Special prayers for sādhanā to go on well

1. Prayers to be made in day-to-day chores

1. Upon waking up in the morning

   • O God ! It is only with your grace that I am able to see this day. Let every act performed by me during the day amount to Gurusēvā (Service unto Shrī Guru).

   • O God ! Let me be able to learn something new about sādhanā (Spiritual practice) from each and every incident during the day.

2. While sweeping

   Prayer made while sweeping and the subsequent spiritual experience : ‘While sweeping in the morning, I tried to have a bhāv (Spiritual emotion) that ‘I am sweeping Gurudev’s room’. Then, I prayed spontaneously ‘O Gurudev ! Please make this room sāttvik (pure)’. I realised that when compared with other times, dust collected in every comer would automatically get attracted towards the broom’. – Mrs. Sangeeta Lotlikar, Dombivali, District Thane, Maharashtra

3. While bathing

   O Deity of water ! By your grace I have received this Tīrtha (Sacred liquid) for bathing. By bathing in this Tīrtha, let the Raja-Tama covering around my body, mind and intellect get destroyed. By your grace and blessings, let me get Shakti (Divine Energy) and Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) for performing progressively more appropriate and effective Gurusēvā.

4. While washing clothes

   Prayer made while washing clothes and the subsequent spiritual experience : ‘O Gurudēv ! These clothes belong to your children. You have given me the opportunity to wash them. Please create Chaitanya in these clothes and let your children benefit from it.’ After some time, I realised that the clothes washed were cleaner than they were on other days. – A seeker.

5. While wearing clothes :

   O God ! These clothes that I have by your grace are a protective sheath provided by you. Through the medium of these clothes, please protect me from the attacks of negative energies.

6. While combing hair : Let the black (distressing) energy at the root of every hair get destroyed. Let the Chaitanya in the environment be absorbed by each hair and let it spread throughout my body.

7. While commencing a meal : O Gurudēv ! I am offering this food unto your Holy feet and having it as your Prasād (Holy sacrament). Through this food let your remembrance, gratitude and bhāv unto you in my heart enhance. Let this body be utilised for Dharmakārya (Service unto Dharma).

8. While lighting a lamp in front of a Deity in the evening : O flame ! Like you do, let me be able to overcome darkness (defects). Just as you constantly burn and impart light to others, let me too be able to help others.

9. While retiring at night : O Gurudēv ! I am offering the entire day’s satsēvā (Service unto the Absolute Truth) and chanting unto your Holy feet. Please get flawless sēvā as per your expectation performed consistently through me.

2. Prayer to be offered to the tools used for different functions

1. Pen, pencil, notebook and diary : It is because of you that I am able to learn about sādhanā. You wear away your bodies to impart knowledge to others. Let me be able to emulate you for the cause of Gurusēvā and thereby help others.

2. Calculator : Just as you save wealth in the form of my time, let me also be able to plan my sēvā appropriately and be able to spend maximum time for sādhanā.

3. Telephone and Fax machine : Gurusēvaks get an opportunity to communicate with each other and thereby enhance their sādhanā by mutual exchange of guidance; this is a result of the sēvā you perform. Let me be able to perform uninterrupted sēvā like you do.

4. Vehicle : Let me be able to utilise the invaluable time and energy saved because of you for enhancing my sādhanā.

3. Praying for quality chanting

• O God ! Let my chanting get done with bhāv and be continuous by your grace.

• O God ! Let me get Shakti and Chaitanya through chanting by your grace.

• Spiritual experience

  Upon praying to Shrīkrushṇa, being able to chant with bhāv and upon praying and chanting with utmost earnestness so that God pays attention, perceiving that every chant is reaching the Holy feet of Shrīkrushṇa ’

  On 8th July 2004, while chanting the Name of Shrīkrushṇa , I was able to pray with intense yearning – O Shrīkrushṇa ! Please teach me how to chant with yearning and bhāv. Thereafter, chanting took place with immense bhāv and I felt like doing nothing else but chant. Once again, I prayed as above. Then Shrīkrushṇa suggested from within, ‘When a child unnecessarily calls his mother, she does not pay attention to it; but when it calls her sincerely she immediately responds to the call’. I then realised that my chanting was similar to that of a child’s which calls its mother unnecessarily.

