Bhagavad Gita Closing Prayer

[Geoffrey Beird]

HiAna

Yes it is that is why todays example was headed short prayer.

There is a long form that includes yad akṣara,

but it will have variants according to the context.

See tomorrows post for more on the question of variants.

Otherwise here is a link to yad akṣara as part of Veda Chanting Full Closing Prayers without Svaraḥ

-chanting-full-closing-prayers-without-svarah/

Best wishes

Paul

Over the course of eighteen days, all eighteen chapters of the epic Bhagavad Gita were given discourse by Sri Swami Vishwananda. Each morning began with sacred prayers and puja ceremonies dedicated to Bhagavan Krishna, and each night was concluded with closing prayers and Arati. With the addition of singing many Bhajans, the Bhagavad Gita course was a blessing for all.

This version of the archana book contains the traditional 1000 Names of the Divine Mother, 108 Names of Amma, Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Stotram, Mahisasura Mardini Stotram, 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Arati and closing prayers. You will also find the English translation of these chants - a wonderful addition to the ritual of chanting the praises of the goddess. Hard cover is wrapped with a beautiful Amma's Devi Bhava cloth. Cover available in various colors. Size: 5.5 " x 4.5" x 0.5"

The closing prayer (Mangala Mantrah) is an affirmation for peace and prosperity for all sentient beings. It is tradionally recited in samastitih or padmasana at the close of practice, just beore taking rest.

An excellent study aid, especially for students wishing to learn the count, asana names, chants and principles of the practice. There is an easy to follow, illustrated section on asana. Extra resources include supplemental postures for therapy, shanti mantras and some simple breathing exercises. Find it in Amazon

The first book to date dedicated to the practice of Astanga Yoga during pregnancy and motherhood. It draws on personal experiences mainly in the form of interviews. There is also a section on how to approach asana practice during and after pregnancy.

Patanjali lays out the eight limbs (Astanga) of yoga. Its not an easy read and a helpful commentary is vital at least the first time around. There are many translations with commentaries so I am recommending those that I have found the most helpful. The following list is by no means comprehensive.

Namo Namaste has its origin in verses 40 and 41 Chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita. These have been converted into chants by Paramahansa Yogananda and adopted as opening and closing prayers of Yogoda Satsanga Society meditations.

The modern man in this present decade of the second half of the 20th century is greatly in need of an effective guide to light. He is groping. He sees only problems everywhere and no solutions are to be found anywhere. He does not know which way to turn, what course to adopt and how to move towards a better state of things. Therefore, his life is filled with restlessness, unhappiness and complication. The Bhagavad Gita contains words of wisdom and practical teachings that contain the answers to the above-mentioned condition of the present-day individual.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, narrated in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. It comprises eighteen discourses of a total of 701 Sanskrit verses. A considerable volume of material has been compressed within these verses. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Sri Krishna, during the course of His most instructive and interesting talk with Arjuna, revealed profound, sublime and soul-stirring spiritual truths, and expounded the rare secrets of Yoga, Vedanta, Bhakti and Karma.

All the teachings of Lord Krishna were subsequently recorded as the Song Celestial or Srimad Bhagavad Gita by Bhagavan Vyasa for the benefit of humanity at large. The world is under a great debt of gratitude to Bhagavan Vyasa who presented this Song Celestial to humanity for the guidance of their daily conduct of life, spiritual upliftment and Self-realisation. Those who are self-controlled and who are endowed with faith can reap the full benefit of the Gita, which is the science of the Soul.

The Gita Jayanti (birthdate of the Gita) is celebrated throughout India by the admirers and lovers of this unique book on the 11th day (Ekadashi) of the bright half of the month of Margasirsha according to the Hindu almanac. It was the day on which the scripture was revealed to the world by Sanjaya.

In all the spiritual literature of the world there is no book so elevating and inspiring as the Gita. It expounds very lucidly the cardinal principles or the fundamentals of the Hindu religion and Hindu Dharma. It is the source of all wisdom. It is your great guide. It is your supreme teacher. It is an inexhaustible spiritual treasure. It is a fountain of bliss. It is an ocean of knowledge. It is full of divine splendour and grandeur.

