Sing and dance your way to reach God

Devidas Onkar Jadhav

A new consciousness is emerging, not only in India but worldwide. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, incarnation of Lord Krishna had said that in Kaliyuga, "Hare nam ev kevalam" (the only way to God realization is singing the name of God.) Doing naam sankirtan, singing the name of God, is the quickest, safest, surest and best way to reach God.

The chanting of God's name with devotion is the highest form of bhakti. In Kali yuga, where the mind is easily distracted and confused, kirtan is the main sadhna.To purify the body and mind, one should sing kirtan and dance. According to an ancient understanding, kirtan is the best way to be close to God, to be near Him. When you sing, God sings too. When you feel good, He feels good; so one should sing with full devotion. Since each one of us has a heart, we know the secret of love and devotion. To love God is not religion, to love God is not Christianity or Hinduism. Love is a personal feeling, a personal necessity. Either you love the transitory life or you love the eternal life; either you love Krishna or you love the world. It is as simple as that. One cannot love both God and Mammon simultaneously. In the current times, we have all the facilities but we lack love. Love is that aspect of emotion where you think about others and not about yourself. It is total dedicating, consecration of your emotions. Singing and dancing are the natural outcomes of love. Music and dance are the elixir of life and this era is the era of music and dance. Mobiles, Ipods, DVDs, Mp3 downloads have penetrated so much into our lives that music has become almost a necessity to children and elders alike. Music is so powerful that it can free the purusha from prakriti, it can free the jiva, the individual soul from the clutches of Maya. Music has great power which man has discounted. Through kirtan one can reach the pinnacle of spiritual experience. By repeated recitation of Lord's name one can have vision of the Divine. Singing the glories of the lord and dancing to the tunes do the groundwork by taking our lower 'self' away from us. Music has so much inherent power that it can free us of our ego. One experiences the God's presence practicing this devotion.

(As told to Geeta Anandi)