BODY IS TEMPLE, GOD IS ETERNAL SOUL IN IT

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 andpropriety 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 youknow 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 "everycreature"?

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 ham" "I 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 Soulin 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 morebeautiful 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