Suro ’suro vāpy atha vānaro naraḥ sarvātmanā yaḥ sukṛtajñam uttamam Bhajeta rāmaṁ manujākṛtiṁ hariṁ ya uttarān anayat kosalān divam iti

Be it a Devata, demon, ghost or human, every living being has to necessarily serve Srirāma! This is because Supreme Lord Srihari himself incarnated as Rama on the human plane. Srirāma never forgets help received from others. He considers even the trivial help offered to Him as a supreme. This Lord blesses the Uttara-kosala land with heavens” prayed Hanuman.

To bless the accomplished beings of Bhārata varṣa, the Supreme Lord incarnated here as Nara-Nārayana and in an invisible form He endlessly engages in penance till the end of the Kalpa (creation). Due to this endless penance qualities of righteousness, knowledge, dispassion, sense-control, mind-control and freedom from actions multiply in devotees. With this, Self-knowledge arises in them.

Previously Maharishi Nārada wanted to preach Sāvarṇi Manu Self-knowledge along with the tools for sādhana i.e. karma yoga and āgama which extols the Lord’s glory that he had directly learnt from the Supreme Lord. At that time along with the inhabitants of Bhārata varṣa who strictly abided by their varāśrama dharmās (duties pertaining to their respective castes and stages of life), Sāvarṇi Manu served Nara-Nārayaṇa. With a mind that was overflowing with devotion he chanted the below mantra:

Oṁ namo bhagavate upaśama-śīlāya upa-ratānātmyāya namo ’kiñcana-vittāya ṛṣi-ṛṣabhāya nara-nārāyaṇāya paramahaṁsa-parama-gurave ātmārāmādhipataye namo namah.

The eternally peaceful Lord Nara-Narāyana does not have feelings of oneness or attachment towards non-Self (anātma) objects in this creation. He is the treasure-chest for the poor and downtrodden. He is the best among all Maharishis. He is the Guru for all Paramahamsās. He is the Lord for all Self-realized Mahatmas. Again and again I offer obeisance to this great saint.

Even thought the Supreme Lord creates, sustains and destroys this entire creation He is totally freed from feelings of doership. He resides as the Self within all living entities. Even then births and deaths which apply to the gross body cannot bind Him. He is the inner witness who resides within the living entity. He is Pure Consciousness.

Impurities known as mental modifications that illumine due to trigunas do not touch Him. He is the Self within all living entities, yet He remains detached from gross body and senses. Having an existence that is separate from them He remains an eternal witness to their activities. I offer obeisance to Him.

O Yogeśwara! The spiritual aspirant should give up false ego. This is nothing but false body identification. At the time of death he should fix his mind completely upon the traitless Supreme Lord. This step brings about auspiciousness (perfection) in Yoga. Venerable Hiranyagarbha (Brahma) has also explained this same concept.

The ignorant is always inclined towards the comforts of this world and the next. Due to false ego and bodily identification he fears death. He endlessly worries about wife, children and wealth. **The sadhana of the wise man who also worries about material attachments becomes a sheer waste. **

Tan naḥ prabho tvaṁ kukalevarārpitāṁ Tvan-māyayāhaṁ-mamatām adhokṣaja Bhindyāma yenāśu vayaṁ sudurbhidāṁ Vidhehi yogaṁ tvayi naḥ svabhāvam iti

O Lord! You remain as the Self within this body which is inclined towards sensory pleasures. Due to Your illusory power we are deeply filled with feelings of egoism, attachments towards this impure body. Please bless us to be steadfast in the path of devotion (bhakti yoga). Using this tool we shall try to wash away these impurities”.

This Bhārata-varṣa is filled with many mountains and rivers. In addition to important mountains such as Malaya, Mangalaprastha, Maināka, Trikuṭa, Rṣabha, Kūtaka, Kalloka, Sahya, Devagiri, Rṣyamukha, Srisaila, Venkata, Mahendra, Vāridhāra Vindhya, Śuktimānta, Rakṣagiri, Pāriyātra, Droṇa, Chitrakūṭa, Govardhana, Raivataka, Kukubha, Nīla, Gokāmukha, Indrakīla and Kāmagiri, there are innumerable smaller hills and mountains in this land.

At many places rivers flow across mountains slopes. The inhabitants of this land bathe regularly in these rivers that grant purity merely by their remembrance. Chandravaśa, Tāmraparṇi, Avaṭoda, Kṛtamāla, Vaihāyasi, Kāveri, Veṇi, Payasviṇi, Śarkarāvarta, Tungabhadra, Krishna, Venya, Bhīmarathi, Godāvari, Nirvindhyā, Payośti, Tāpi, Reva, Surasa, Narmada, Carmanvati, Mahanadi, Sindhu, Vedasmṛti, Rṣikulya, Trisāma, Kauśika, Mandākini, Yamuna, Saraswati, Dṛṣadvati, Gomati, Sarayu, Rodhasvati, Saptavati, Śuṣoma, Śatadṛu, Chandrabhāga, Marudvṛdhā, Vitastā, Asiknī and Vishwa are the important east flowing rivers in this land. Andha and Śoṇa are the west flowing rivers (nada).

Based on the attributes of goodness (satvik), passion (rajasic) and ignorance (tamasic) embedded in their activities the inhabitants of this land are born in heaven, on earth or in hell. Every living entity is rewarded based on the nature of his action. In this land the person can strictly adhere to the rules/ duties prescribed for his caste and stage of life (ashrama) and through them attain liberation.

**When the spiritual aspirant develops steadfast friendship with ardent devotees of the Lord, his devotion towards Vāsudeva intensifies and stabilizes. He treads the path of bhakti yoga. This is the characteristic of walking towards liberation. The Lord who resides as the Self within the living entities is untouched by feelings of likes-dislikes that arise in their mind. He is the support for everything in the creation. He does not need a support for His existence. He is beyond speech. Intense devotion towards Him destroys the knot called spiritual ignorance from the heart which is the cause for repeated re-births. It thus paves the way to liberation. **

Sankarshanaya namah