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SOME REFLECTIONS ON ŚĀKTOPĀSANĀ WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ŚRI VIDYA
Prof. Rewati Rman Pandey
Upa-samipe āsana-Sithitih : Upāsanā. It is really dedication an devotion with full concentration of one's mind to his or her object of worship. The secret of all success lies in ones total concentration to one's goal: abhyāsaḥ sarvasādhana, abhyāsena tu kaunteya. Upasana consists in uninterrupted concentration on divine forms of God for a pretty long time. The ideal of Upāsanā is beautifully illustrated in the following verse of the Srimadbhāgavata:madgunărutimātrena mayi s arvaguhāśaye manogatirvacchinna yathā gangāmbhaso'mbuddhau.
111.29.11 In devotion or Upāsanā human mind is totally diverted towards God, when devotee's mind is completely purified by contineous listening divine excellences. In the state of deep concentration.,the devotee sees the presence of his or her deity in each and every particle of the universe as the Yakṣa of the Meghadüta sees everywhere the presence of her beloved, yakşıņi, să så sä sä jagatsakale ko'yama-dvaitavādah.
A devotee has to undergo certain devotional retuals for the purification of his or her mind, boy and entire sens-organism.:
devo bhūtva yajet devān nādevo devamarcayet The natural psycho-physical organism of man is spiritualised through various sacraments, sacrifices and observance of fasts etc. The Manusmrti holds:- mahāyajnaiśca yajnaisca brähmiyam kriyate tanuh.
There are various devotional rituals through which human body is purified, such as bhūśuddhi, prana-pratisthä, antarmātrikányāsa, bahirmātrikānyāsa, rsyādinyasa and mantrākṣarādinyäsa, etc. It has been reiterated into the following Vedic Rcā:
ataptanurna tadäme, śnute divam.
One whose body is not purified cannot realise the ecstasy of spirituality. In the following verse of the Srimadbhāgavata, it is well depicted that once * Prof. & Head, Dept. of Philosophy and Religion, Banaras Hindu University, Varanai - 5
heart is purified, the devotee is lost into divinity:
dhyāyatacaranāmbojam bhāvanirjitacetasã autkanthyāsrukalākşasya hrdyasinme śanairhariḥ. premātibharanirbhinnapulakāngo' tinirvítah ānandasmplave lino nāpaśyamubhayam mune. rūpam bhagavato yattanmanhkāntam sucāpaham apaśyan sahasottasthe vaiklvāhurmană iva... diděkṣustadaham bhūyaḥ pranidhāya mano hrdi. vikşamāno' pi nāpaśyamavitripta iväturah. evam yatantam vijane māmāhāgocare giram gambhīrāślaksnayā vācā śucah praśayanniva. hantāsminjanmani bhavāmā mam drastumihärhati avipakvakaşāņām durdarso, ham kuyoginam. sakridyaddrśitam rūpame takāmāya te' nagha matkamah śanakaih sådhuḥ sarvan muncati hrcchyān. satsevayādirghayāpi jātā mayi drdhā matih hitvavadyamimam lokam gantä majjänatāmasi. matirmayi nibaddheyam navipadyeta kahicit prajasarganirodhe' pi smstanca madanugahất?
Once divine awakening occures in the heart of devotee he can never forget his lord. The devotee experinces the ecstasy of Divine presence, his heart becomes more and more spiritualised. In devotion a stage comes when devotee feels himself as if he has been forgotten by his Lord, his anxiety towards his Lord increases, his heart becomes more and more spiritualised. When the heart of devotee is completely spiritualised, he or she immediately realises his or her cherised deity. In the following verse the Bhagavata gives a beautiful picture of the state of ecstasy of Gopis:
dussahapreșthavirahati vratapadhutāśubhāh dhyānaprāptâcyutāśeșanirvṛtyä kṣiṇama- ngalah.'
The Kulārņavatantra defines Upāsanā in the following way :
karmaṇā manasā vācā sarvävasthāsu sarvadā samipaseva vidhinā upăstiriti kathyatee.
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