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This shloka tells us how we should be grateful to the Universal Lord who being present in our heart enlivens our entire being – the body, mind and the intelligence; how, remembering this great Truth, we should prostrate at His holy feet in reverence and gratitude.

योऽन्तःप्रविश्य मम वाचमिमां प्रसुप्तां
संजीवयत्यखिलशक्तिधरः स्वधाम्ना ।
अन्यांश्च हस्तचरणश्रवणत्वगादीन्
प्राणान् नमो भगवते पुरुषाय तुभ्यम् ॥

yo’ntaḥ-praviśya mama vācam-imāṁ prasuptāṁ
saṁjīvayaty-akhila-śaktidharaḥ svadhāmnā |
anyāṁśca hasta-caraṇa-śravaṇa-tvagādīn
prāṇān namo bhagavate puruṣāya tubhyam ||

– Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.6

Prostration to You, O Bhagavān, the supreme Consciousness, possessor of all powers, who, having entered my being, has activated my dormant speech, and likewise has empowered the other organs such as the hands, feet, ears, skin and all the vital forces, by virtue of His mere Presence.

Points for Introspection:

Throughout our wakeful hours we talk, sit, walk, eat, hear and do many other activities using our sense organs and organs of actions. We feel we are the ‘doer’ of all actions and take credit if we have performed well. We accumulate pride that we are the “controller” of all actions. We never think of the supreme Universal Power that has created this body, like it has everything else in this creation. This supreme Power or the supreme Lord enters our being and enlivens the life-forces, the limbs and sense organs. Without it the body would become a corpse. It is by His will that we sleep and get up and are able to do all our functions throughout the day.

Unfortunately, seldom we remember this Presence within us that is the possessor of all Divine powers and is the cause of our existence. Neither do we remember, nor are we grateful. We are filled with ego and pride instead, and think that “I am the motivator and controller of all actions.”

This shloka tells us how we should be grateful to the Universal Lord who being present in our heart enlivens our entire being – the body, mind and the intelligence; how, remembering this great Truth, we should prostrate at His holy feet in reverence and gratitude.

This shloka is from Dhruva’s story in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. It is the first shloka of Dhruva’s praise (stuti) for the supreme Lord whom he was contemplating upon during his severe austerities. When the supreme Lord Vishnu manifested before the five-year old boy Dhruva, Dhruva was overwhelmed with ecstasy and devotion. His lips and cheek started quivering looking for words to sing praises for the Lord. But he was unable to speak.

The Lord, understanding Dhruva’s discomfiture, tapped his cheeks with His divine conch. Dhruva was illumined. Verses and hymns started flowing from his tender mouth. This shloka is the first of these verses. “I prostrate at your feet,” Dhruva said, “O Supreme all-powerful Lord! You who upon entering my heart have enlivened my dormant speech and enabled me to sing these hymns to you; not only that, you have enlivened my limbs, my sense organs as well as the life forces.”

While reading this episode it should strike us how this little boy acknowledged in deep devotion, the presence of the Universal, all-powerful Lord in his heart, by whose grace not only his dormant speech got enlivened enabling him to sing praises for the lord, but also his sense organs and the life forces!

Should we not remember this Indweller for making us live in this world, activating our life-forces and the organs? Should not our heart be filled with devotion and gratitude for this Inmost but supremely powerful Lord?

Unfortunately, we do not remember the presence of the supreme Being within us. We remain oblivious of the grace He showers on us enabling us to move and act. Since we do not remember His presence in us, we become proud and egoistic, thinking: “I am the doer”, “I am the enjoyer”, and “everything depends upon me”. As a result we miss the touch of divinity, which is ever-present in us.

While moving about in this world performing various activities, we should chant this shloka frequently, reminding ourselves that we are nothing but instruments in His hands. Because He enlivens our beings we are active in this world. While chanting the verse the mind gets filled with love, devotion, and gratitude toward the supreme Lord. The constant remembrance of the Presence in our heart makes our mind merge in Him. As a result every moment of our life gets filled with divinity.

Word Meaning:

यः (yaḥ) = who; अन्तः (antaḥ) = within; प्रविश्य (praviśya) = having entered; मम (mama) = my; वाचम् (vācam) = speech; इमाम् (imām) = this; प्रसुप्ताम् (prasuptām) = dormant; संजीवयति (saṁjīvayati) = enlivens; अखिलशक्तिधरः (akhila-śaktidharaḥ) = possessor of all divine powers; स्वधाम्ना (svadhāmnā) = by the Presence within; अन्याम् च (anyām ca) = and others; हस्तचरणश्रवणत्वगादीन् (hasta-caraṇa-śravaṇa-tvagādīn) = hands, feet, ears, skin and other sense organs; प्राणान् (prāṇān) = life forces; नमः (namaḥ) = prostrations; भगवते (bhagavate) = O Lord; पुरुषाय (puruṣāya) = to the Supreme Being; तुभ्यम् (tubhyam) = to you;

अन्वयः

यः अखिलशक्तिधरः अन्तः प्रविश्य मम इमां प्रसुप्तां वाचं संजीवयति, स्वधाम्ना अन्यां हस्तचरणश्रवणत्वगादीन् प्राणान् च (संजीवयति), भगवते पुरुषाय तुभ्यं नमः ।

yaḥ akhila-śaktidharaḥ antaḥ praviśya mama imāṁ prasuptāṁ vācaṁ saṁjīvayati, svadhāmnā anyāṁ hasta-caraṇa-śravaṇa-tvagādīn prāṇān ca (saṁjīvayati), bhagavate puruṣāya tubhyaṁ namaḥ.

– From the book–Verses for Introspection

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