Many of us do not know Sanskrit well. If you read any of the 108 or 1008 names in praise of the Divine the Lalita Sahasranama or Vishnu Sahasranama - and read the names of the Divine written there.
You will feel like closing your ears after hearing the gross descriptions of the various body parts - huge buttocks, hefty thighs, large breasts, the goddess with breasts like an elephant's head.
Why were these descriptions used? Had the rishis lost their minds that they would think like this? Were their minds so sick? These questions come up.
Only those who are daring and have clear, pure minds can say such things. You may have a Vrataratna mald. If you open it, you will see that it contains praises of each and every limb.
In any vrata, or observance, whether of Ganapati, Vara Lakshml, or Svarna Gauri, the practice is to worship every limb of that form of the Divine.
Worshipping in this way, the mind, which is attracted to a particular body part, is liberated from that obsession and becomes peaceful. That is why when we worship Vishnu, we start from the feet and rise to the head, worshipping every part.
This is a great secret of adoration of the form of the Divine. Through this practice, we can gain victory over desire. If you want to gain anything or rise above it, this can only happen by honouring that object.
Only with reverence can you rise higher in life. Hanuman worshipped Rama and by doing so became greater than Rama. Ravana fought with Rama and went down defeated.
Hanuman knew 14 arts, while Rama only knew 12. Rama could not have accomplished anything without Hanuman by his side. There is a story that Parashurama fought with Rama and though he lost.
Thus Rama bowed to him and called him bhargava. Rama won. Likewise, Hanuman, a devotee of Rama, offered himself to Rama.
One who surrenders with reverence rises higher and becomes more powerful than the one he honours.So creation happened out of lust and is maintained by attachment. Perfection happens through a veil of attachment.
This is such an amazing sutra, the likes of which is not found anywhere else in the world. You cannot put a value on this sutra.
Siddhi, perfection, happens because of a veil of attachment. People abuse desire. Attachment is also abused. It is true that we should not hold on to attachment and that it brings misery.
The same attachment though, brings protection. When a dog or cat gives birth, it protects its own offspring. How is this protection possible without attachment?
Does a dog leave its pups and go elsewhere? A sparrow brings food and feeds its newly hatched chicks even if it does not have enough food for itself.
The sparrow cares for its young because of attachment. Similarly, a tree spreads it seeds with full protection and care. If a coconut dropped from the tree without the protection of the outer husk, it would crack.
But the coconut is made so that it falls with the husk, which is so light that it can float. So the water carries it away and deposits it somewhere on a bank where it sprouts and becomes a tree.
That is how the tree spreads its seed. Cotton seeds go out with
the cotton, as though the plant says, "Fly in the wind." Similarly, animals protect their young.
Wherever a cat goes, it carries its kitten by holding its neck in its mouth. Have you seen a cow that gives an angry glare to anyone that troubles its calf?
It is only through attachment and the feeling that "this is my offspring, and I must raise it and protect it" that the young receive care.
To do any work in the world requires some attachment. In foreign countries, there is no attachment within the family, and that is why there is no family there.
There is desire, but without attachment behind it. This is known as prostitution, where there is no permanence in the relationship.
A relationship needs some attachment in order to be permanent. Children will not be cared for unless there is attachment for them. If the attachment is not there, the relationship will not last.
The main problem in the West is that there is no bonding in the family, and so there is no happiness. Whether attachment is too much or not at all, it creates a problem, like having too much salt or not enough salt in food.
Attachment to knowledge is what brings you to listen to knowledge. Some people ask, "What is the use of bhajan and satsangs?" You will not reach perfection with an attitude of indifference, saying, "Let's give it a shot.
Something might happen." You will not find fulfillment this way. Only when you feel attachment towards music can you learn to play an instrument, whether it is the veena, the taboori or the tabla.
If you are learning how to use a computer, you will perfect your skills to the extent that you are attached to the computer. But where there is a half-hearted attitude or something is done just to pass time, learning will not be complete.
If you do not feel attachment for a pastime, your efforts will not be successful. Even to pass an examination, you need attachment for the subject.
If you are studying Ayurveda, then be attached to Ayurveda. Perfection comes only to the extent of your attachment to that field.
Some obstacles may be there. On the way to achieve success, difficulties will crop up. See it as a test. Some have few problems and others have more.
Yet the more attachment we develop, problems bother us less. We do not even look at them as problems. Even very poor people living in huts and under tin roofs by the road side have such attachment toward their children.
