THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GODS DIVINE SONGS AND NAMES

Ekopi Krsnasya Krta pranamo Dasa asvamethva bhritena tulyah Dasa asvamethi punareti janma Krsna pranami napunarbhavaya Making one salutation to Lord Sri Krishna is greater than the performance of asvamEtha yAga, ten times. One who does asvamEtha yAga ten times will have rebirth, but not the one who saluted Krishna. Mother Goddess Sri gOdA dEvi attained union with Lord Sri Maha Vishnu through Her divine songs TIRUPPAVAI. In SrimadbhAgavatham, BIshma Stavam (Hymn of Bhishma) describes in detail the great power of Gods names. God helps the devotees, plays with them, and tests them simultaneously and finally gives salvation. Such liberated souls provide salvation to their close associates too. The divine name gives merit (puNyam). Devotion is the straight path to salvation. God uplifts the devotees who follow the divine path. The stories of many famous devotees are full of wonder. Svayam tirnah paraam taarayati The great devotees are liberated by Gods grace and they liberate others. The thread of the flower garland also reaches God along with the flowers. It is enough if one utters divine names such as Rama, Krishna etc. Apart from the benefit of gaining virtue, the soft, mellow, soothing singing of divine names, bestow good physical health also. It is very common to name children after God like Narayana, Govinda, Siva, Rama, Krishna etc. By addressing children by these names, one gains merit, as it is also considered as uttering Gods name. The divine story of Mala Dasari or nampAduvAn is an example of Svayam tirnah paraam taarayati. He used to live in a place where Lord Sri Maha Vishnu incarnated as vAmana. At present the place is known as tirukkuRunguDi (, , , , , ) divya dEsam in tirunelvEli district of Tamil Nadu State in South India http://templenet.com/Tamilnadu/df089.html (Please visit the link to read about holy abode of vishNu). Every day at dawn, Dasari used to apply the religious mark on his forehead, tie anklets around the ankles, hang Tambura around the neck, take cymbals in his hands, and azhagiyanambi (Sri Maha Vishnu), singing the divine songs.

go to the Temple of Lord

At the Temple, Dasari used to sing the praise of the Lord in various tunes. The decoration worship made with different flowers is called Pushpa archana. Similarly, singing divine songs in various tunes is called rAga archana. He used to take prasAdam given at the Temple. At night, Dasari used to sing the days last service to the deity before returning home. At dawn, the same routine started all over again. People were glad to listen to Dasaris songs. His music was celestial. Dasari used to make all the villagers recite the divine names. Thus he spent a life completely immersed in devotion to God. One night, a cat sneaked into a basket of cocks. The cocks were scared and made a deafening noise. In the confusion, the cat ran away. Dasari did not observe all these things. He woke up due to the noise and thought it was dawn and started to go to the Temple. But the time then was around 2 AM on the day of Suklapaksha Dwadasi in Karthika Masam. In the forest, Dasari lost his way in the dark and reached a banyan tree. He saw a demon eating a corpse there. The demon saw Dasari and caught hold of him. Dasari said, Dont kill me now. I will go to the Temple of Lord Nambi and do the musical service at dawn. Immediately after that, I will return here definitely. Then you can kill me. The demon said, Here is my opportunity to kill you. This is the right time (the period around midnight is called demons time). You came to my place and hence I will not leave you. Dasari thought about all great devotees who made wonderful sacrifices to uphold their promises. The King Sibi had offered his own body as food to the hungry eagle for the sake of saving a dove. When a lion caught hold of a cow, the cow assured the lion to return after feeding her calf. As the cow returned as promised, and was ready to be killed, the lion changed his mind and let the cow free. The emperor Bali offered his head to Sri Maha Vishnu to place his foot and went down to pAtALa (nether world). Dasari said, I will definitely return. Believe me; I vow to come in the name of God. If I do not return, I will accrue the sin of that person, who does not think that Lord Sriman Narayana is Supreme Lord (parathathvam). The demon got convinced of Dasaris sincerity and let him go to the Temple. As promised, Dasari returned to the demon, right after rendering the dawn service at the Temple. On that day, Dasaris singing was significant. Dasari said, On account of your goodness, I could have the vision (darshan) of God and I could render the dawn service. Now you can kill and eat me. As a result of his association with the pious devotee for some time, there was a change in the thinking of the demon. He said, I wont kill you. I will let you free if you give half of your PuNya phalam (Fruits of good deeds) to me. Dasari replied, Does anyone wish to take salt in exchange for an equal weight of sugar? How can I give the Virtue of my singing for the sake of my life? The demon said, At least you give me a quarter (one-fourth) of the Virtue gained by the last song you sang today. Dasari agreed and did so. The song was tuned in the rAga Kaisiki. Kaisiki Ragam is very dear to Kesava (Sri Maha Vishnu). Wonder! The demon was relieved of his curse and said, Sir! By your grace, I got rid of my curse. I regained my previous form. In my previous birth, I was a Brahman named Soma Sarma. I started performing a yAga, but died without finishing it. Because of this sin, I became a demon.

All my sins have been washed out now with your association and grace. You uplifted me by giving your PuNya phalam. Dasari took him to the temple. Both had the vision (darshan) of the Lord Nambi. Dasari lived a long life and attained salvation (mOksha) at the end. The story of Dasari explains and emphasizes the greatness of dawn service (SuprabhAtha SEva), the importance of singing divine songs, and chanting divine names of LORD Sriman Narayana. This full incident is narrated by Lord Varaha to Mother Goddess BhUdEvi in Kaisika Mahathmyam. Kaisika Mahathmyam occurs in Sri VarAha PurANam. For more details on the demon and nambADuvAn the following sites give some additional information. http://www.arangham.com/ritrev/kaisiki/kaisiki.html http://narthaki.com/info/articles/article5.html

(Compiled from book KathAsAgaram written by Sri Ganapathi SachchidAnanda Swamiji)