| Which Name should one chant?
(Continued from Issue 163 through 170)
In the past Issues we discussed the importance
of chanting The Lord's Name as per one's religion. We also discussed
the importance of chanting the Name of the female divine principle,
if one's religion or family worships both a female and a male divine
principle.
For seekers from religions other than
Hinduism, it is easy to know the Name of their family divine
principle, since they worship a particular divine principle (or at
the most, a couple of principles.) However, in Hinduism, the concept
of the family divine principle pertains to the deity worshipped by
each family, among the many deities worshipped in the religion. The
following points will assist seekers interested in finding out who
their family divine principle is:
|
Religious Order |
The Chant |
| Buddhist |
Om Manipadme hum, Namo Budhaya |
| Christian |
Catholic : Hail Mary
Protestant : Hail Jesus |
| Hindu |
See explanation after the table |
| Muslim |
Ya Allah , Allah o Akbar, any of
the 99 Names of the Lord, or the chant according to the post -
Islamic Sufi lore : Dhikra or Jhikra |
| Jews |
Jehovah, Yahweh, Adonai, or one of
the many Names of God as per Judaism |
| Jain |
Navkar Mantra |
| Sikh |
Vahe Guru, Shri Vahe Guru, Japaji
Saheb, Sukhmani Saheb |
| Sindhi |
Shri Jhulelalaya namaha,
Shri Nanakaya namaha,
Shri Sheravali matayai namaha |
| Zoroastrian |
There are 101 Names. The seeker is
asked to chant the Name corresponding to the number obtained
in Meditation. |
If one's family deity is of the nature of Ganesh
panchayatam or Vishnu
panchayatam, etc., then one should consider the main deity in
the panchayatam, that is, Lord Ganesh,
Lord Vishnu, etc.,
to be their family deity.
Since recently the concept of family deity has
been forgotten, many Hindus may not know Who their family deity is.
If one does not know any such details about one's family divine
principle then one can do the things listed below in the given
order.
| 1. |
One should try to trace
the family deity through the elders in the family, distant
relatives, priests or through people with the same
surname/last name, etc. The latter can be done by making use
of the telephone directory to look for the same surname as
oneself. |
| 2. |
If one does not get
information through such sources one should chant 'Shri
Kuldevatayai namaha'. There have been many spiritual
experiences, where the seeker found the actual Name of his
family deity through some means or the other after
commencement of chanting 'Shri Kuladevatayai namaha'. Refer to
Issue 48,
Children's Spiritual Experiences section, where the family
deity actually revealed Herself to a child seeker through a
dream after the child started chanting 'Shri Kuladevatayai
namaha'. |
| 3. |
The chanting of 'Shri
Kuldevatayai namaha' may prove difficult to some, as there is
no conceptualization of the form or attributes of the divine
principle one is worshipping. As against this, since one is
aware of the form of one's favorite divine principle, chanting
that Name becomes easier. So as a last resort, one may chant
the Name of one's favorite deity with the spiritual
emotion that one is worshipping the family divine
principle. One's sincere desire and effort to worship the
family deity will surely lead one to know Who one's family
deity is. |
(To be continued)
[Reference taken from the Sanatan's
publication, Volume
6: Path of Chanting The Lord's Name (Namasankirtanyoga) and Path
of Mantra (Mantrayoga), compiled by H.
H. Dr. Jayant Athavale and Dr. Mrs. Kunda Athavale.]
Practical application
The above text reminds us of the importance of
chanting the Name of The Lord as per one's religion or family.
Hence:
 |
One should make sincere
efforts as mentioned above to find what divine principle is
worshipped in one's religion or family, with the faith that
one's efforts will surely be graced with spiritual
progress and success in the search. |
|
One can also pray
sincerely to the family divine principle Itself to give one
the intellect, strength and means for this search.
|
|
In the meantime, one
should persevere with chanting 'Shri Kuldevatayai namaha' with
the spiritual emotion that one is worshipping the family
divine principle. If there is a doubt as to whether one's call
to the Kuldevi is reaching Her considering that one does not
yet know the specific name of the kuldevi then one must try to
recollect how, when one was young and one called out 'Mummy'
and one's own mother always responded. Similarly, one's own
Kuldevi will respond to one's call to Her in spite of one not
knowing Her name. |
|
In case one finds it
difficult to chant 'Shri Kuldevatayai namaha', one can regard
and visualize the image of one's favorite divine principle as
one's family divine principle and continue chanting 'Shri
Kuldevatayai namaha' with faith. And if that too, is not
possible, one can chant the Name of one's favorite divine
principle. |
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