  Again I prayed earnestly to God, ‘O God ! I want nothing in this world except you’. For Him to pay attention to me, I started chanting the Name of Shrīkrushṇa with earnestness. Within a short time, I had darshan of Shrīkrushṇa and I felt overwhelmed. I had never experienced such a state during chanting before. Then, I realised that every chant was reaching the Holy feet of God.

4. Prayers to be made while performing sēvā

1. While commencing a sēvā

   • O God ! Give me the intellect and energy to perform flawless sēvā as expected by you.

   • O Gurudēv ! Let the doership of sēvā I am going to begin now rest with you. Let my mind, intellect and ego get dissolved through the medium of this sēvā. Let this sēvā be performed by me amidst constant chanting. Let everything happen according to your wish and planning. (The wordings may be changed according to the sēvā; for example, we will have to omit ‘Let this sēvā be performed by me amidst chanting’ while giving a discourse, because it is not possible to chant during a discourse.)

2. While shouldering the responsibility of a sēvā : O God ! Let a bhāv that you are solving difficulties faced by the seekers through my medium, always remain awake in my subconscious mind.

5. Prayers to be made during personality defect removal (PDR) process and inculcation of virtues

• Let me become aware of personality defects and sanskārs (Subconscious impressions) that are a hindrance to my vyashṭi sādhanā (Individual spiritual practice) and samashṭi sādhanā (Spiritual practice for the spread of Spirituality). Let these sanskārs on my mind and the personality defects be replaced by the sanskārs of intense yearning for God-realisation, continuous chanting with bhāv and performing progressively more appropriate and effective Gurusēvā.

• Let me become alert before I express any reaction about others and let that reaction be replaced by a prayer and chanting.

• O God ! Please let me realise my mistakes. Let me be able to accept them promptly and let my yearning to rectify the related personality defects increase.

• O God ! Let my personality defects be destroyed and let the virtues of contentment, humility, prēmbhāv get enhanced in me.

6. Prayers to be made while applying the process of ego removal

• O Gurudēv ! Let me be constantly aware of aspects of my personality defects and ego, and please make me put in efforts as per your expectations and keep me in a state of constant learning.

• O Gurudēv ! Let me be able to have a bhāv that whenever because of an inferiority complex (which is an aspect of ego), I feel that it is not possible for me to perform this sēvā, I feel the presence of Shrīkrushṇa in my place and He will get the sēvā performed through me as His medium’ and thereafter let me be able to perform the sēvā as per your expectation.

7. Prayers to be made for awakening of bhāv

• O God ! Let the bhāv that Saints and Gurus are your embodied forms on the earth constantly prevail in me. Let me be constantly aware that by serving them, I will be graced by them and hence be able to attain you.

• Let me have a bhāv that you are pervading the entire animate and inanimate world.

• O God ! Let me develop a bhāv that you are the doer and you are the one who gets things done. (Sanatan’s Holy texts on the subjects of personality defects removal and inculcation of values, removal of ego and awakening of spiritual emotion are also available)

8. Prayers for increasing Prīti (Spiritual love devoid of expectations)

• O God ! Just as you shower your devotees with intense love, let me be able to emulate you and love everyone.

• O God ! Let me be able to help others in a selfless manner by destroying my own expectations.

9. Prayers to be made for the removal of distress due to negative energies

• Let the obstacles created by negative energies in my sādhanā and service unto the Guru be removed early.

• Let a protective sheath of my chanting and prayers be constantly around me.

• Let the covering of black (distressing) energies formed around my body, mind and intellect be destroyed early.

10. Prayers to be made for Hindu unity, protection of the Nation and Dharma

• O God ! All Hindus are my brethren. Please create in us an attitude of rushing to help of Hindu brethren from any region in case of injustice on them and during the period of calamities that have befallen them.

• O God ! Let us all Hindus be able to abide by Dharma for protection of the Nation and Dharma.

• O Durgādēvī, it is with your grace that we have been born as humans and that too as Hindus in this Holy land of Bharat. With the intention of making the best of this opportunity bestowed on us, let us be able to perform the sēvā of protecting the Nation and Dharma.

• Let us be able to give at least one hour everyday for the protection of the Hindu Nation and for propagation of Hindu

Reference : Sanatan’s Holy Text, ‘Prayer – Importance and Examples’