Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Mataji,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I would like to share a beautiful verse from Srimad Bhagavatam that emphasizes the importance of remembrance of the Supreme Lord.
tasmin praviṣṭe ’sura-kūṭa-karmajā
māyā vineśur mahinā mahīyasaḥ
svapno yathā hi pratibodha āgate
hari-smṛtiḥ sarva-vipad-vimokṣaṇam
As the dangers of a dream cease when the dreamer awakens, the illusions created by the jugglery of the demons were vanquished by the transcendental prowess of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as soon as He entered the battlefield. Indeed, simply by remembrance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one becomes free from all dangers. (SB 8.10.55)
In this sloka the last line says “hari-smṛtiḥ sarva-vipad-vimokṣaṇam”. It means simply by remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, one becomes free from all dangers. This is the instruction of Vashista Muni to Draupadi. When Draupadi was disrobed in the Kuru assembly at that point of time she called out to Krishna saying “govinda pundarikaksha rakshamam sharanagatam”.
She also gives the reason why she called out to Krishna for help. That is because her spiritual master Vashista Muni gave her the instruction that whenever you are in difficulty just take shelter of Lord Krishna. So, she remembered that instruction and called out to Krishna and Krishna protected her. So hari-smriti is very important aspect of bhakti.
We may be performing all the nine forms of devotional service which comes in the form of sravanam, kirtanam, visnu smaranam, pada sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma nivedanam, given to us by Prahalad Maharaj.
But if you see that in all these nine types of devotional service the central point is smaran or the remembrance of the Lord. So if you are hearing, then you are remembering also. By speaking we are remembering Krishna.
When we are doing arcana or we are in relationship with Krishna at every point of time nothing happens without the remembrance of the Lord. Also, we can see that the remembrance is very easy process.
It actually doesn’t require any paraphernalia. Even for chanting we need beads generally. So for everything we require some paraphernalia. But for remembrance of the Lord, only our mind has to cooperate.
So with that, at any point of time, at any place, in any situation, we can remember the Supreme Personality of the Godhead. Even in the most difficult situations.
When our external situations are not very good, when no nobody cooperates with us in the performance of devotional service, including our family members, we can still remember the Lord and nobody can stop us from remembering Him within our hearts.
We don’t need to put great endeavor to remember the Lord. While remembering we can do so many other activities also. It doesn’t stop us from doing other activities.
That’s why Krishna says to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita that
tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu
mām anusmara yudhya ca
Meaning, Krishna says, Arjuna you continue to perform the fight but internally you please remember me.
So even though the remembrance is very simple, according to Vishnu Purana, it gives so much auspiciousness and all our sinful reactions are destroyed. So therefore, we should keep remembering the Lord day and night.
That’s why Srila Prabhupada writes again and again in his purports, that the reason for all our miseries is our forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord. So our real danger is forgetfulness of Krishna. Our real wealth is remembrance of the Lord.
So therefore, the remembrance of the Lord is very important aspect of bhakti and it will help us to improve our qualities, it will help us develop mode of goodness and it will help us gradually develop pure love for Krishna in our hearts.
Your servant,
Satya Sara das
September 5, 2024