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Get Peace and Quietitude

अविस्मृतिः कृष्णपदारविन्दयोः
क्षिणोत्यभद्राणि शमं तनोति च ।
सत्त्वस्य शुद्धिं परमात्मभक्तिं
ज्ञानं च विज्ञानविरागयुक्तम् ।।
– श्रीमद्भागवतम् १२.१२.५४

avismṛti: kṛṣṇa-padāravindayo:
kṣiṇoty-abhadrāṇi śamaṃ tanoti ca |
sattvasya śuddhiṃ paramātma-bhaktiṃ
jñānaṃ ca vijñāna-virāga-yuktam ||
– Śrīmadbhāgavatam 12.12.54

Translation:

Constant remembrance of Lord Krishna’s lotus feet eliminates everything inauspicious and establishes one in peace and quietude. It results in purification of the entire being, instills devotion to the Supreme Self, and bestows knowledge endowed with dispassion and direct realization of the Truth.

Points for Introspection:

Our mind is never quiet and peaceful. Throughout the day we are engaged in hectic activities, favourable and unfavourable interactions, facing waves of likes and dislikes. As a result, the mind remains full with variety of thoughts and undergoes stress, anxiety and fear. We feel burdened, agitated and constricted most of the time.

Everybody wants to have peace and happiness in life. Nobody likes restlessness or disturbance of the mind. Human life is meant to attain the state of supreme peacefulness and bliss. Although in our inmost core we are ever-peaceful, it is because of the mistaken identity with our body-mind- intelligence, that we get disturbed when any disturbance is caused to the body, mind or intelligence.

How to quieten the mind? How to become pure? How does one grow devotion to God? How can one attain dispassion towards the world? How can one gain spiritual knowledge?

This shloka emphasizes that the one and only way to attain these is to have continuous remembrance of the holy lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, to the exclusion of all other thoughts.

Whenever one spends time in devotional activities like lighting the lamp near a shrine, cleaning flowers to offer to the idol, chanting hymns and praises for God, contemplating on the form and glories of God, reading devotional and spiritual texts, visiting holy places, being in the devotionally charged atmosphere, the mind becomes quiet and elevated to a divine realm. All petty worldly matters which keep on disturbing the mind fade away; a purity is experienced in the whole being; devotion to God becomes stronger and deeper; consequently interest in worldly matters reduces. Slowly one feels more and more fond of God and wants to feel His presence in the heart.

When communion with God during short-time devotional practices brings about such soothing and enriching experiences, what then to speak of a devotee who is in constant remembrance of the Lord?

This shloka describes the effect of such unbroken remembrance. It says, when one’s mind is one-pointedly engaged in the remembrance of the holy feet of the Supreme Lord (Sri Krishna), all inauspicious and evil tendencies fall off spontaneously from the mind. When the mind remains absorbed at the holy feet, the devotee gets identified with the Lord and his divine qualities. How can any impure and inauspicious tendency remain in the mind then? As the devotion grows, so also the evil traits fade gradually.

Consequently, the mind, which used to remain agitated by undesirable and petty thoughts, becomes extremely quiet and peaceful in the absence of disturbing thoughts.

When there is no desire left in the mind, the mind remains quiet. Desires are the cause of all agitation and impurity in the mind. When the mind is wholesomely concentrated in the thought of the Lord, no other petty worldly desire remains in the mind anymore, leaving the entire being absolutely pure.

When the whole being becomes pure, what else remains there to be achieved? The mind does not aspire for anything other than pure devotion to the Lord, fondness for Him.

As one tastes the nectarine joy emanating from the deep devotion to the Lord, he does not find allurement for the worldly affairs any more. He enjoys dispassion. Gradually, with the growth of devotion and dispassion, when the mind becomes completely focused on the Supreme Lord, one is able to realize the Supreme Lord in the heart.

When we chant this sloka again and again, the mind gets filled with the experience of constant association with the holy lotus feet of the Lord. Leaving behind all fears and anxiety, the mind lies quietly at the feet of the Lord in extreme devotion and total surrender.

Word Meaning:

अविस्मृतिः (avismṛti:) = unbroken / continuous remembrance; कृष्णपदारविन्दयोः (kṛṣṇa-padāravindayo:) = of Lord Krishna’s lotus feet; क्षिणोति (kṣiṇoti) = destroys; अभद्राणि (abhadrāṇi) = inauspicious; शमं (śamaṃ) = peace, quietude; तनोति (tanoti) = spreads; च (ca) = and; सत्त्वस्य (sattvasya) = of the being; शुद्धिं (śuddhiṃ) = purification; परमात्मभक्तिं (paramātma-bhaktiṃ) = devotion to the Supreme; ज्ञानं (jñānaṃ) = knowledge; च (ca) = and; विज्ञानविरागयुक्तं (vijñāna-virāgayuktam) = endowed with direct realization of the Self and dispassion.

अन्वयः

कृष्णपदारविन्दयोः अविस्मृतिः अभद्राणि क्षिणोति शमं च तनोति; सत्त्वस्य शुद्धिं, परमात्मभक्तिं, विज्ञानविरागयुक्तम् ज्ञानं च (तनोति) ।
kṛṣṇa-padāravindayo: avismṛti: abhadrāṇi kṣiṇoti śamaṃ ca tanoti; sattvasya śuddhiṃ, paramātma-bhaktiṃ, vijñāna-virāga-yuktam jñānaṃ ca (tanoti).