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<h1 align="right" style="text-align:center;line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0">
<font size="4">Hymns and Prayers</font><o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class=Section1>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>THE seeker, the seeking
and the sought are the three limbs that go to the making of the <span
class=SpellE>Quarternary</span> – the Four Norms or Objects of life – the Right
Law, Interest, Desire and Liberation (Dharma, <span class=SpellE>Artha</span>, <st1:place><span
 class=SpellE>Kama</span></st1:place>, <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>Moksha</span>).
Seekers have different natures; therefore different ways of seeking have been
prescribed, and the goal sought is also different for each. But even if the
outer view sees many goals, the inner vision understands that the goal sought
is one and the same for all seekers: it is self-fulfilment. In the Upanishad
Yajnavalkya explains to his wife that all is for the self. The wife is for the
self, wealth is for the self, love is for the self, happiness is for the self,
suffering is for the self, life is for the self, and death too is for the self.
Therefore the importance and necessity of this question as to, what the self
is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Many
wise and learned people ask <span class=GramE>what is the use of worry­ing over
the problem of self-knowledge</span>. To waste one's time in such abstruse
discussion is madness, better to engage one­self in the more important subjects
of worldly life and try to do <span class=GramE>good</span> to the world. But
the problem as to what are the things important in worldly life and in what way
good will come to humanity, needs for its solution <span class=GramE>a
knowledge</span> of the self. As is one's knowledge so is one's goal. If one
considers one's body as the self, then one will sacrifice all other <span
class=SpellE>reasonings</span> and considerations for its sole satisfaction and
thus become a selfish demon in human form. If one considers one's wife as the
self, loves her as one's self then one becomes a slave to her, ready to die to
please her, inflict<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>


<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;border:medium none;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-170<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<hr>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span class=GramE>pain</span>
upon others for the sake of her happiness, do harm to others in order to
satisfy her desire. And if one considers one's country as the self then he may
become a mighty patriot, perhaps leave behind- an immortal name and fame in
history, but then one may reject all other ideas and ideals, injure and rob and
enslave other countries. Again, if you consider God as your self and love Him
as your self, then too it would be the same thing. For love means supreme
vision: if I am a yogi, full of love for the Divine, if I am a man of action
acting <span class=SpellE>desirelessly</span>, then I shall be able to pos­sess
a power, a knowledge or joy beyond the reach of the common man. And finally, if
I consider the indefinable Su­preme Reality (Brahman) as the self then I may
attain the sovereign peace and dissolution. As is one's faith, so one becomes —
yo <span class=SpellE>yat</span> <span class=SpellE>sraddha</span> <span
class=SpellE><span class=GramE>sa</span> eva sah. Mankind has all along been pursuing a development:
it started with a small objec­tive in view, then through comparatively greater
ones it realised the highest transcendent reality. Finally it is now entering
its goal, the supreme status of the Divine. There was an age when mankind was
solely preoccupied with the body; the cultivation of the body was the law of
the age. That was the way to Good in that age even if it meant depre­ciating
all other laws. Otherwise the body, as it is the means and the foundation for
the fulfilment of the law of the being (dharma); would not achieve the required
development. Similarly there was another age in which the family and yet
another in which the clan became the object of develop­ment as in modern times
it is the nation that is the objec­tive. However, the highest, the transcendent
objective is the Supreme Lord or the Divine. The Divine is the real, the
supreme self of all, therefore the real, the supreme objec­tive. So the Gita
says, &quot;<span class=GramE>abandon</span> all laws, remember me alone.&quot;
All laws are harmonised in God. If you follow Him, He
takes charge of you, makes you His instrument and works for the sovereign
welfare and happiness of your family, your clan, your nation and the whole of
humanity.</span><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;border:medium none;
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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-171<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<hr>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>Even if the objective be the same, different seekers
having different natures, the way also differs in each case. One important way
for <span
style="font-size:11pt;">realising the Divine is through prayers and
hymns. But this is not suitable for everybody. One who follows the path of
knowledge takes to meditation and concentration. For the worker, dedication of
works is the best way. Prayers and hymns form a limb of devotion; even 'then it
is not the highest limb; for unqualified love is the highest perfection of
devotion. That love can realise God's true self through hymns and prayers and
then, transcending their necessity, merges itself in God's self-enjoyment. And
yet there is hardly a man of devotion who can do without hymns and prayers.