The Gita is a boundless ocean of nectar. It is the immortal celestial fruit of the Upanishadic tree. In this unique book you will find an unbiased exposition of the philosophy of action, devotion and knowledge, together with a wonderfully woven synthesis of these three. The Gita is a rare and splendid flower that wafts its sweet aroma throughout the world.

Just as the dark unfathomed depths of the ocean contain most precious pearls, so also the Bhagavad Gita contains spiritual gems of incalculable value. You will have to dive deep into its depths with a sincere attitude of reverence and faith. Only then will you be able to collect its spiritual pearls and comprehend its infinitely profound and subtle teachings.

The Bhagavad Gita is a unique book for all ages. It is one of the most authoritative books of the Hindu religion. It is the immortal song of the Soul, which bespeaks of the glory of life. The instructions given by Sri Krishna are for the whole world. It is a standard book on Yoga for all mankind. The language is as simple as could be. Even a man who has an elementary knowledge of Sanskrit can go through the book.

The Gita is like an ocean. Sri Shankara, Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhava dived into it and gave accounts of their interpretation and established their own philosophy. Anyone can do the same and bring out the most precious pearls of divine knowledge and give their own interpretation. Glory to the Gita! Glory to the Lord of the Gita!

The study of the Gita alone is sufficient for daily Swadhyaya (scriptural study). You will find here a solution for all your doubts. The more you study it with devotion and faith, the more you will acquire deeper knowledge, penetrative insight and clear, right thinking.

None but the Lord Himself can bring out such a marvellous and unprecedented book which gives peace to its readers, which helps and guides them in the attainment of supreme bliss, and which has survived up to the present time. This itself proves clearly that God exists, that He is an embodiment of knowledge, and that one can attain perfection or liberation only by realising God.

The world is one huge battlefield. The real Kurukshetra is within you. The battle of the Mahabharata is still raging within. Ignorance is Dhritarashtra; the individual soul is Arjuna; the indweller of your heart is Lord Krishna, the charioteer; the body is the chariot; the senses are the five horses; mind, egoism, mental impressions, senses, cravings, likes and dislikes, lust, jealousy, greed, pride and hypocrisy are your dire enemies.

As the Gita contains subtle and profound teachings, you should study it under a qualified teacher, one who is established in the Absolute. Only when studied with great and intense faith, single-minded devotion and purity, will the truths contained therein be revealed unto you like a fruit on the palm of your hand. Good commentaries written by realised sages will also be of immense help to you.

You can become a liberated sage by annihilating the ego and the currents of likes and dislikes; by annihilating desires and cravings and destroying their residual potencies. Thus, you can rest in your true essential nature as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute and still be active in the affairs of the world. Now you will not be bound by your actions since the idea of doership has been destroyed by the attainment of knowledge of the Self. This is the keynote of the Gita.

The seers of the Upanishads emphatically declare that the real man is the all-pervading, immortal Soul which is the substratum of this body, mind and world, which is behind the five sheaths, namely, the food, vital, mental, intellectual and bliss sheaths.

The goal of life is to directly cognise or realise this self-luminous Self which is hidden in this body as fire is hidden in wood or as butter in milk. This Self is the inner ruler, the unseen governor or hidden proprietor of this house, the body.

Real religion is the attainment of this transcendental, supreme, undying, undecaying Essence through constant and intense meditation. Real life is life in the eternal Soul. True life is identification with this Supreme Soul, which exists in the past, present and future, which has neither a beginning, middle nor end, which has neither parts nor limbs, which is neither subtle nor gross.

The sages of ancient times attained this mysterious and most marvellous state through the eye of intuition or the divine third eye. They then explained the things of this world in the light of their intuitive knowledge of the Self. This is the direct method of Self-realisation.

You can ascend the summit of the hill of knowledge through science, art, Nature, music, etc. This is the indirect method. From the effect you go to the cause and ultimately reach the causeless Cause or Para Brahman, the Truth which is transcendental. Our Western scientists will grope in utter darkness if their purpose is only to invent some things for our physical convenience. The goal of science is to discover the one ultimate Truth which is the substratum of the atoms, molecules, electrons, energy, motion and all physical and mental phenomena and laws of Nature by means of enquiry, observation, analysis, investigation and study of these laws in operation. A Vedantin is the real scientist. Only his mode of approach to the Truth is different.

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