तमेवात्मानमात्मस्थं सर्वभूतेष्ववस्थितम् ।
पूजयध्वं गृणन्तश्च ध्यायन्तश्चासकृद्धरिम् ॥७०॥

tam evÄtmÄnam Ätma-sthaá¹
sarva-bhūteṣv avasthitam
pūjayadhvaṠgṛṇantaś ca
dhyÄyantaÅ› cÄsaká¹›d dharim

 tam - unto Him; eva - certainly; ÄtmÄnam - the Supreme Soul; Ätma-stham - within your hearts; sarva - all; bhÅ«teá¹£u - in every living being; avasthitam - situated; pÅ«jayadhvam - just worship Him; gṛṇantaḥ ca - always chanting; dhyÄyantaḥ ca - always meditating upon; asaká¹›t - continuously; harim - the Supreme Personality of Godhead.


Text

Therefore, O sons of the King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is situated in everyone’s heart. He is also within your hearts. Therefore chant the glories of the Lord and always meditate upon Him continuously.

Purport

The word asaká¹›t is significant, for it means not just for a few minutes but continuously. That is the instruction given by Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu in His Åšiká¹£Äṣṭaka. KÄ«rtanÄ«yaḥ sadÄ hariḥ: “The holy name of the Lord should be chanted twenty-four hours daily.†Therefore in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we request the devotees to chant at least sixteen rounds on their beads daily. Actually one has to chant twenty-four hours daily, just like ṬhÄkura HaridÄsa, who was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra three hundred thousand times daily. Indeed, he had no other business. Some of the GosvÄmÄ«s, like RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ«, were also chanting very rigidly and also offering obeisances very rigidly. As stated in ÅšrÄ«nivÄsÄcÄrya’s prayer to the Six GosvÄmÄ«s (á¹¢aá¸-gosvÄmy-aṣṭaka), saá¹…khyÄ-pÅ«rvaka-nÄma-gÄna-natibhiḥ kÄlÄvasÄnÄ«-ká¹›tau. The word saá¹…khyÄ-pÅ«rvaka means “maintaining a numerical strength.†Not only was RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« chanting the holy name of the Lord, but he was also offering obeisances in the same prolific numbers.

Because the princes were ready to enter into some severe austerity in order to worship the Lord, Lord Åšiva advised them to constantly chant of and meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is significant that Lord Åšiva personally offered his prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead just as he was taught by his father, Lord BrahmÄ. Similarly, he was also preaching to the princes according to the paramparÄ system. One not only should practice the instructions received from the spiritual master but should also distribute this knowledge to one’s disciples.

The words ÄtmÄnam Ätma-sthaá¹ sarva-bhÅ«teá¹£v avasthitam are also significant. The Personality of Godhead is the origin of all living entities. Because the living entities are parts and parcels of the Lord, He is the father of all of them. One can search out the Supreme Lord very easily within one’s heart, for He is situated in every living entity’s heart. In this verse the process of worshiping the Lord is considered to be very easy and complete, for anyone can sit down anywhere and in any condition of life and simply chant the holy names of the Lord. By chanting and hearing, one automatically engages in meditation.