Re: Loving God - Two ways
namaste everyone.
Two common words used in Sanskrit in connection with prayer are stotram, shlokam.
• The word stotram means a song of praise, hymn on the deity. It has its origins in the Rig Veda:
stotram indrAya gAyata--Sing the praise to Indra, RV 8.21a
• The word shlokam which means 'verse' on the other hand, originated in shokam--sorrow! The world's first shlokam was composed extempore by sage VAlmIki, author of the RAmAyaNam.
VAlmIki maharShi goes to River Tamasa for a bath and sees a couple of birds, of which a hunter kills one. VAlmIki unintentionally utters a shlokam--poem, which is rich in grammar and new in metre, of which he is very much confused as to why such a poem has come from his tongue. BrahmA, the presiding deity of letters appears and ordains VAlmIki to author RAmAyaNam, excellent epic of RAma, for which purpose alone he gave such divine meter and grammar to him.
http://valmikiramayan.net/bala/sarga2/bala_2_frame.htm
Thus, the way I love God depends on whether I chant a shlokam or sing a stotram! Even Adi ShankarAchArya did both:
• His bhavAnI aShTakam laments how an illiterate and indulgent vagabond realizes the futility of his life and surrenders to Goddess BhavAnI for refuge and liberation from his sorrow:
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...1&postcount=10
• His gaNesha pancharatnam, on the other hand, is a short stotram, sings the praise of God GaNesha, thus:
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...08&postcount=7
• There is nothing wrong or lacking on our part to ask favours of a deity. After all, who else can we resort to for such favours? Such prayer is of the kind kAmyArtha prArthana--prayer for fulfilment of personal wishes. Here is how we can pray to Goddess LakShmI for favours using the famous shlokam called mahAlakShmI stuti:
Adi lakShmI namastestu para-brahma svarUpiNI |
yasho dehi danam dehi sarva kAmascha dehi may ||
"Salutations to Adi LakShmI, who is of the form of Parabrahman;
give me fame, give me wealth, and fulfil all my desires."
Notice how the devotee in this verse praises the deity and seeks favours: best of both worlds!
...and the list goes on!
http://stotraratna.sathyasaibababrotherhood.org/g43.htm
• Prayers that seek the welfare of the world in general are of the kind loka-kShema-prarthanA. The famouse lokAsamasta sukhino bhavantu | AUM shAnti shAnti shAntiH--"May all the world be happy and may there be peace"--is a prayer of this kind.
• The gAyatrI mantra, on the other hand is a prayer for increased awareness of the Self, and is of the kind AtmArtha prArthanA.
• How we seek to relate to a deity and love him/her is known by the name bhakti-bhAvam--devotional relationship. Hinduism permits several bhakti bhAvas, so I can relate to a deity in the
dAsya bhAvam--where I am the servant and he/she is the master;
nAyakI/nAyakI bhAvam--where I am the wife and he is the husband or vice versa with a female deity;
sakhin/sakhI bhAvam--where the deity is my boy/girl friend;
mitra bhAvam--where the deity is my close friend,
vAtsalya bhAvam--where I love the deity as a child or parent.
Other types of relationship are also possible.
Finally, for those who belong to the tradition of Advaita, the devotee should cultivate the bhAvam of the deity being none other than the Self and all the prayers and pujas offered to her/him are only to the Self.
रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
--viShNu purANam
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