In times of a pandemic, one cannot help but wonder how much worse the situation would have become had it not been for the relentless efforts of the frontline warriors i.e, the medical and health care professionals, police and ancillary staff who have taken it upon themselves to save the world from the monster called Corona. Our honorable Prime Minister rightly puts it that, in a battle between the invisible (Corona virus) and the invincible (the frontline warriors), surely the victory would be that of the invincible.
The foremost among those invincible is always the doctor, the savior in a white coat, whom everyone remembers when they don’t feel well. From minor ailments to diseases without any known cure, our doctors always work to provide relief, solace and a sense of security to their patients. We all believe that the Lord is omnipresent and omniscient. However, it is not difficult to visualize His special presence in the life-giving doctors.
There is a famous shloka:
sharIrE jarjarIbhUtE vyAdhigrastE kalebarE |
auShadham jaanhavItOyam vaidyO nArAyaNO harih ||
Let us explore this in detail.
One of the words used to denote the body in this verse is sharIra. The etymology of sharIra is ‘shiryate iti sharIrah – that which wears away’. JagannAtha dAsaru puts it in perhaps the most apt way as:
nIDadaMdadalippa liMgake
ShODashAtmaka rasavibhAgava
mADi ShODashakalegaLige upachayagaLane koDuta (HKAS_04-02)
Just as birds live in a nest, the soul resides in the physical body and just as birds fly away and build a new nest in the next mating season, so too the soul finds a new body to further its activities
towards attainment of liberation or fulfillment of karma.
In such a situation, when the body is mortally ridden with diseases, the sacred water of Ganga alone is the medicine, and the Lord Hari is the celestial doctor. In Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, Hari is described as bheṣajaṃ (578th name) and as bhiṣak (579th name), meaning He who is the medicine and He who is the doctor.
In the phala stuti of śrī Viṣṇu-sahasranāma stotra an assurance is given:
ārtā viṣaṇṇāḥ śithilāś ca bhītāḥ ghoreṣu ca vyādhiṣu vartmanāḥ |
saṃkīrtya nārāyaṇa śabda-mātraṃ vimukta duḥkhāḥ sukhino bhavanti ||
Whenever one is despaired, afraid or severely ill, those who recite the divine name of śrī nārāyaṇā will be taken care of.
Thus, even when times are bad, it is imperative to repose complete trust in the Lord nārāyaṇā, who was born with a pot of nectar as Dhanvantri during the churning of the ocean and who alone can cure the most complex diseases by a single touch. He has proved this time and again, be it by giving perennial youth to the dwarf lady who offered him sandalwood paste or by bringing to life the still born child of Uttara or even protecting vAdiraja tIrtha by consuming poisoned food Himself.
To conclude, let’s just remember one more stanza from the epitome of devotion, shrImadharikathAmR^itasAra:
jvaraharAvhaya nArasiMhana
smaraNe mAtradi duritarAshiga
Lirade pOpavu taraNi biMbava kaMDa himadaMte (HKAS_07-16)
śrī nArasiMha resides in the indestructible body (svarUpa deha) called ‘jvarahara’ and pervades to eliminate diseases. We must therefore meditate on nArasiMha always. Just by remembering His name, sins are destroyed as instantaneously as the dew that vanishes at the glimmer of sunlight.
Software Engineer by profession and a learner of Madhwa Siddhanta by passion.
ब्रह्मान्ता गुरवः साक्षात् इष्टं दैवं श्रियःपतिः |
आचार्या श्रीमदाचार्या सन्तु मे जन्मजन्मनि ||
Beautiful message. Thanks 😊
Thank you for the encouragement Ayesha!