Smaran
is the constant remembrance of God. It is remembering the name of God in joy
and sorrow, in good times and bad times, in health and sickness and during day
and night, in the wakeful state, dream state and sound sleep state. Like a mother
who is obsessed with the health, welfare and safety of her new born child and
is thinking of the child at all times despite all her work and schedule and is
awake to the tiniest cry at night, we must think of God at all times of day and
night. The practice of Smaran is taught in every religion in the world. Prayers
several times a day, chanting the holy name of God, meditation, offering of food
to God, thanksgiving at the dinner table, living ethical and moral life, prayer
meetings, visiting holy spots and temples, taking darshan of holy men, saints
and Gurus are smaran.
Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa advises: Chant the name of Hari (name of Sri Vishnu).
Every morning and evening, chant the Name and clap your hands in rhythm. When
you chant the name of Hari clapping your hands at the same time, your evil
thoughts will fly away from you just like birds fly away from trees when you
clap your hands. The Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi counsels that we should do
the smaran of God as the Divine Name purifies man. Man becomes pure by
repeating the Name of God. Just as wind blows away clouds, the name of God
drives away the cloud of worldliness from our lives and clears our mind.
When
our mind constantly dwells on God and His Greatness, over a period of time, we
take in His Love, Peace, Knowledge, Wisdom, Courage and Bliss. We develop
understanding of the laws of Nature and Universe. We get an innate
understanding of why and how things happen. We do not question the happenings
in our lives and see the hand of God in all things. Then we are in peace.
The
perfect example of smaran bhakti is Prahlad. Prahlad was the son of the
Asura(demon) Hiranyakashyap. Hiranyakashyap went off to perform austerities
to become immortal and was not aware that his wife Kayadu was pregnant. Lord Indra, the Chief of Gods kidnapped
Kayadu with the intent of killing the baby as he feared that child would be
like his father Hiranyakashyap. Sage
Narad assured Lord Indra that the child would be one of the greatest bhaktas of
Lord Narayan and took away the mother to his ashram. Daily he would sing the glories of Lord
Narayan and speak about the leelas or miraculous deeds of the lord. The baby in
the womb of the mother was nurtured on the description of the Name and Form of
the Lord and became a bhakta even before he was born. Hiranyakashyap finished
his tapas and got a boon from Lord Brahma that made him extremely powerful and
invincible. He went on a conquering spree and ruled vast lands. His ego which
was always very strong now became gigantic. He was convinced that he was the
most powerful in the Universe and all beings should chant his name and pray to
him.
All
the subjects of Hiranyakashyap worshiped him due to fear of torture and death. But
he faced a strong challenge to his autocracy in his own home. Prahlad refused
to take his father’s name and kept on chanting the name of Lord Narayan.
Whenever his father would try and force him to chant his name as God’s name,
Prahlad would firmly refuse and say: Lord Vishnu is the all knowing and all
powerful One. Let us chant His name.
Hiranyakashyap
who was successful in forcing his subjects to worship him as God, failed
miserably with his son. There was no
change in Prahlad even after repeated attempts from his father. Unable to
tolerate the insolence of Prahlad and his own inability to convert him,
Hiranyakashyap ordered his army chief to torture Prahlad. Prahlad was thrown
down the mountain, stabbed by spear, drowned in the ocean, thrown into pit of
poisonous snakes and burnt alive with Holika. Each time Prahlad survived, as
his mind was always on the Lord and he was always chanting the name of Lord
Narayan. Ultimately Sri Vishnu manifested as Lord Narasimha and killed
Hiranyakashyap.
At
no point of time during the days of torture by his own father, Prahlad lost his
faith or stopped remembering the Lord. He did not question the justice of the
Lord and always sang of the mercy and compassion of the Lord. His smaran of the
Lord gave him understanding of the Supreme and he lived his long life in peace,
bliss and prosperity. That is the greatness of Smaran.
