BODY IS TEMPLE, GOD IS ETERNAL SOUL IN IT

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BODY IS TEMPLE, GOD IS ETERNAL SOUL IN IT

 

Nana was a very respectable, married gentleman, having children and

having family tradition and a position to maintain. Further, his

training had given him excellent qualities of self-restraint and

propriety of behaviour. So, he was not ordinarily what one would call

a lustful, lewd, or lecherous person. He was on the other hand a very

properly behaved, and excellent head of a family. Yet, the saying

goes, `Even an elephant may slip'. Baba, who was watching Nana

wherever he was, and at every moment, noticed that he needed to be

taught and trained in the matter of lust also.

 

On one occasion when Nana was sitting next to Baba at the

Dwarakamayee, two Muslim ladies were standing for a time at a

distance, evidently waiting to see when this Hindu (Nana) would go

away. They had to remove their veils at the time of taking darsan,

which meant, putting their bare foreheads on Baba's feet; and being

Gosha ladies, they did not wish a Hindu to see the faces. When Nana

tried to get up on this account and go away, Baba pulled him down and

said, `Let these people come if they care'. So, the ladies had to

approach Baba and take darsan with Nana by his side. Nothing happened

when the elderly lady removed her veil and took her darsan, but when

the younger did the same, her face struck Nana as remarkably

beautiful. The sheen of the eyes, the brilliance of the countenance,

the perfect proportion of the features, and the indescribable charm

of the whole person, were such that Nana was at once smitten with her

beauty. When his mind was thus occupied, the lady finished her darsan

and resumed her veils. Then the thought struck to Nana. `Shall I have

another opportunity of seeing this angelic face? Baba at once slapped

him on the thigh. Then the ladies departed. Baba asked him, `Do you

know why I slapped you?' Nana admitted that his thoughts were low and

unfit for one in Baba's company. He asked `How is it that even when I

am next to you, such low thoughts sway my mind?' Baba replied, `You

are a man after all, and the body being full of desire, these spring

up as sense objects approach. Then Baba asked, `Are there not lovely

temples with well coloured exterior? When we go there, do we admire

the exterior beauty or the God within? When you are seeing God

within, do you ever care for the outside beauty of the building?

Similarly remember God is not only in temple. He is found "every

creature"?

 

Deho Devalayah proktah

Scivo Jivah Sanatanah,

Tyajet Ajnana Nirmalyam

Soham Bhavena Pujayet.

 

So says the Upanishad.

 

Which means, "The body is said to be a temple. The god (in it) is the

eternal Individual soul Jiva. (So) Remove the Nescience-Ajnana which

is Nirmalya (used up flowers). "So hamI am He". Remaining with the

realisation must be the worship."

 

Therefore when you see a beautiful face, remember that it is a temple

and the image of the God within is the Jiva, a pre-eminent part of

the Universal Soul. So, think at once of God – or the Universal Soul

in every object, whether beauty or ugly. These forms reveal the God

within. There is nothing wrong in admiring beauty, but the thought

must follow at once, "If this object is so beautiful, how much more

beautiful and powerful must be the God who made this object and

inhabits it." Thinking thus, you will not get smitten by a Muslim

beauteous face hereafter. This was the upadesa given to Nana.

 

Courtesy: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji

(Vasuki Mahal Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Trust, Coimbatore-25, India)