If
you want to shed your miseries, learn ti sit silently and pray solemnly. Prayer
is a proven method to attain peace and wish-fulfilment. It is being used as a
meditative tool the world over, for many thousand years, in nearly every
religious tradition. “What things so ever ye desire, when you pray, believe that
ye receive them, and ye shall have them”, says the Holy Bible (Mark 11:24)
Prayer
is a stimulant to creative ideas that help in finding solutions to our
problems. Insight, direction and
illumination are divinely given to people who habitually resort to prayer. They
feel better, do better, Prayer helps in harmonious functioning of their body
and soul.
Chanting
of mantras, hymns, ritualistic veneration in temples, mosques, churches and
synagogues or repeating the name of God or Goddess reverentially through the
beads of a rosary are all forms of prayer.
Through
the premise, reasons, language, formulae and contents of prayers differ widely
from religion to religion yet the aim in all of them is the same to entreat God
to redress the devotee’s grievances or seek forgiveness for sins already
committed.
A
prayer may be in prose or in verse, a silent mental request or a group entreat
Do
not assume , even for a minute that only stereotyped Sanskrit, Latin or Arabic
phrases are fit for prayers to be responded by the Almighty. You may select to
pray in your own language, God ofcourse understands all the languages.
Pray
with convictions and devotion. Make your prayer straight, short and direct
prayers are more effective and rewarding. But while praying, do thank god first
for the countless blessings bestowed on you.
This
will put you in a positive frame of reference. Then ask him the
desire-fulfillment. People generally pray to get wealth or worldly possession,
freedom from disease or success in their endeavours
Instead
of asking him to rig the race or to beat someone or to make you number one, ask
to give you the strength to face adversity and the courage to get through the
struggle
Pray
with a positive bent of mind for yourself as well as for others whom you do not
like or who have mistreated you in the past.
The
more you pray for others, the more positive results of your endeavours will
accrue to make your life problem-free and peaceful.
Your
prayer maybe one of the many forms, a short shloka, a big stothra or any sort
of worshipping ritual, but the inner core is always the same .i.e., seeking divine
favour or wish fulfilment.
Vedic
scriptures have a large number of prayers.
A
few of them, given below, are regarded as very effective in terms if getting
favourable response.
“Pashyema Sharada
Shatham
Jeevema Sharada
Shatham
Bhudhyema Sharada
Shatham
Rohema Sharada
Shatham
Pooshema Sharada
Shatham
Bhayema Sharada
Shatham
Bhuuyema Sharada
Shatham
Bhuuyaasi
Sharada Shatham”- Atharva Veda 19:67:1-8
O
Lord!May we See, Live, Progress, Remain Pious, Prudent, Strong and Powerful a
hundred years
“Ohm Bhadram
Karnepi Shrunuyaama Devaah:
Bhadram Pashyemaakshabhiryajatraah
Sthirairangaistushtuvaam
Sastanoobhih:
Vyashema Devahitham
Yadaayuh:
Swati Na Indro
Vridhashravaah:
Swasthi Nah Poosha Vishwaveedaaah
Swasthi
nastaarkshyo Arishtanemih
Swasthi no
Bruhaspathir Dadhaathu
Om Shanthi Shanthi
Shanthi:” RigVeda 1:89,8
Ohm, O God ! Let
us hear promising things through our ears
O respectful God!
Let us see propitious things through our eyes
Let our organs and
body be stable, healthy and strong
Let us do what is
pleasing to God in the life span allotted to us
May Indra described
in the scriptures do well to us
May Purushan who posses the entire knowledge of the world, do good to us and May Trakshya who devastates enemies do good
to us
May Brihaspathi do
good to us
Ohm Peace Peace
Peace
Millions
of Hindu’s from all castes have been praying to visible sun by chanting the
Gayathri Mantra from time immemorial, both at dawn and dusk. It is held as a
supreme prayer to invoke the divine
Attempts
to please God of wealth, Kubera are suggested to be made through the following
prayer in
Yajurveda
“Rajadhirajaya
Prashyasahino
Namo Vayam Vaisravanaaya
Kuurmahaey
Sa May Kaamaaan
Kaama kaamaaya
Mahyam”
We offer
salutations to vaishravana that is Kuvera who is the king of all kings and the
conqueror of others by his might.
Many
troubled souls have experienced miracles in their lives after reciting (108
times daily) the following incantation from Durga Saptashati to get rid of
sufferings from poverty, childlessness, enemies and accidents.
People
are prone to commit sins at some stage of life and repent later. Prayers for
atonement (and seeking mercy of God) are also found in various scriptures.
The
devotees of shakthi have been using the following one developed by Adi
Sankaracharya:
“I know neither
Mantra nor Yantra
I Know not songs of
praise.
I do not know how to
invoke you or meditate
I do not know how
the stories about you
I do not know the
mudras
I do not cry out in
anguish
I know only this, that
taking refuge in you alone will destroy my sorrows
You have many sons,
among them I am the most insignificant
O mother it doesn’t
become thee to give me up
For there may be a
bad son, but never a bad mother.
There is none to
beat me in sin, None to surpass you in forgiveness
Knowing this , O
mother do what is proper.”
The
following Jewish prayer may have a powerful appeal any person sincerely seeking
atonement for his past sins:
“We have abused and
betrayed.
We are cruel
We have destroyed
and embittered other people’s lives. We are false to ourselves.
We have gossiped
about others and hated them.
We have insultedand
jeered.
We have lied.
We have misled
others and neglected them.
We are obstinate.
We have robbed and
stolen.
We have
transgressed through unkindness.
We have been violent
and weak.
We have practised
extortion
We yielded to
strong desires and our zeal was misplaced.
Yet you know
everything hidden and unrevealed.
You know mysteries
of universe and intimate secrets of everyone alive.
You probe our body
state.
You see into the
heart and mind.
Nothing escapes you
nothing is hidden from your gaze.
Our God and God of
our fathers have mercy on us and pardon all our sins. Grant atonement for all
our inequities, forgiveness for all our transgressions.”
The
high moral principle of confessing and repenting for sins is clearly
perceptible in the Jewish prayer.
Our
subconscious mind is most relaxed during the devotional prayers and sends guiding
signals to the conscious mind to shed misery. A prayer has to be made with
total faith, in a meditative way,
without any doubt about its efficacy. Fix up a certain time for offering the
prayer. In case it is not possible due to occupational responsibilities one may
pray anytime, at any quiet place. A famous doctor of AIIMS New Delhi prays
every morning while exercising on his treadmill, as he is hardly free for the
whole day.
Praying
regularly with faith and conviction over a long period of time transforms a
person. As every action is said to produce an equal and opposite reaction,
prayer too being an action addressed to God is bound to give the appropriate
result. God does answer every single prayer in his own time and, sometimes,
when a prayer goes unanswered, that is the answer.
Thank
God for unanswered prayers. You need to grow stronger; and when you continue to
grow like this, great things are sure to happen and when they do, you may need
extra-strength to bear them. Unflinching faith will make you stronger.
Lord
Krishna Exhorts-
“Sarva dharmaan
Parithyajya
Mamekam Saranam
Vraja:
Aham thwam sarva
Paapebhyo
Mokshayishyaami Maa
Srujah:”
(Abandon all dharma’s
extrovert tendencies of body, mind and intellect and take refuge in me alone; I
will liberate thee from all sins, grieve not. Gita 18:66)
According
to Sri Ramanuja, this is the Charam-Sloka,
the topmost message from the Lord in Bhagavad Gita.
Compiled
BVB, Jan 2013
