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Sayam Prarthana - Part 2 (Evening Prayer)
In Satyuga, a person had to do penance till his body was covered by ant-hill, then he could get the Darshan of God. Saubhari Rishi sat in penance for 60,000 years. God could see that the instability of his mind still persisted, so He could not do any favour to him. So Saubhari had to turn back to the world. In Tretayuga, one had to perform great Yajnas in order to please god. He had to sacrifice everything which belonged to him, and this was very hard for the practising individual. In Dwaparyuga, God could be pleased by offering humble services and the same can be achieved in Kaliyuga by Kirtan based devotion. For this reason, Shriji Maharaj has commanded His devotees to go to the temple at evening time and join Kirtan singing over there. While explaining the process of Namsankirtan, Shriji Maharaj says in Vachnamritam Loya-6 : “When negative and evil thoughts rise in mind like the waves in the sea, at that time use your tongue to sing Bhajan in loud voice, clapping your hands without any inhibition. Pray to God calling out: O friend of the poor! Ocean of mercy! Keep up your prayer and all your depressions will disappear and this is the best remedy for it.” There are three important points here: (1) clapping hands, (2) singing with loud voice and (3) without shame (bashfulness). (1) When clapping is done unanimously by the group of | 14 | sahajANAND
devotees, there creates a unified rhythm that charges the atmosphere. The muscles become tension free and the body becomes vibrant. In our worldly ways we see that in order to protect standing crop of jowar, bajri or maize; the guard of the farm rattles a tin box to scare away the birds. Likewise, our devotion is as green and valuable as the rich crop. We have planted the devotion in the farm of faith and awareness for Shree Hari’s idol which will bring a rich harvest. Like the rattling tin, we should clap our hands to scare away the birds which are robbing us in the form of desire, anger and greed. Now we realize that with complete awareness, we have to divert our passions and instincts for inward progress. Loud clapping is the process which brings awareness to associate our instincts with the idol of Lord Swaminarayan. Clapping is a physical (exercise) gesture to achieve spiritual goal. When we speak aloud, we dissociate our self from surrounding atmosphere. When we do Mantrajaap with loud chanting, we separate our self from the external happenings around us. We dissociate material body from the subtle, inner existence. Third point is being 'shameless' while singing and clapping. Our ego of practical material life confirms to us : I hold such high position, I possess such great wealth, I am so powerful and strong, I
