Om sakalartiharaya namaha: Salutations to the One who is the destroyer of all miseries.
Glossary
arti: and distress SB 6.15.21-23, SB 6.16.13
arti: eagerness Antya 14.28, Antya 14.30
arti: grief Antya 20.1, Antya 20.5
arti: sufferings SB 1.17.10-11
arti: distress SB 3.20.25
arti: the distresses SB 4.10.30
arti: misery SB 6.1.51
arti: affliction SB 9.16.15
hara kindly take away Madhya 20.299
hara You take away Antya 16.133
hara just dissipate SB 6.14.57
sakala everything Adi 5.127, Adi 8.44, Madhya 2.30,
sakala all kinds of SB 8.8.11, SB 8.17.10,
sakala over all SB 2.5.8
sakala total SB 2.7.1
sakala whole SB 5.1.7
sakala in all Adi 7.139
sakala all varieties. Antya 18.102
When we talk of the Moon as the one who removes all miseries we have to look to the causes of misery. Misery is caused by attachment – attachment to possessions, attachment to attitudes, attachment to desires, attachment to the body. No one can avoid misery, for life is full of ups and downs. We take birth because we wanted to be here, we passed over with unfulfilled desires, and came back to fulfil these.
We came back to the ocean of life: bhavasagaratharam. This ocean is an ocean of attachment, pain and misery. How do we cross this ocean? We can cross the ocean of life with a strong and steady mind. Faith in yourself is equal to faith in God.
We can cross the ocean of life with its ups and downs by holding onto the lotus feet – charana kamala – of our istadevata, the Divine whom we worship in the recesses of our heart.
It is important to have steadiness. Steadiness is the fruit of personal self-discipline. The Moon goes through Sukla paksha each fortnight; then Krishna paksha, the dark half, each fortnight in the month. This simply reflects the nature of life in this world, it is light, it is dark, it is peace, it is suffering; none escape the prarabdha karma they bring with each new birth. Unfulfilled desires and karma bring the ups and downs of life. Discipline brings steadiness. Peace is the absence of misery and suffering. Peace has values such as calmness, concentration, endurance, purity, self discipline and self respect.
Steadiness is the fruit of personal self-discipline. Just as the Moon is steady and silent and follows its dharma of rising and setting, waxing and waning, so also, a disciplined, steady mind gives detachment from the miseries of life. These are not gone, these are simply detached from. This then allows us to follow our own dharma: dharmo rashati rakshitaha.
Om sakalartiharaya namaha: Salutations to the One who is the destroyer of all miseries.
Download 108 Names of Chandra, The Moon
