गुरुपौर्णिमा

गुरुपौर्णिमा झाली की गीतासंथा वर्गातील विद्यार्थिनींना आपले कलागुण दाखवायला एक उत्तम संधी असते ती म्हणजे गोकुळअष्टमी. गीतेचा उद्गाता स्वतः परमात्मा श्रीकृष्ण याचा उत्सव. आमच्या वर्गात बाईंनी एक प्रथा सुरु ठेवली आहे की या कार्यक्रमासाठी सर्व काही विद्यार्थिनींनीच करायचे, लिहायचे, बसवायचे. या आधी तुम्हाला एक पोवाडा ऐकवला होता ते आठवत असेलच. 

आज कल्याण स्वामी म्हणजे रामदास स्वामींचे एकनिष्ठ शिष्य यांनी मनुष्याचे आयुष्य १०० वर्षे आहे असे कल्पून त्याचे दहा भाग केले आहेत. आणि प्रत्येक दहा वर्षात माणसाची कशी स्थिती असते ते वर्णन केले आहे आणि त्यापासून सावध होऊन माणसाने रामनाम घ्यायला हवे असे सांगतात. ते खरे तर खूप वेळा ऐकले होते. पण गीता शिकायला लागल्यानंतर असे वाटायला लागले की गीतेतील तत्त्व जर आपण अमलात आणू शकलो तर ही वेळ येणारच नाही. संकल्पना सुचली पण नेमके शब्द काही एकटीला योग्य योजता आले नाही. मग आमच्याच वर्गातल्या आधीच्या विद्यार्थिनींनी सहाय्य केले आणि खालील रचना तयार झाली. ती आज सादर – प्रत्येक कडव्याची पहिली ओळ कल्याणस्वामींची आणि दुसरी आमची. 

सावध सावधान । सावध सावधान। वाचे घ्या हो रामनाम॥ध्रु.॥

सावध सावधान। सावध सावधान। वाचे घ्या हो हरिनाम॥ ध्रु.॥

दहा वर्षे बालपण। वीसा वर्षी तारुण्य। अंगी चढे अभिमान। तेव्हा न घडे साधन॥१॥

गीता संथा घेई झणी। पाठांतर बालपणी। योग्य साधन मिळता। अंगी येई विनम्रता॥१॥

तिसाची होय भरती। कांता पुत्र लाभ होती। मग त्यांचीच भ्रांती। न कळे स्वरुपाची स्थिती॥२॥

कर्मयोगाची येता जाण। भ्रांतीचे सहजी उच्चाटन। कर्मगती विलक्षण। सोडा फलाचे बंधन॥२॥

चाळीस वर्षे झाली। डोळा चाळिशी आली। नेत्रांसी भूल पडली। जवळी असता न दिसती॥३॥

ज्ञानचक्षु प्राप्त होता। ईश्वराशी सन्निधता। मग कैसी पडे भूलॽ सत्कर्माची घेऊ झूल॥३॥

पन्नास वर्षे झाली। दंतपंक्ती हालती। श्याम केश शुभ्र होती। त्याला म्हातारा म्हणती॥४॥

पन्नाशीची नको चिंता। कळली ज्ञानाची महत्ता। क्षेत्र क्षेत्रज्ञाचे ज्ञान। आणि ज्ञेयाचे चिंतन॥४॥

साठीची बुद्धी नाठी। हाती घेऊनिया काठी। वसवसा लागे पाठी। त्याला पोरे हासती॥५॥

साठी बुद्धी नसे नाठी। कळली ध्यानाची महती। पळविले काम क्रोध। घेई भगवंताचा शोध॥५॥

सत्तरीची विवंचना। बसल्याने उठवेना। उठल्याने चालवेना। दिसे दिस दैन्यवाणा॥६॥

सत्तरीची नको भिती। मनी उपजली भक्त्ती। नामस्मरणी दृढ मन। देहाचे सहजी विस्मरण॥६॥

वय झाले ऐंशी। फिरतसे दिशा दिशी। पाण्याविना मत्स्य जैसा। तैसी होते कासाविसी॥७॥

होईना का वय ऐंशी। भेटी आपुली आपणाशी। संवाद भगवंताशी। संपादिती पुण्यराशी॥७॥

नवावर दिले शून्य। सुख राहिले गुंज। म्हणतसे माझे माझे। आता सांग काय तुझेॽ॥८॥

भगवद्गीता हाती येता। अभ्यासे ती जाणून घेता। संपते माझे मीपण। सारे भगवंताशी अर्पण॥८॥

