What shlokas signify in this loka

Is there even a dearth for shlokas in our tradition, in the holy land we call Bharata?  Shlokas are the hymns that are recited in praise of our gods and goddesses, where the recitation helps focus our minds on any one form of our favourite god.  This focus is a key ingredient in one’s spiritual progress to arrest the mind from naturally going astray engrossed in a plethora of external objects of desire.

Karagre Vasate Lakshmi... is a mantra that is recited as a morning prayer when we wake up from the bed to seek protection and blessings for more knowledge, wisdom, wealth, and more goodness as one’s gaze is fixed on our palms.  Gange cha Yamune cha... is another one recited while in the act of bathing asking for the water to be enriched to its highest purity with the god’s presence in there.  We do recite Sanskrit mantras before eating, when we go to sleep, also before many daily chores.  We invoke god’s blessings through recitations at commencement of new projects.

Then, there are the lokas – earth (bhuloka), heaven (svargaloka), and hell (narakaloka), or the other fourteen lokas – the seven higher and the seven lower ones.  While on earth in this mortal body, it is said that recitation of shlokas help cleanse our minds.  This is an important prerequisite during our journey here to qualify to a higher loka after one’s death, rather than fall into the precipice of the lower ones.  

In our spiritual journey, deep cleansing of our mind of its turbulent thoughts is termed Chitta Shuddhi, which once again is a key towards ‘self-realisation’ in Advaita Vedanta.  Shloka helps to single-focus our mind in any activity we do – be it the worldly chore or the remembrance of the Almighty.  A pinnacle of this is said to be reached if we engage ourselves in worldly affairs, while staying steadfast with a quiet shloka recitation in the back of our mind.

When our minds are in auto-pilot mode with deep faith of the positive effects of a shloka recitation, it is termed the state of ajapa, meditation without extra effort.  A calm mind provides the clarity to think better, and what better way than shloka recitation in this loka?