, famed as ‘Karma-Samarpana-Shloka’ in daily rituals.
Kayena vacha manasendriyarva buddhyatmanava-anusmruta svabhavam
karotiyadyat sakalm parasmai Narayana-yeti samarpayaami” || (Bhagavata 11-2-36)
This shloka emphasies that a seeker should dedicate all the deeds done through the 11 senses to Lord Narayana. It starts with ‘Kaya’ or body. Since the body has carried all the senses, we should first dedicatie to God the actions done by body.
Shastras prescribe ‘Trikarana Shuddhi’ (cleansing of body, words and mind) before performing any deed. Body is the first amongst the three karanas. So to perform any deed it is necessary to have body and cleanliness of the body. The Shastras have called “Atmanam Rathinam Viddhi Shareeram Rathameva Cha”, which means, the body is the chariot carrying all the senses. Hence, does it not mean that the body houses all the senses?
That is why the shloka starts with describing the deeds by body. If the chariot fails, its assocaited parts fail as well. As the saying “Shareeramadyam Khalu Dharma Sadhanam”, body is the primary instrument for any person performing deeds to attain enlightenment.
Bhagavata instructs, first the actions performed through the body must be dedicated to the Lord. The body was gifted to us by the Lord, we never applied a representation asking for it. It is by his grace, the body was formed inside the mother’s womb passing from the father. Isn’t he the one who took care of this body by supplying the necessary things at the right time which helped develop this beautiful body? Bhagavata thus directs – realizing this, act with care through the body and then offer those actions to the Lord.
Next in the order is “Tongue (Speech)”, the actions through this sensory organ should be offered to the Lord.
Ramaa-kalatrana Daasa-vargake Namipenanavarata || Always at the humble feet of Sri-Hari’s dasas!!