Unbroken Remembrance of Nama is Worship
What is it that debars us from God? A little thought will show that it is we ourselves. We try to shift the blame to others, but in reality we are ourselves the culprits. The trouble is that we give our loyalty and allegiance not to God, to whom we really owe it, but to others, like the wife, son, or brother. These are ours to a very limited extent, whereas God is ever ready to rush to our succour. Recall, for instance, the well-known story about Draupadi. She expected that the Pandavas would stand by her when Dusshasana tried to humiliate her in public; but, when she found her appeals to them futile, she prayed to Lord Shreekrishna single-mindedly, and He miraculously rescued her in her hour of dire trial. This clearly illustrates that those whom we suppose to be ours cannot really help us beyond narrow limits.
So we should always treat God as our true support, and as the real doer of everything. Upasana is required to create and confirm this conviction. What, after all, is upasana? It boils down to the abiding conviction that God is ever about us, that he is our sheet anchor. For achieving this, ceaseless nama-smarana is the sure means. When we utter a person's name we recall his form and entire personality; similarly, uttering nama is a constant reminder of the presence of God.
God is really beyond description. But Lord Shreekrishna has Himself said that He is to be seen in His name; it is the aptest description of Him; it is the form in which we can visualise Him. Therefore, constant repetition of nama means His constant presence with you.
How is this nama to be repeated? Shree Samartha has said, "If a man utters nama orally, continuously, to the exclusion of all other activity of the body and mind, it pleases God, and He takes the devotee under the cover of His protection." Now, when we sit down to meditate on nama, is our mind truly void of all thought and fancy? Do not the cares of worldly life haunt the mind even then? That means the consciousness of the ego, the 'body-am-I' conviction, is present then, too. The devotee whom God takes under His protection is one who has surrendered his ego, and He sees to it that his spiritual quest proceeds unhindered.
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