राजहंस उडोनि गेला। देह कोरडा पडला। जन म्हणति मेला मेला। मोठा आनंदाने नेला॥९॥

योगयुक्त्त जीवन असता। नाही मरणाची चिंता। देही असता मुक्त्त झाला। लोकी ख्यातीसी पावला॥९॥

सर्व साधारणपणे सगळ्यांचाच राजहंस उडून जातो पण काहींचा राहिला. तुकाराम, मीराबाई इ. चा. आपला पण राहू शकतो त्यासाठी कल्याणस्वामी रहस्य सांगतात – 

सांगतसे गुरुदास। सोडा संसाराची आस। सांगतसे सज्जनास। धरा सद्गुरुची कास॥ सावध सावधान। वाचे वदा रामनाम॥१०॥

सांगती भगवंत । सोडा संसाराची आस। सांगतसे सज्जनास। धरा सद्गुरुची कास॥ सावध सावधान। वाचे घ्या हो हरिनाम॥१०॥

By

Padma Dabke

Pune, India

My Path to Spirituality

Yes, decided to express my views on ‘MY PATH TO SPIRITUALITY’.  Whatever I am putting here is all from my personal experiences.

Three years back I was a person who did not know ‘S’ of Spirituality. My life was engrossed in a race of collecting materialistic things and I perceived collecting gadgets, clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags, partying & eating out, etc were the source of happiness. In pursuit of this superficial happiness, I put my body, brain, and soul into undue stress. Working 9-6 then partying and waiting for weekends was my way of life until I, fortunately, bumped into Bihar School of Yoga through my cousin. Probably, some Karma of my previous birth brought me on this beautiful path which has brought so much of meaning in my life.

Got intensely connected to Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, which has been working on promoting and developing the real meaning of Yoga (Here, I am not referring Yoga as asana but Yoga as a way of life, a lifestyle as learned in Bihar School of Yoga which made huge sense as I went deeper) which I have started strongly believing is needed by each and every individual if we want to become a good human being.

There are many many things which life teaches over a period of time and yes spirituality teaches to discover oneself but my path to Spirituality also taught me:

Start living for others: This is such a joyous path and so tough to express. At every moment in life when we start thinking about others first, it automatically gives such a sense of satisfaction. Trust me, this need to be experienced from within. All our life we have thought about ourselves why not think about others and do whatever we can even if at times we need to go out of the way. Swami Sivananda Saraswati is a great example of this. He, in fact, says, when we buy anything we should buy the same thing for someone who is needy. Well, I am yet to reach this level in everything I buy.  And trust me, the moment we boast about it, it all goes in vain.

Living Simply: Just for an example, it feels so good when every month, I open my cupboard, take out clothes and give away to the needy. Emptying my cupboard also brings lightness to my mind. Just for more understanding, ‘Aparigraha’ is one of the Niyama by Sage Patanjali.

Finding good in every individual: We all know each one of us has a positive quality and a negative quality. Most of the time we end up looking at a negative quality in the person but with every negative quality, there is a positive quality associated. So, after understanding Pratipaksha Bhavana from Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga (Countering positive for a negative) moment we look at a positive quality in the person when we are hit with a negative, it brings lightness in us.

Right Intent: Most important, any activity we carry out has to be done with the right intent and not with any motive hidden. If any personal motive is hidden we might succeed for some time but then downfall is there for sure.

Shedding Expectations: This I realized is another big secret of happiness in life. The root cause of most of the distress in our lives is that we have high expectations from others be it our spouse, parents, parents in law, friends, kids, relatives, and even service providers. When this expectation is not met it leads to distress and anxiety in our minds. When we start expecting nothing then whatever we receive sounds like a bonus and the mind then becomes happy and cheerful.

Balance of Mind: This sounds simple but is one of the most difficult tasks to achieve. Balance here means we look at any activity in life from both aspects of good and bad and do not let our preconceived notions or emotions drive our decisions. It’s a unique blend of logic and emotions working in tandem to drive the best outcome from the decisions we take. Meditation for a few minutes daily morning helped me a lot in achieving this state of mind.

By

Ekta Sareen

Bangalore, India

All this brings smile, happiness, balance of mind, gives immense strength and peace and eventually good Karma pays off.