The Lord Himself has settled the nature of His worship for every age. Different methods have been prescribed in different Yugas while Bhakti Marga is Kali Yuga’s simplest and safest way to realize the soul for all. Chanting of His Holy name is the prescribed Sadhana for the present age. It is the panacea for all ills – physical, mental, and spiritual. Easy to adopt by anyone it does not have any restriction in the manner, time, or place for its recitation. There are different methods by which the Divine names can be handled. Nama Japa, Nama Sankeertan, Bhajans, and Recitation of Sthotra are some of the popular methods followed according to one’s preference.
“Nama Japa” means constantly chanting the name of one’s beloved God or Guru with respect and devotion to invoke God’s blessings and free one from material (worldly) attachments to move towards Spiritual Realization. The Holy Name is the Divine medicine to save us from the chronic disease of worldliness. Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh had said that Namasmaran is the ‘Namopathy’, the best of all Naturopathy, Homeopathy, and Allopathy medicines in curing physical and mental ailments. He gave the gospel ‘DIN’ which means ‘Do It Now.
The power of Nama Japa is well known to all. Lord Hanuman proved to the world that NAMA is more powerful than NAMI. When He had to fight with Lord Shri Rama, Sage Narada advised Him to Chant “Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram”! This chanting yielded a good result as no arrow of Shri Ram could touch Lord Hanuman. Scriptures say that the celestial Narada Muni once asked Shrimannarayan “Which is your abode in Kaliyuga?” To this, Shri Vishnu replied “Naham Vasami Vaikunte, Nahi Yogi Hridaye, Yatra Madh Bhakta Gayanthe Tatra Thistami Narada”! which means “Oh Narada, I am not in Vaikunta, nor in the hearts of yogis, you will feel my presence where my devotees sing my name with love and affection”.
Lord Sainath was very fond of Nama Smaran and Nama Sankeertan. He always uttered ‘Sab Ka Malik Ek’ and in His presence made others sing God’s name continuously day and night for seven days. This is called Nama Sapthaha. Once Baba asked Shri Das Ganu Maharaj to do Nama Sapthaha and blessed him. Radhakrishna Aayi introduced Nama Sapthaha as an item of Rama Navami celebrations at Shirdi in 1913. Sai in His immortal Sri Sai Satcharitra stated thus “The simple remembrance of my name as ‘Sai, Sai’ will do away with sins of speech and hearing.”(Chap 3, Sri Sai Satcharitra) “If you always say ‘Sai Sai’ I shall take you over the seven seas, believe in these words and you will be certainly benefited.”(Chap 13, SSS).
It is said “God’s Realization will not spring out of one’s heart, if the seed of the name is not sown in the proper soil of a saintly and devoted heart, carefully sifted by the process of renunciation, watered by the tears of Love and Repentance and guarded always by good, moral character.” – Sai Ananda. To be associated with God, Nama is the best instrument. It is a spiritual exercise, that is simple, sustaining, and universally acceptable. Constant remembrance of SAI is possible only through Nama Japa as there are no restrictions.
Sai Mandir Surrey hosts Sai Nama Japa on the 16th of each month and special occasions at the Mandir and upon request at devotees’ homes. For further details, please email at [email protected]