{"id":3191,"date":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3191"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","slug":"24-hymns-and-prayers-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/writings-in-bengali-translation\/24-hymns-and-prayers-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","title":{"rendered":"-24_Hymns and Prayers.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\nHymns and Prayers<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe seeker the seeking and the sought are the three limbs
\nthat go to the making of the Quaternary\u2014the Four Norms
\nor Objects of life\u2014the Right Law, Interest, Desire and
\nLiberation (Dharma. Artha, Kama, Moksha). Seekers have
\ndifferent natures; therefore different ways of seeking have
\nbeen prescribed, and the goal sought is also different for
\neach. But even if the outer view sees many goals, the inner
\nvision understands that the goal sought is one and the ‘same
\ni for all seekers: it is self-fulfilment. In the Upanishad
\nYajnavalkya explains to his wife that all is for the self. The
\nwife is for the self, wealth is for the self, love is for the self,
\nhappiness is for the self, suffering is for the self, life is for the
\nself, and death too is for the self. Therefore the importance
\nand necessity of this question as to what the self is.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMany wise and learned people ask what is the use of
\nworrying over the problem of self-knowledge. To waste
\none’s time in such abstruse discussion is madness, better to
\nengage oneself in the more important subjects of worldly life
\nand try to do good to the world. But the problem as to what
\nare the things important in worldly life and in what way good
\nwill come to humanity, needs for its solution a knowledge of
\nthe self. As is ones knowledge so is one’s goal. If one
\nconsiders one’s body as the self, then one will sacrifice all
\nother reasonings and considerations for its sole satisfaction
\nand thus become a selfish demon in human form. If one
\nconsiders one’s wife as the self, loves her as one’s self then
\none becomes a slave to her, ready to die to please her, inflict
\npain upon others for the sake of her happiness, do harm to
\nothers in order to satisfy her desire. And if one considers<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-184<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\none’s country as the self then he may become a mighty
\npatriot, perhaps leave behind an immortal name and fame in
\nhistory, but then one may reject all other ideas and ideals,
\ninjure and rob and enslave other countries. Again, if you
\nconsider God as your self and love Him as your self, then too
\nit would be the same thing. For love means supreme vision: if
\nI am a yogi, full of love for the Divine, if I am a man of action
\nacting desirelessly, then I shall be able to possess a power, a
\nknowledge or joy beyond the reach of the common man.
\nAnd finally if I consider the indefinable Supreme Reality
\n(Brahman) as the self then I may attain the sovereign peace
\nand dissolution. As is one’s faith, so one becomes\u2014yo yat śraddha sa eva sah<\/i> Mankind has all along been pursuing a
\ndevelopment: it started with a small objective in view, then
\nthrough comparatively greater ones it realised the highest
\ntranscendent reality. Finally it is now entering its goal, the
\nsupreme status of the Divine. There was an age when
\nmankind was solely preoccupied with the body; the cultivation of the body was the law of the age. That was the way to
\nGood in that age even if it meant depreciating all other laws.
\nOtherwise the body, as it is the means and the foundation for
\nthe fulfilment of the law of the being (dharma), would not
\nachieve the required development. Similarly there was
\nanother age in which the family and yet another in which the
\nI clan become the object of development as in modern times it
\nis the nation that is the objective. However, the highest, the
\ntranscendent objective is the Supreme Lord or the Divine.
