Where God dwells

Naham vasami vaikunthe yoginam hridaye na cha,

Mad-bhakta yatra gayanti tatra tishthami narada – Padma Purana.

Once debarshi Narada asked Lord Vishnu about His abode. Vaikuntha or Vaikunthapuri is the abode of Lord Vishnu. Again yogis or saints are the biggest devotees of God. Hence, normally one may assume God should be present at either of the place. And this is also a fact. But as per the above verse there is another favourite place of God where he loves to reside.

Answering to the query of debarshi Narada about His abode, Lord Vishnu said, “I don’t live in Vaikuntha or in the hearts of the yogins. Rather I dwell there, where my devotees sing.”

Naham comes from Na+aham. Na-no. Aham-I. Vasami-live. Vaikunthe- in Vaikuntha, the eternal abode of Lord Vishnu as per mythological books. Yoginam hridaye na cha- not even in the hearts of the saints. Mad-Bhakta means my devotees. Yatra gayanti – where sings. Tatra-there. Tisthami – I stay, narada – O Narada.

God very much loves the place where His devotees sing. Generally devotees sing devotional songs (bhajans) or ‘Naama-sankirtana’. Bhajan is the song about God while Naama sankirtana or simply sankirtana is about singing God’s name repeatedly in a tune. But sankirtana should also be backed by feeling (Bhava), love (Prema) and faith (Sraddha). Again, singing God’s name collectively yields even more result. Sankirtan is one of the nine modes of Bhakti (Navadha bhakti). This is the easiest method for salvation in Kali Yuga.

(The blogger solicits your precious and divine comments for the write up. Please feel free to mail me at himanshuguruz@gmail.com for any query)