Sadhana – The Immortality App

In March 2020, Along with the nationwide lockdown, my heart too went into a lockdown. An uneasy heaviness steadily developed within me. At the outset, calmness and peace prevailed, as ample time was available to devote to Sadhana and to read Sri Aurobindo’s magnum opus, ‘The Life Divine’. But, as news of death around the country got listed in newspapers and TV, the fear of losing loved ones pierced my heart. The logical part of my mind debated the possibility of death by slipping over a banana peel, yet the pandemic posed a higher probability of fatality. The difference between possibility and probability is vast.  The thought of my 6yr old girl gave rise to apprehension and anxiety, “Will I be there for her?”. The fear of Death was so severe and real, I thought, “why did I even get married to go through this pain?”. As a bachelor, I had no fear but as a family man and a father, the tables have turned upside down. As if this is not enough, being a Dentist felt like stepping voluntarily into Lion’s den. As a precautionary measure, all financial aspects like bank details, investments, credit cards, billing dates, payments, etc were handed to my wife. 

Swamiji announced the Nava Durga Sadhana in February 2020. As I found it difficult to do, I started lighting 9 diyas at 9 pm every day from the first day of Navaratri. I did my Japa with initiated mantra and all the other mantras I had learned. It took me 2 hrs to complete and I sincerely followed it every day, even after the lockdown was called off in May 2020. The fear of death got worsened by my Father contracting covid and getting jailed for 10 days in a hospital in August 2020. Our whole house compound was cordoned off with metal sheets, so we wouldn’t jump out and escape. Though we all stayed in the same house, only my Dad tested positive. With Divine Grace, he made it back home. But the pain refused to abate inside me and I felt helpless. Every time an Ambulance siren blared on the main road, I could empathize, that someone is going through the same pain as me. Therefore, every day in my prayers, I included not just my family but all the families on planet earth.

In September 2020, at night just before the evening prayer as I lit the lamps, my eyes fell on the hanging calendar and accidentally found that it was a trayodashi day. As it was auspicious for Bhagwan Shiva being a pradosam day –  A day when you tell your problems to him and he will see to it that it gets solved. Out of the blue, stepping away from the routine, I decided to do a manasic abishekam to Lord Shiva.

Manasic Abishekam:

After Japa and mantra chanting, I placed Lord shiva’s Shivaling in my heart center and imagined myself standing in front of it inside the Garbhagriha of a temple. I poured Ganges water first, then milk. After pouring milk, I placed a garland and waved dhoop, and Loban (sambrani in Tamil). Then placed a plate filled with fruits, betel leaves with areca nut, two halves of a cut coconut, a gold coin, and finally waved Diya with camphor. This process I did for every ingredient of abishekam. The order of ingredients were Chandan, kumkum water, rose water, curd, honey, turmeric water, sacrad ash with rudraksha, bilva leaves, flowers, panchamrit ( mixture of honey, banana, jackfruit, dates, jaggery).  After completing the abishekam, I did alankar with dhoti, garland, and all the paraphernalia as in the temple. Then I imagined all that can be offered to Lord Shiva, having placed them in front of the Shivaling, I did  Arati with five articles –  five diyas, sacred water in conch, waving of a dhoti, waving of a flower, and finally with chamar. As I completed my Abishekam, Alankar, and Arati, I prostrated in front with full faith and devotion.

[ This is not the first time I did abishekam. A new Shirdi Sai Baba temple was built in 2014 in my town. Every Thursday,  I would attend the Kakad Arati. Most often, only 3 people would be present at 5.30 am – Sai Baba, the pundit, and me. During the Arati, I would do manasic abhiskeam for Baba. With continuous practice for a few years, I was able to do it without much distraction and one-pointed focus].

It took 2.45 hrs to finish the mantra chanting and the Abishekam. As my eyes opened, it directly fell on the untouched small booklet on my altar which I had placed 2.5 years ago. It was given by pundits from Thirukadaiyur temple near Kumbakonam when we did ‘Bheemaratha shanti puja’ for my parents, as my dad had completed 7o yrs. Legend has it that it was in this sthala that Lord Shiva saved youthful markandeya of 16 yrs from Yamaraj. Various stotras of Shiva and Devi were given in the booklet. I stopped at the heading ‘Mahamritunjaya stotra’. The Main mantra with 16 verses in praise of  Bhagwan Shiva was given in it and at the end was the phalasruti. As I read it, a shrill went through me. It said whoever reads this in a shiva temple, his fear of death will vanish (mruthyu bhayam naasthi), it once again  reiterated (satyam, satyam… punarsatyam), if not then proclaim that there is no God and no Shastras… 

 

The phalashruthi at the end explains the benefits of reciting the stotra.

 I strongly felt that this stotra might be the answer to the fear of death in my heart. So, every day I read the whole stotra once and started to by-heart each verse one by one. By the end of November, I was able to recite the entire Mahamritunjaya stotra verbatim without the booklet. Every day after mantra chanting I recited the entire stotra once with the image of Shivaling in my heart. Slowly as days passed, the heaviness in the heart subsided and so also did the pain. When the delta variant of covid hit India and the pandemic was at its worst, the pain & the fear of Death were totally annihilated. This is the same stotra, that is recited during Mahasivaratri night in Shri Badrika Ashram during Sri Hari Abhishekam. I can say from this experience of mine, that if one recites this Maha mantra stotra long enough with one pointed focus and devotion, why the fear of Death? even Death itself will get annihilated and immortality will be within reach. Such is the power of Lord Shiva’s Stotra which was given by Markandeya Maharishi. This reiterates the power of mantra chanting, that it really works. It worked for me and it should work for everyone.

When Swamiji launched the Sadhana app in March 2022, I could have a fair idea of the thought process based on the above experience. Whether it is Abishekam, puja, yagna, or chanting, it would take a few years to master even one. Going to temples or to a guru and learning it for a few years is totally ruled out due to our fast-paced rat race. Now, having an app within the phone is a game changer and anyone even during travel or free time can open the app to practice any-one method of worship. After a few years, even without the app, one would have gained proficiency to do either one or all of the abishekam, puja, yagna, or mantra chanting totally manasic. This would undoubtedly & exponentially increase the intensity as well as the quality of one’s Sadhana towards his/her spiritual goal. There is a high probability that in the next 2-3 yrs, a good number of individuals would have mastered the basic tenets of Sanatana Dharma. This in turn would be pivotal for the revival and re-establishing of the Vedic way of living and practicing Sanatana Dharma. Swamiji has reversed the traditional system of a disciple seeking the guru and replaced it with an app in the hand of every Sadhaka. Beyond a certain threshold, the phenomenon called ‘Om Swami’ will spread like wildfire among millions of people who are inclined to righteousness and a dharmic way of life to the best of their abilities and there is not an iota of doubt in me that the Sadhana app will be instrumental in bestowing immortality to everyone. In short, it’s immortality in the palm of every Sadhaka. Om Swami is a genius!

 Jai Maa!!!

[P.S: The Mahamritunjaya Stotra was given in both English and Tamil in the booklet. I read it in the Tamil Language as the English version had quite a good number of misspellings and mispronunciations].

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