Hari OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
This next verse expands on the idea of mantra as medicine.
VyamaehàzmaE;x< muinmnaev&iÄàv&ÅyaE;x<
dETyeNÔaitRkraE;x< iÇÉuvnIsÃIvnAekaE;xm!,
É´aTyNtihtaE;x< ÉvÉyàXv<snAkaE;x<
ïey>àaiPtkraE;x< ipb mnZïIk&:[idVyaE;xm!.25.
Vyaamoha-prashamaushadham munimano-vRtti-pravRtty-aushadham
Daityendraartikar-aushadham tribhuvanii-sanjiivanaik-aushadham,
Bhaktaatyanta-hiaushadham bhava-bhaya-pradhvamsanaik-aushadham
shreyaH-praapti-karaushadham piba manash-shrikRshna-divyaushadham ||25||
Oh mind, drink the divine medicine of 'Shri Krishna'. It is the medicine that attenuates intense delusions; it is the medicine that guides us to contemplate like saints; it is the medicine that causes pain to mighty demons; it is the single medicine that provides healthy life in the three worlds; it is the single medicine that completely destroys all changes and fear and it is the medicine that procures the Highest Good!
If you were reading the Sanskrit/transliteration, you would have noted a word which must be familiar by now. It has been a focus elsewhere this month.
ShreyaH - conjugation brings it to shreyas. That which is auspicious. The Highest Good. By keeping the mind occupied with thoughts of Krishna (or Rama or Allah or Yahweh or Yeshu…), by chanting a name of That which cannot be correctly named, we permit the process of self-improvement which is guided by making right choices. Such choices can help improve our well-being, physically, mentally and spiritually.
Keeping this in mind, we can see also how this keeps us from flying into the fancies of the mind - the 'intense delusions'. Deeper than this, there is the intense delusion created by Maya, keeping us hooked into the material world of perception as if it were real when Reality lies only with The Higher Consciousness. Only by holding onto this thought and by chanting the names of the Lord, can we rise out of the mire and attain our true liberation. Chanting these names can help us to emulate something of what all the great masters of meditation have achieved; what blocks us is our own inner weapons, the debts of karma to be paid. We must overcome these inner demons and the greatest weapon against them, the best medicine to heal ourselves of them, is the mantra of the Lord's name.
Understanding how this world is relative to the Reality is the ultimate aim of a Vedantin. Holding on to the words of our Guru, the scriptures and chanting the names of the Lord are all tools to fulfil that aim. We must keep our constantly flitting mind focused on that; the 'medicine' is Shri Krishna.
