Dhyāna

Dhyāna · dhyā-na, “meditation”

Grammar: neuter noun, from the root dhyai (to meditate): “meditation”.

Meaning: meditation on the form of the deva, done before the invocation and the pūjā. A dhyāna is given as a group of ślokas.

In the scriptures: In the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, in the Ekādaśī Vrata Nirūpaṇa, Nārāyaṇa Maharshi teaches Nārada the method of the Ekādaśī vrata. In the evening, after the bath, the svastivācana, the setting up of the kalaśa and the pūjā of the six devatās, the observer is to meditate on Śrī Kṛshṇa Paramātmā with the dhyāna told in the Sāmaveda. He places a flower on the head, on the kalaśa or on the mūrti, and meditates again.

Nārāyaṇa says: “I shall tell you the secret dhyāna, desired by all. For bhaktas it is dearer than their own lives. It must not be told to one who is not a bhakta.” The devotee meditates on Śrī Kṛshṇa as the one who:

  1. has a dark and beautiful form like a new cloud of the rainy season;
  2. has a pure face that puts to shame the light of the full moon of śarad;
  3. has eyes that have taken the beauty of the lotuses at sunrise in śarad;
  4. is himself an ornament to the jewelled ornaments he wears, by the splendour of his limbs;
  5. is looked at again and again by the gopīs with gracious, loving side-glances;
  6. seems to be made of their very lives;
  7. stands in the middle of the rāsa-maṇḍala, eager for the play of the rāsa;
  8. is the cakora bird drinking the amṛta in the autumn moon that is the face of Rādhā Devī;
  9. has a chest shining with the Kaustubha, king of gems;
  10. is adorned with garlands of pārijāta flowers;
  11. has a head adorned with a crown made of the finest gems;
  12. holds the flute in his hand in play;
  13. is worshipped by suras and asuras;
  14. is beyond the reach of meditation;
  15. cannot fully be worshipped;
  16. is bowed to by Brahmā and the other devas;
  17. is the root of all, the root of creation.

The dhyāna closes: “That Parameśvara I adore.” Nārāyaṇa then says to Nārada: having meditated with this group of dhyāna ślokas, invoke him, offer the sixteen upacāras and worship him with bhakti with the mantras that follow (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 26).

Related terms: Ekādaśī · Āvāhana · Upacāra · Śrī Kṛshṇa · Sāmaveda

Sources

  • Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 26