“Shri Manache Shlok” — Shloka/Verse 89 — a Dialogue With Our Mind

Translation and explanation of shloka/verse 89 from ‘Shri Manache Shlok’ — A Dialogue With Our Mind — written by Samartha Ramdas Swami

Introduction

Samarth Ramdas Swami teaches us how our mind is our friend, our enemy, and how it can be our Guru.

Note that this is focused on our own internal dialogue, with ourselves, with our mind, so wherever there are references of God, it will still apply to every human being, irrespective of religions and beliefs about God.

Just replace the name of God with the one from your own religion, and if you don’t believe in one, talk with your mind.

Marathi Language Phonetics Transliteration

Refer to my article on the Marathi language phonetics transliteration — which is being used in these shloka explanation articles.

Shlok/ Verse # 89 from “Shri Manache Shlok”

Shloka in Marathi (Verse in the Marathi language)

जनीं भोजनी नाम वाचे वदावें। अती आदरे गद्यघोषे म्हणावे॥ हरीचिंतने अन्न सेवीत जावे। तरी श्रीहरी पाविजेतो स्वभावें॥८९॥

Shloka/verse in English

Janī bhojanī nāma vāce vadāve Atī ādare gadyaghośe mhanāve Harīciṅtane aṅna sevīta jāve Tarī śrīharī pāvijeto swabhāve — 89

Gist in the Marathi language

भोजनाच्या वेळी आणि इतर लोकांसमवेत असताना रामनामाचा उच्चार करावा. तो अतिशय आदराने आणि स्पष्टपणे, मोठ्याने करावा. अन्न ग्रहण करताना मनात हरीचे चिंतन करावे. मग सहजपणे श्री हरी तुम्हाला पावेल.

Meaning

Let us remember Shri Rama while we are amidst people, while we take food. While doing so we should do so with full respect and a thunderous voice. Let us eat food while keeping God in mind. His grace will be with you as by his nature he helps his devotees.

Keywords and their meanings

जनीं —Janī — in the world; भोजनीं — bhojanī— while eating; नाम —nāma — name; वाचे —vāce — in speech; वदावे —vadāve — say

अती—Atī — much; आदरे —ādare — respectfully; गद्यघोषे — gadyaghośe— with booming voice; म्हणावे —mhanāve — say

हरीचिंतने— Harīciṅtane— meditating on Hari; अन्न —aṅna — food; सेवीत —sevīta — consume; जावे —jāve — go

तरी— Tarī— then; श्रीहरी —śrīharī — Srihari; पाविजेतो —pāvijeto — blesses; स्वभावे — swabhāve— by his nature

निरूपण — Explanation or conceptualization

As our scriptures say, God is in everyone and everywhere. Many temples have been built for various Gods all over India and across the world too. In these temples, worships and prayers are done, meals are provided on a daily basis. प्रसाद — Prasāda — is distributed to all present during the worships, and is a material substance of vegetarian food that is a religious offering in Hinduism. It is normally consumed by worshippers after worship.

Considering God is in everyone, our body becomes a temple too. Whatever we eat becomes an offering to the God within us. It should be treated that way and not just to satisfy our tongue and stomach.

Hence before we eat, particularly when we are with others — whether the family members or friends — we should very respectfully pray to God, with full devotion, and not just in our minds but as a prayer before the meals.

Then the prayers, as well as the food we eat, will reach God. Then he will bless us naturally.

It is worth to mention here that there is another shloka which is recited before starting the meal, in every major gathering like family get-togethers, marriages and such.

वदनि कवळ घेता नाम घ्या श्रीहरीचे । सहज हवन होते नाम घेता फुकाचे । जिवन करि जिवित्वा अन्न हे पूर्णब्रह्म । उदरभरण नोहे जाणिजे यज्ञकर्म ॥१॥

Vadani kavaḷa ghetā nāma ghyā śrī-harīce l Sahaja havana hote nāma ghetā phukāce l Jivana kari jivitvā aṅna he purṅa-brahma l Udara-bharaṅa nohe jāṅije yadnya-karma ll 1 ll

Meaning:

While taking a mouthful of food, chant the name of God; The food is easily offered as an offering to God when his name is uttered; The food gives life to us as it completes the God Principle; Having food is not just filling the stomach but is a type of fire-sacrifice (Yajna).

In Bhagavad Gita also — Chapter 15, Shloka 14 — Lord Shri Krishna explains:

अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रित: | प्राणापानसमायुक्त: पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् || 14||

ahaṁ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṁ deham āśritaḥ prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pachāmy aṅnaṁ chatur-vidhaṁ

Lord Shri Krishna says: It is I who takes the form of the fire of digestion in the stomach of all the living beings and combine with the incoming and outgoing breaths, to digest and assimilate the four kinds of foods.

The four kinds of foods referred to here are the ones we chew, suck, lick, and drink.

Science tells us that the human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs of digestion (the tongue, salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder).

Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller and smaller components until they can be absorbed and assimilated into the body.

According to Bhagavad Gita, the energy or force behind making these organs work and produce the necessary enzymes is provided by God himself.

Hence we all should follow the practice of reciting God’s name before every meal we take and pray him to provide the energy to digest the food and then generate more energy in our bodies to keep us going day after day.

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