Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.70

tam evātmānam ātma-sthaḿ

sarva-bhūteṣv avasthitam

pūjayadhvaḿ gṛṇantaś ca

dhyāyantaś cāsakṛd dharim

SYNONYMS

tam — unto Him; eva — certainly; ātmānam — the Supreme Soul; ātma-stham — within your hearts; sarva — all; bhūteṣu — in every living being; avasthitam — situated; pūjayadhvam — just worship Him; gṛṇantaḥ ca — always chanting; dhyāyantaḥ ca — always meditating upon; asakṛt — continuously; harim — the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

Therefore, O sons of the King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is situated in everyone's heart. He is also within your hearts. Therefore chant the glories of the Lord and always meditate upon Him continuously.

PURPORT

The word asakṛt is significant, for it means not just for a few minutes but continuously. That is the instruction given by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Śikṣāṣṭaka 3. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ: [Cc. adi 17.31] "The holy name of the Lord should be chanted twenty-four hours daily." Therefore in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we request the devotees to chant at least sixteen rounds on their beads daily. Actually one has to chant twenty-four hours daily, just like Ṭhākura Haridāsa, who was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra three hundred thousand times daily. Indeed, he had no other business. Some of the Gosvāmīs, like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, were also chanting very rigidly and also offering obeisances very rigidly. As stated in Śrīnivāsācārya's prayer to the six Gosvāmīs (Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka): sańkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau. The word sańkhyā-pūrvaka means "maintaining a numerical strength." Not only was Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī chanting the holy name of the Lord, but he was also offering obeisances in the same prolific numbers.

Because the princes were ready to enter into some severe austerity in order to worship the Lord, Lord Śiva advised them to constantly chant of and meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is significant that Lord Śiva personally offered his prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead just as he was taught by his father, Lord Brahmā. Similarly, he was also preaching to the princes according to the paramparā system. One not only should practice the instructions received from the spiritual master but should also distribute this knowledge to one's disciples.

The words ātmānam ātma-sthaḿ sarva-bhūteṣv avasthitam are also significant. The Personality of Godhead is the origin of all living entities. Because the living entities are parts and parcels of the Lord, He is the father of all of them. One can search out the Supreme Lord very easily within one's heart, for He is situated in every living entity's heart. In this verse the process of worshiping the Lord is considered to be very easy and complete, for anyone can sit down anywhere and in any condition of life and simply chant the holy names of the Lord. By chanting and hearing, one automatically engages in meditation.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness