Make time to strengthen spiritual quotient

Oasis

In today’s world of addictive social media, the normal 16-waking hours seem to shrink. People complain about lack of time, especially for spiritual pursuits. For office commuters, this is justifiable, as along with time their energy to is drained out in the bargain. But even such individuals could reserve a niche time early in the morning for communion with the Almighty. The commute time may be used to listen to talks on the holy scriptures. Each one’s clock is ticking by. Shirdi Sai has referred to greed, lust, jealousy, anger, selfishness, and ego as the crocodiles from which the individual needs to escape while wading through the ocean of existence. This is tough as man is full of such “rajas” and “tamas'' qualities. A spiritual speaker referred to Facebook and WhatsApp(forwards) too as the modern-day crocodiles, preying on the precious resource, one’s time.

The venerable Madhwa philosophers, foremost being Srimad Madhwacharya aka Sri Anandatheertha, have clarified that Lord Vishnu created all his avatars for our benefit. The whole world is His leela or pastime, for His enjoyment. Most mortals find it difficult to meditate on the formless atman, so God created all the avatars, especially the Krishna leelas, for people to listen to, dwell upon and thus feel themselves in the presence of the Lord. The Lord wishes that his children never veer far away from him, and is patiently waiting for his fold to return to Him. The best way to ensure this is to spend time listening to talks on ancient scriptures and epics like Ramayana, and Mahabharata that including the gem - the Bhagavad Gita.

The sins are believed to be washed away too in the bargain. Harikatha is an artistic form of narration of God’s avatars, and the narrators dress like the celestial haridasa, saint Narada, with a pair of cymbals or chiplis in hand. This art is being carried on by a dedicated few, and it is a sublime experience to witness the musical narrative accompanied by live music on the tabla or mridangam, and harmonium. Bhajans are sung in between involving the audience, creating a synergy that is stupendous and the whole gathering reels in devotional fervour and God seems to be within reach.