\nThe Divine is the real, the supreme self of all, therefore the
\nreal, the supreme objective. So the Gita says, "abandon all
\nlaws, remember me alone. All laws are harmonised in God. if you follow Him, He takes charge of you, makes you His
\ninstrument and works for the sovereign welfare and happiness of your family, your clan, your nation and the whole of
\nhumanity.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-185<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nEven if the objective be the same, different seekers having
\ndifferent natures, the way also differs in each case. One
\nimportant way for realising the Divine is through prayers and
\nhymns. But this is not suitable for everybody. One who
\nfollows the path of knowledge takes to meditation and
\nconcentration. For the worker, dedication of works is the
\nbest way. Prayers and hymns form a limb of devotion; even
\nthen it is not the highest limb; for unqualified love is the
\nhighest perfection of devotion. That love can realise God’s
\ntrue self through hymns and prayers and then, transcending
\ntheir necessity, merges itself in God’s self-enjoyment. And
\nyet there is hardly a man of devotion who can do without
\nhymns and prayers. When there is no need of the process and
\npractice (sadhana) even then the heart wells out in hymns
\nand prayers. Only one has to remember that the way is not
\nthe objective and my way may not be another’s. Many men
\nof devotion have this notion that one who does not take to
\nhymns and prayers, who does not take delight in them, is not
\na spiritual man (one following the true law). This is a sign of
\nerror and narrowness. Buddha did not indulge in hymns and
\nprayers but who would declare that Buddha is unspiritual?
\nHymns and prayers have developed for the practice of<\/font><\/p>\n

\ndevotion.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nMen of devotion are also of many kinds and hymns and
\nprayers are used in different ways. A man becoming a
\ndevotee because of distress takes to hymns and prayers in
\norder to cry out to God, to pray for His help in the hope of
\ngetting relief. One who is a devotee with a purpose takes to
\nhymns and prayers in the hope of the fulfilment of his
\npurpose, with the intention of securing wealth, fame, happiness, prosperity, victory, welfare, enjoyment, liberation, etc.
\nDevotees of this category at times even try to tempt God
\nand propitiate Him; some failing to achieve their objective
\nget terribly indignant with God and abuse Him calling Him<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-186<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nnames such as that He is cruel, He is a cheat, declaring they
\nwould never more worship God, never see His face, never
\naccept Him. Many again in despair turn atheists and arrive at
\nthe conclusion that this world is a domain of suffering, a
\nkingdom of torture, that there is no God. These two categories of devotion are an ignorant devotion; even so it is not
\nto be despised; for from the lesser one rises to the greater.
\nThe discipline of ignorance is the first step to the discipline of
\nknowledge. The child is ignorant; but there is a charm in the
\nignorance of a child. The child too comes weeping to its
\nmother, demands redress from suffering, rushes to her for
\nthe sake of some satisfaction and self-interest, laments,
\npleads and when refused gets enraged, creates trouble. Even
\nso, the Mother of the worlds bears with a smiling face all the
\nclaims and clamours of the ignorant devotees.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNow, a devotee in quest of knowledge does not take to
\nhymns and prayers for the sake of securing a desired object
\nor for pleasing God. For him, hymns and prayers are only a
\nway to realising God’s self-being and developing his own
\nconsciousness. But for the devotee who has already the
\nknowledge, that necessity too disappears; because he has
\nrealised his self-being, his consciousness has become firm
\nand well established: hymns and prayers are needed only for
\nthe outpouring of the fullness of the heart. The Gita says,
\nthese four categories of devotees are all large-hearted, none
\nnegligible, all are dear to God, but of them the devotee who
\nhas the knowledge ranks highest; for one who has the
\nknowledge and God are the same in being. For a devotee
\nGod is the objective, that is to say, he is to be known and
\nrealised as the self; the devotee who has the knowledge, and
\nGod are related to each other as the self and the Supreme
\nSelf. The self and the Supreme Self are united together
\nthrough this triple bond, knowledge and love and work.
\nWork is there but the work is given by God, there is no<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-187<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n necessity of it, no self-interest in it, there is nothing to desire
\nhere. There is love, but that love is free from conflicts and
\nquarrels; it is selfless, stainless, pure. Knowledge is there but  that knowledge is not something dry and devoid of feeling, it
\nis full of a deep and intense joy and love. The objective may\u00ab
\nbe the same, but the way differs according to the aspirant.
\nFor different aspirants even the same way admits of different
\napplications.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-188<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hymns and Prayers   The seeker the seeking and the sought are the three limbs that go to the making of the Quaternary\u2014the Four Norms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings-in-bengali-translation","wpcat-64-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}