Significance of Pradakshina

Village belles living close to the deserts walk miles every day to fetch water .They usually carry 5 to 7 pots , balancing them on their heads .They move rhythmically in groups of friends, chatting ,laughing and nudging each other,but their mental focus never shifts from the perfect balance of the pots. Pradakshina of the Lord’s symbol means the same. He is the centre, the source and the very essence of our lives. If we constantly recognise the Lord as the energising force ,the main hub and the support of all thought and action, as we go about our daily rounds of work, well, that is what Pradakshina is.

Even while engrossed in work the mind’s attention should focus on ‘who’ makes this possible? The Lord provides the raw material. Sun, Water ,Earth , Seed, Rain and Air is all provided by that great giver. The generating power of the seed, the nourishment of the soil, the enlivening heat of the sun, the sap in the water, the oxygen in the air are all life giving gifts from Him. The energy to cook ,to eat and to swallow are from Him.

Once you sleep, the segregation of food to reach the digested food to whichever part of the body that needs it , making new blood , is all His loving work, not yours, even if you tried. How can one forget this invisible giver who sustains life? All biological functions which medical science calls “involuntary actions” like breathing and heart beat happen without your effort!

Pradakshina is a thankful recognition of and an obeisance to that anonymous giver even as we go round our daily business. The going round the Lord is showing gratefulness to a power whose limitless circumference is nowhere and whose centre is everywhere.

Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission Delhi, can be contacted at prarthnasaran@gmail.com