When there is no need of the process and practice (sadhana) even then the heart
wells out in hymns and prayers. Only one has to remember that the way is not
the objective and my way may not be another's. Many men of devotion have this
notion that one who does not take to hymns and prayers, who does not take
delight in them, is not a spiritual man (one following the true law). This is a
sign of error and narrowness. Buddha did not indulge in hymns and prayers but
who would declare that Buddha is unspiritual? Hymns and prayers have developed
for the practice of devotion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.7pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>Men of devotion are also of many kinds and hymns and
prayers are used in different ways. A man becoming a devotee because of
distress takes to hymns and prayers in order to cry out to God, to pray for His
help in the hope of getting relief. One who is a devotee with a purpose takes
to hymns and prayers in the hope of the fulfilment of his pur­pose, with the
intention of securing wealth, fame, happi­ness, prosperity, victory, welfare,
enjoyment, liberation, etc. Devotees of this category at times even try
to tempt God and<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:12.7pt;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:
11.0pt'>propitiate Him;, some failing to achieve their objective get terribly
indignant with God and abuse Him calling Him names such as that He is cruel, He
is a cheat, declaring they would never more worship God, never see His face,
never<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:
8.15pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none;
border:medium none;mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:
0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Page-172<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span class=GramE><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>accept
Him. Many again in despair turn atheists and arrive at the conclusion that this
world is a domain of suffering, a kingdom of torture, that there is no God.
These two cate­gories of devotion are an ignorant devotion; even so it is not
to be despised; for from the lesser one rises to the greater. The discipline of
ignorance is the first step to the discipline of knowledge. The child is
ignorant; but there is a charm in the ignorance of a child. The child too comes
weeping to its mother, demands redress from suffering, rushes to her for the
sake of some satisfaction and self-interest, laments, </span>pleads and when
refused gets enraged, creates trouble. Even<span style='font-size:6.0pt'> </span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>so, the Mother of the </span><span class=GramE style="font-size:11pt;">worlds<span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>
bears with a smiling face all the claims and </span>clamours<span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>
of the ignorant devotees.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:
11.0pt'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Now, a devotee in quest of
knowledge does not take <span style="font-size:11pt;">I to hymns and prayers for the
sake of securing a desired object or for pleasing God. For him, hymns and
prayers are only<span style='font-size:5.0pt'> </span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>a way to </span>realising<span
style='font-size:11.0pt'> God's
self-being and developing his own consciousness. But for the devotee who has
already the </span>know­ledge, that<span
style='font-size:11.0pt'> necessity too disappears;
because he has realised his self-being, his consciousness has become firm and
well established: hymns and prayers are needed only for the outpouring of the
fullness of the heart. The Gita says, these four categories of devotees are all
large-hearted, none negligible, all are dear to God, but of them the devotee
who has the </span>kowledge<span
style='font-size:11.0pt'> ranks highest; for one who has
the knowledge and God are the same in being, For a devotee God is the
objective, that is to say, He is to be known and realised as the self; the
devotee who has the knowledge and God are related to each other as the self and
the Su­preme Self. The self and the Supreme Self are united to­gether through
this triple bond, knowledge and love and work. Work is there but the work is
given by God, there is no necessity of it, no self-interest in it, there is
nothing to desire here. There is love, but that love is free from con­flicts
and quarrels; it is selfless, stainless, </span>pure<span
style='font-size:11.0pt'>.
Knowledge is there but that knowledge is not something dry and devoid</span></span></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<span style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-173<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoBodyText style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span class=GramE>of</span> feeling, it is full of a deep
and intense joy and love. The objective may be the same, but the way differs
according to the aspirant. For different aspirants even the same way admits of
different applications.</p>
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solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-174<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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